AI Software Engineer (MCP Development / AI R&D)

$104K - $145K Remote Mid Level AI Product Manager

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Skills & Technologies

ClaudeGemini

About This Role

AI job market dashboard showing open roles by category

Remote (United States; Canada; Brazil; Mexico; Colombia; Argentina; Chile; Ecuador; Jamaica; Puerto Rico)

Contract

$50 \- $70 / hr

We are looking for Software Engineers to work with a leading Frontier LLM Lab to help accelerate their Agentic Data Cloud roadmap by building and scaling tools for next\-generation AI\-powered data systems. You will work on developing MCP tools, improving AI\-assisted developer workflows, and expanding platform capabilities across the Data Cloud ecosystem.

What does day\-to\-day life look like?

  • MCP Tool Development: Implement a variety of MCP tools for both managed MCP servers and the open\-source MCP Toolbox for Databases.
  • Agentic Integration: Expand test coverage and functionality for tools and skills utilized by leading agentic coding assistants (e.g., Gemini CLI, Claude Code, and other IDE\-integrated agents).
  • Code Maintenance \& Refactoring: Take ownership of the MCP Toolbox for Databases codebase, focusing on refactoring legacy components and maintaining high\-quality test suites.
  • Technical Documentation: Bridge the gap between engineering and community adoption by converting technical blog posts into functional toolbox sample code and comprehensive documentation.
  • R\&D Support: Build and maintain a realistic, high\-fidelity data application using QueryData. Use this environment as a primary testbed to support ongoing Product R\&D, with a specific focus on advancing the Context Engineering Agent.

Requirements

  • Build and enhance MCP tools for both proprietary and open\-source environments
  • Expand test coverage for tools used by AI coding assistants (e.g., Gemini CLI, Claude Code)
  • Refactor, maintain, and improve existing test frameworks and codebases
  • Convert technical blogs into production\-ready sample code and documentation
  • Develop real\-world data applications (e.g., using QueryData) to support product R\&D and experimentation
  • Collaborate with cross\-functional teams to accelerate adoption of agentic AI capabilities

Nice to have

  • Experience contributing to open\-source projects on GitHub (at least some team members expected)
  • Advanced SQL expertise (preferred for some team members)

Perks of Freelancing with our client:

  • Work in a fully remote environment.
  • Opportunity to work on cutting\-edge AI projects with leading LLM companies.
  • Potential for contract extension based on performance and project needs.

Offer Details:

  • Commitments Required : 40 hours per week with overlap of 6 hours with PST
  • Engagement type : Contractor (no medical/paid leave)
  • Duration of contract : 6 months with opportunity to extend; \[expected start date is 1st week of Jun\-2026]
  • Location: North America and LATAM

Salary Context

This $104K-$145K range is in the lower quartile for AI Product Manager roles in our dataset (median: $188K across 140 roles with salary data).

View full AI Product Manager salary data →

Role Details

Company CareerFlow
Title AI Software Engineer (MCP Development / AI R&D)
Location Remote, US
Experience Mid Level
Salary $104K - $145K
Remote Yes

About This Role

AI Product Managers define what AI features get built and why. They translate business problems into ML-solvable tasks, work with engineering to scope model requirements, and own the metrics that determine if an AI feature is working. The role requires a rare combination of technical fluency and product instinct.

Unlike traditional product management, AI PM work involves managing uncertainty at a fundamental level. Your model might work 90% of the time. What happens the other 10%? What's the user experience when the AI is wrong? How do you measure 'good enough' for a probabilistic system? These questions don't have easy answers, and the AI PM is the person responsible for finding them.

Across the 3,708 AI roles we're tracking, AI Product Manager positions make up 5% of the market. At CareerFlow, this role fits into their broader AI and engineering organization.

AI Product Manager roles are growing as companies realize that shipping AI features requires different product thinking than traditional software. The best candidates combine product management experience with enough technical depth to have productive conversations with ML engineers about model capabilities and limitations.

What the Work Looks Like

A typical week includes: reviewing model evaluation results with the ML team, defining success metrics for a new AI feature, conducting user research on how customers respond to AI-generated outputs, writing product requirements that include accuracy thresholds and fallback behaviors, and presenting the AI roadmap to leadership. You're the translator between technical capability and business value.

AI Product Manager roles are growing as companies realize that shipping AI features requires different product thinking than traditional software. The best candidates combine product management experience with enough technical depth to have productive conversations with ML engineers about model capabilities and limitations.

Skills Required

Claude (13% of roles) Gemini (6% of roles)

Technical fluency with ML concepts is essential, though you won't be writing models. Expect to understand training data, evaluation metrics, model limitations, and responsible AI practices. SQL and basic Python are increasingly expected. Experience with A/B testing, data analysis, and product analytics is baseline. Understanding LLM capabilities and limitations is now a core requirement.

The differentiator is AI-specific product thinking: knowing when to use ML vs. heuristics, understanding the cost of training data collection, designing graceful degradation for model failures, and building products that improve with usage data. Experience with AI safety, bias mitigation, and responsible AI deployment is increasingly important.

Strong postings describe specific AI products the PM will own, mention the ML team structure, and talk about measurement methodology. Look for companies that have already shipped AI features. Roles at companies that are 'exploring AI' often mean you'll spend a year defining the strategy before any building happens.

Compensation Benchmarks

AI Product Manager roles pay a median of $216,175 based on 270 positions with disclosed compensation. Mid-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $200,000. This role's midpoint ($124K) sits 42% below the category median. Disclosed range: $104K to $145K.

Across all AI roles, the market median is $217,500. Top-quartile compensation starts at $272,100. The 90th percentile reaches $325,000. For comparison, the highest-paying categories include AI Safety ($300,000) and Research Engineer ($280,000). By seniority level: Entry: $120,000; Mid: $200,000; Senior: $230,000; Director: $272,150; VP: $250,000.

CareerFlow AI Hiring

CareerFlow has 3 open AI roles right now. They're hiring across AI Software Engineer, AI/ML Engineer, AI Product Manager. Based in Remote, US. Compensation range: $145K - $145K.

Remote Work Context

Remote AI roles pay a median of $185,334 across 717 positions. About 14% of all AI roles offer remote work.

Career Path

Common paths into AI Product Manager roles include Product Manager, Data Analyst, Technical Program Manager.

From here, career progression typically leads toward Director of AI Product, VP Product, Head of AI.

The most effective path is PM experience plus self-directed AI education. Take Andrew Ng's courses, build a small ML project, and learn enough Python to read model evaluation code. The goal isn't to become an ML engineer. It's to have credibility in technical conversations and to understand what's possible, what's hard, and what's a bad idea.

What to Expect in Interviews

AI interviews typically combine coding challenges (Python-focused), system design questions tailored to the role, and discussions about your experience with relevant tools and frameworks. Strong candidates demonstrate both technical depth and the ability to make pragmatic engineering tradeoffs. Prepare portfolio projects that demonstrate end-to-end capability rather than isolated skills.

When evaluating opportunities: Strong postings describe specific AI products the PM will own, mention the ML team structure, and talk about measurement methodology. Look for companies that have already shipped AI features. Roles at companies that are 'exploring AI' often mean you'll spend a year defining the strategy before any building happens.

AI Hiring Overview

The AI job market has 3,708 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 102 entry-level, 1,705 mid-level, 1,469 senior, and 432 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 14% of the market (508 positions). The remaining 3,180 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.

The market median for AI roles is $217,500. Top-quartile compensation starts at $272,100. The 90th percentile reaches $325,000. Highest-paying categories: AI Safety ($300,000 median, 21 roles); Research Engineer ($280,000 median, 147 roles); AI Architect ($254,798 median, 67 roles).

AI Product Manager roles are growing as companies realize that shipping AI features requires different product thinking than traditional software. The best candidates combine product management experience with enough technical depth to have productive conversations with ML engineers about model capabilities and limitations.

The AI Job Market Today

The AI job market spans 3,708 open positions across 16 role categories. The largest categories by volume: AI/ML Engineer (2,605), Data Scientist (310), AI Software Engineer (259). These three account for the majority of open positions, though smaller categories often have higher per-role compensation because of specialized skill requirements.

The seniority mix tells a story about where AI teams are in their maturity. Entry-level roles (102) are outnumbered by mid-level (1,705) and senior (1,469) positions, reflecting that most companies are past the 'build a team from scratch' phase and need experienced engineers who can ship production systems. Leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level) total 432 positions, representing the bottleneck between technical execution and organizational strategy.

Remote work availability sits at 14% of all AI roles (508 positions), with 3,180 requiring on-site or hybrid attendance. The remote share has stabilized after the post-pandemic correction. Senior and specialized roles (Research Scientist, ML Architect) are more likely to be remote-eligible than entry-level positions, partly because experienced hires have more negotiating power and partly because these roles require less hands-on mentorship.

AI compensation is structured in clear tiers. The market median sits at $217,500. Top-quartile roles start at $272,100, and the 90th percentile reaches $325,000. These figures include base salary with disclosed compensation. Total compensation (including equity, bonuses, and sign-on) runs 20-40% higher at companies that offer those components.

Category matters for compensation. AI Safety roles lead at $300,000 median, while Prompt Engineer roles sit at $140,000. The spread between highest and lowest-paying categories reflects the premium on specialized technical skills versus broader analytical roles.

The most in-demand skills across all AI postings: Python (1,890 postings), Aws (1,103 postings), Azure (877 postings), Rag (855 postings), Gcp (631 postings), Prompt Engineering (560 postings), Pytorch (545 postings), Claude (498 postings). Python dominates, appearing in the vast majority of role descriptions regardless of category. Cloud platform experience (AWS, GCP, Azure) is the second most common requirement. The newer entrants to the top skills list (RAG, vector databases, LLM APIs) reflect the shift from traditional ML toward generative AI applications.

Frequently Asked Questions

Based on 270 roles with disclosed compensation, the median salary for AI Product Manager positions is $216,175. Actual compensation varies by seniority, location, and company stage.
Technical fluency with ML concepts is essential, though you won't be writing models. Expect to understand training data, evaluation metrics, model limitations, and responsible AI practices. SQL and basic Python are increasingly expected. Experience with A/B testing, data analysis, and product analytics is baseline. Understanding LLM capabilities and limitations is now a core requirement.
About 14% of the 3,708 AI roles we track offer remote work. Remote availability varies by company and seniority level, with senior and leadership roles more likely to offer location flexibility.
CareerFlow is among the companies actively hiring for AI and ML talent. Check our company profiles for detailed breakdowns of open roles, salary ranges, and hiring trends.
Common next steps from AI Product Manager positions include Director of AI Product, VP Product, Head of AI. Progression depends on whether you lean toward technical depth, people management, or product strategy.

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