Senior Software Developer, AI

About the role

We believe that communication belongs to everyone. Our mission is to democratize phone service and remove barriers that prevent people from staying connected.

As TextNow continues to evolve, Artificial Intelligence is becoming a foundational capability across our products, operations, and employee experience. Our AI Labs team is responsible for identifying, validating, and scaling AI-powered solutions that create measurable impact for customers and employees.

We're looking for a Senior Software Developer who can help transform AI opportunities into production-ready systems, partner with stakeholders across the business, and accelerate TextNow's adoption of AI technologies.

What You'll Do

Build AI-Powered Solutions

• Design, develop, and deploy AI-enabled applications, services, and automations
• Build internal tools and intelligent workflows using LLMs, AI agents, and orchestration frameworks
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies and rapidly prototype new concepts
• Transform proofs-of-concept into scalable production systems

Lead Technical Delivery

• Drive architecture and implementation decisions for AI initiatives
• Define patterns and standards for AI application development
• Balance experimentation speed with security, governance, and operational excellence
• Ensure solutions are reliable, observable, maintainable, and cost-effective

Enable the Organization

• Partner with business stakeholders to identify high-value AI opportunities
• Translate business problems into technical solutions
• Consult with teams across Product, Engineering, Customer Care, Trust & Safety, Marketing, Finance, and Operations
• Help teams adopt AI capabilities and best practices

Build Internal AI Capabilities

• Develop reusable AI services, frameworks, and components
• Create integrations with enterprise platforms and business systems
• Design automation workflows that reduce manual effort and increase operational efficiency
• Contribute to AI governance, evaluation frameworks, and responsible AI practices

Mentor and Influence

• Coach engineers and technical stakeholders on AI development approaches
• Share knowledge, best practices, and lessons learned
• Drive technical discussions and influence the direction of TextNow's AI strategy

What You Bring

Technical Experience

• 5+ years of software development experience
• Experience designing and delivering production-grade software systems
• Strong programming skills in one or more modern languages (Go, Python, TypeScript, Ruby, or similar)
• Experience with cloud platforms and modern deployment practices

AI & Automation Experience

• Hands-on experience building applications with Large Language Models
• Experience training custom models
• Understanding of prompt engineering, evaluation methodologies, and AI system design
• Experience with workflow automation and orchestration platforms
• Familiarity with retrieval systems, vector databases, knowledge management, or agent frameworks

Delivery & Collaboration

• Comfortable operating in ambiguous environments with evolving requirements
• Strong communication skills with technical and non-technical audiences
• Demonstrated ability to lead projects from concept through deployment
• Ability to identify opportunities independently and drive execution

Mindset

• Curious and pragmatic
• Strong ownership mentality
• Bias toward experimentation and learning
• Able to balance speed with long-term sustainability
• Excited by solving business problems using technology

Nice to Have

• Experience building enterprise AI solutions
• Experience with OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, or open-source model ecosystems
• Experience with observability and AI performance monitoring
• Experience implementing AI governance, evaluation, or security frameworks
• Telecommunications industry experience
• Experience building internal developer productivity tools

Base Salary Range

The expected base salary range for this role is: $136,300 - $273,900 a year

United States (All other areas not listed above): USD $123,900 - $249,000

United States (NYC, CT, NJ, Seattle, LA, San Diego): USD $136,300 - $273,900

United States (San Francisco / Bay Area): USD $148,700 - $298,800

Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, individual pay is determined by job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

Our goal is to offer a competitive package that reflects the impact and expertise you bring to the team.

This posting is for a current, active vacancy.

Do Right By Our People

We treat each other with fairness, respect, and integrity.

Accept the Challenge

We adopt a "Yes, We Can" mindset to achieve ambitious goals.

Act Like an Owner

We treat this company like it's our own... because it is!

Give a Damn

We are deeply committed and passionate about our work and achieving results.

Our benefits and more

This is a brief overview of the benefits that TextNow offers its employees. More complete details can be found in TextNow's Benefit Guide and legal plan documents, which are available to employees on or shortly after their start date with TextNow. The benefits listed herein are for illustrative purposes only and may change from time-to-time in TextNow's sole discretion.

• Free phone service
• Strong work life blend
• Employee stock options
• Unlimited vacation
• 12 paid holidays per year
• Competitive pay

Health, dental, and vision benefits

Short-term & long-term disability $750 annual wellness benefit or healthcare spending account

• 401(K) matching
• Parental leave for eligible employees
• Learning & Development opportunities

• We travel a few times a year for various team events, company-wide off-sites, and more
• More information about our total rewards package will be available during the hiring process.

Dogfooding & Customer Obsession

At TextNow, every employee gets to actively use our app for calling and texting. Dogfooding helps us experience what customers do, to spot issues early, and drive better design, developer, and user experiences.

Diversity and Inclusion

• Our aim is to make every person who joins TextNow feel like they belong, that they're valued, and that they're able to be their authentic selves at work.
• We're all accountable for creating an inclusive culture and a sense of belonging for one another. By doing this together, we'll make TextNow better for everyone.