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Assistant Engineer Jobs in Chicago, IL (NOW HIRING)

Senior AI Software Engineer

Chicago, IL ยท On-site

$126K - $166K/yr

At CNA, we strive to create a culture in which people know they matter and are part of something ... Senior individual contributor on the Developer Experience (DevX) platform team, responsible for ...

Senior AI Software Engineer

Chicago, IL

$126K - $166K/yr

At CNA, we strive to create a culture in which people know they matter and are part of something ... Senior individual contributor on the Developer Experience (DevX) platform team, responsible for ...

Senior AI Software Engineer

Chicago, IL ยท Hybrid

$72K - $141K/yr

At CNA, we strive to create a culture in which people know they matter and are part of something ... This role combines hands-on engineering, architecture, and governance, ensuring AI solutions are ...

Senior AI Software Engineer

Chicago, IL ยท On-site

$72K - $141K/yr

At CNA, we strive to create a culture in which people know they matter and are part of something ... This role combines hands-on engineering, architecture, and governance, ensuring AI solutions are ...

Senior AI Software Engineer

Chicago, IL ยท On-site

$72K - $141K/yr

At CNA, we strive to create a culture in which people know they matter and are part of something ... This role combines hands-on engineering, architecture, and governance, ensuring AI solutions are ...

Quality Engineer

Carol Stream, IL ยท On-site

$74K - $95K/yr

CrossFunctional Support * Assist engineering with technical notes and communication to the shop floor. * Collaborate with manufacturing and engineering to ensure process alignment. Required Education ...

Administrative Assistant

Chicago, IL ยท Hybrid

$21 - $26/hr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

Experience within an engineering or technical setting is preferred, but not mandatory. Key ... * Assist in maintaining and organizing physical and electronic filing systems for projects ...

Quality Engineer

Carol Stream, IL ยท On-site

$74K - $95K/yr

Cross-Functional Support * Assist engineering with technical notes and communication to the shop floor. * Collaborate with manufacturing and engineering to ensure process alignment. Required ...

Senior Data AI Engineer

Chicago, IL ยท On-site

$118K - $141K/yr

At CNA, we strive to create a culture in which people know they matter and are part of something ... The engineer works across structured and unstructured data domains - including documents, images ...

Senior Software Engineer, AI/ML

Chicago, IL ยท On-site

$72K - $141K/yr

At CNA, we strive to create a culture in which people know they matter and are part of something ... We are looking for a highly skilled Senior Python AI Developer with deep expertise in building ...

Senior Software Engineer, AI/ML

Chicago, IL ยท On-site

$72K - $141K/yr

At CNA, we strive to create a culture in which people know they matter and are part of something ... We are looking for a highly skilled Senior Python AI Developer with deep expertise in building ...

Update schedules and implement corrections or adjustments when necessary. * Assist in developing cost estimates for additional work or contract modifications. * Coordinate discipline engineering ...

Senior Software Engineer - AI/ML

Chicago, IL ยท On-site

$126K - $166K/yr

At CNA, we strive to create a culture in which people know they matter and are part of something ... Preferred experience with background as SDET or deep experience with Testing tools like Playwright ...

Senior Software Engineer - AI/ML

Chicago, IL ยท On-site

$126K - $166K/yr

At CNA, we strive to create a culture in which people know they matter and are part of something ... Preferred experience with background as SDET or deep experience with Testing tools like Playwright ...

Showing results 41-60

Assistant Engineer information

See Chicago, IL salary details

$34K

$91.4K

$138.6K

How much do assistant engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 20, 2026, the average yearly pay for assistant engineer in Chicago, IL is $91,430.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $72,600.00 and $107,600.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is an assistant engineer?

Assistant Engineers are entry-level professionals who support senior engineers in the planning, design, development, and maintenance of projects across various engineering fields such as civil, mechanical, electrical, or software. Their responsibilities often include assisting with technical tasks, preparing reports, conducting research, and ensuring compliance with project specifications and safety standards. Assistant Engineers gain practical experience and skills under the supervision of more experienced engineers, which helps them advance in their engineering careers.

How does an assistant engineer typically collaborate with senior engineers and other team members on projects?

Assistant Engineers work closely with senior engineers, designers, and other technical staff by supporting project planning, conducting site visits, and preparing technical documentation. They often assist in problem-solving sessions and help implement design solutions under supervision. Regular communication and teamwork are essential, as Assistant Engineers frequently coordinate tasks, share updates, and seek feedback to ensure project objectives are met efficiently. This collaborative environment provides valuable learning opportunities and helps build a strong foundation for career advancement.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as an assistant engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as an Assistant Engineer, you need a solid grounding in engineering principles, analytical thinking, and a relevant bachelor's degree in engineering or a related field. Familiarity with technical tools such as CAD software, project management systems, and industry-specific standards or certifications (like EIT or FE) is often required. Strong problem-solving skills, teamwork, and effective communication help you collaborate on complex projects and interact with stakeholders. These skills and qualifications are essential for delivering accurate technical support, ensuring project efficiency, and contributing to successful engineering outcomes.

What is the difference between Assistant Engineer vs Junior Engineer?

AspectAssistant EngineerJunior Engineer
Required CredentialsBachelor's degree in engineering or related field, often with some certificationsBachelor's degree in engineering, entry-level certification may be preferred
Work EnvironmentSupports senior engineers, involved in project planning and executionPerforms basic engineering tasks, supervised by senior staff
Employer & Industry UsageCommon in construction, manufacturing, civil, and mechanical sectorsUsed interchangeably in similar industries, often as entry-level role

Assistant Engineers typically have more responsibilities in supporting project management and planning, while Junior Engineers focus on executing specific technical tasks under supervision. Both roles require similar educational backgrounds, but Assistant Engineers often have additional certifications or experience. The roles are used across various engineering sectors and serve as stepping stones for career advancement.

How much is the salary of an assistant engineer?

The salary of an assistant engineer typically ranges from $50,000 to $70,000 annually, depending on experience, location, and industry. Entry-level positions may start lower, while experienced assistants or those with specialized skills can earn higher wages.

What are the most commonly searched types of Engineer jobs in Chicago, IL?

The most popular types of Engineer jobs in Chicago, IL are:

What are popular job titles related to Assistant Engineer jobs in Chicago, IL?

For Assistant Engineer jobs in Chicago, IL, the most frequently searched job titles are:

What cities near Chicago, IL are hiring for Assistant Engineer jobs?

Cities near Chicago, IL with the most Assistant Engineer job openings:

Infographic showing various Assistant Engineer job openings in Chicago, IL as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 2% As Needed, 76% Full Time, 19% Part Time, 1% Temporary, and 2% Contract. Highlights an 96% Physical, 2% Hybrid, and 2% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $91,430 per year, or $44 per hour.

Senior AI Software Engineer

CNA

Chicago, IL โ€ข On-site

$126K - $166K/yr

Full-time

Re-posted 28 days ago


Job description

You have a clear vision of where your career can go. And we have the leadership to help you get there. At CNA, we strive to create a culture in which people know they matter and are part of something important, ensuring the abilities of all employees are used to their fullest potential.
Senior individual contributor on the Developer Experience (DevX) platform team, responsible for designing, building, and operating an AI-native software delivery platform across five capability domains: FeedBack (AI intelligence, observability, DORA metrics), Enterprise Enablement (Internal Developer Portal, golden-path onboarding), Build & Delivery (CI/CD/CT, GitHub Actions, ArgoCD, Harness), Safety / Application Security (Veracode, SonarCloud, JFrog Xray, supply-chain security), and App Accelerator (container base images, dev containers, starter app templates). Leads the development of AI agentic SDLC workflows - autonomous and human-in-the-loop agents that accelerate code generation, PR review, test authoring, vulnerability remediation, and deployment across engineering teams - in direct support of the platform's north-star goal of taking a developer from template selection to a running pre-production application in 10 minutes or less. Acts as a force multiplier for DevX, partnering with platform, security, container, and product engineering to embed AI assistance into every stage of the SDLC.
JOB DESCRIPTION:
Essential Duties & Responsibilities
Performs a combination of duties in accordance with departmental guidelines:
  • Own and evolve the Internal Developer Platform (Harness IDP) - self-service catalog, scaffolding templates, and golden-path workflows targeting the platform's north-star goal: developer selects a template and has an application deployed to pre-production in 10 minutes or less.

  • Architect and own CI/CD/CT pipelines on GitHub Actions, ArgoCD, and Harness across the Build & Delivery domain; design for reliability, security, and progressive delivery - able to design and operate end-to-end, not just configure.

  • Design and build AI agentic SDLC workflows: event-driven agents that autonomously perform code generation, PR review, test authoring, Veracode vulnerability auto-remediation, SonarCloud gate enforcement, and release orchestration across the delivery pipeline.

  • Implement evaluation frameworks for agentic systems (Arize, Phoenix, or equivalent) - define ground truth datasets, regression suites, guardrails, and online/offline evals to ensure AI agents operating inside the SDLC remain safe, accurate, and auditable.

  • Drive supply-chain security inside the Application Security domain: integrate SBOM generation (JFrog Xray, Syft, or Anchore) into delivery pipelines, contribute to the Binary Authorization and container image hardening initiative for Kubernetes workloads, and design automated policy gates and remediation flows.

  • Contribute to the App Accelerator domain - maintain and evolve container base images, dev container definitions, and starter app templates so that golden-path scaffolded applications are current, secure, and ready for AI-assisted development from day one.

  • Operate feature flag and progressive-delivery platforms (LaunchDarkly, Unleash, GCP-native, or equivalent); design kill-switches, canary patterns, and safe rollout strategies that protect production while enabling continuous delivery.

  • Embed observability (Datadog, Dynatrace, Elastic, or equivalent) into platform services and delivery pipelines across the FeedBack domain; own DORA metric instrumentation (deployment frequency, lead time, change failure rate, MTTR) and Application Health dashboards used to measure engineering performance.

  • Champion adoption of AI coding assistants (Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot) in an AI-native SDLC; build the guardrails, prompt patterns, and developer workflows that make AI-assisted development repeatable and safe at enterprise scale; contribute to the Code Quality as a Service offering alongside Veracode and SonarCloud.

  • Mentor engineers across the DevX and App Accelerator teams; act as a technical consultant for platform adoption, agentic AI patterns, and delivery best practices.

  • Partner with security, infrastructure, architecture, and product engineering counterparts on platform direction, roadmap, and architectural standards; represent DevX in cross-team initiatives spanning container governance, GitHub security controls, and CI/CD policy.

May perform additional duties as assigned.
Reporting Relationship
Typically Director or above
Skills, Knowledge & Abilities
Required
  • 7+ years in platform engineering with deep CI/CD pipeline ownership in a regulated, enterprise-scale environment (insurance, financial services, or equivalent).

  • Hands-on with GitHub Actions, ArgoCD, Harness, or comparable CD platforms - able to design and operate end-to-end, not just configure.

  • Proficient using AI coding tools (Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, or equivalent) in an AI-native SDLC workflow; experience building guardrails and adoption patterns for these tools at team or enterprise scale.

  • Direct experience building or operating an Internal Developer Platform (Harness IDP, Backstage, Port) with a self-service catalog, golden-path scaffolding, and measurable time-to-value metrics (e.g., time to first deployment).

  • Feature flags and progressive-delivery experience (LaunchDarkly, Unleash, GCP-native, or equivalent) including kill-switch design and canary rollout patterns.

  • SBOM and supply-chain integration experience (JFrog Xray, Syft, Anchore) inside a delivery pipeline, including Binary Authorization or equivalent container image hardening and policy-gate design.

  • Hands-on with observability platforms (Datadog, Dynatrace, Elastic, or equivalent); able to instrument DORA metrics, define SLOs, and build actionable engineering-performance dashboards.

  • Familiarity with SAST/DAST tooling (Veracode, SonarCloud, or equivalent) in an enterprise pipeline context - ideally including automated triage or remediation workflows.

  • Experience designing and building event-driven AI agents that autonomously complete SDLC tasks, and building evals for agentic systems using Arize, Phoenix, or equivalent.

  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; excellent communication and interpersonal skills; able to work effectively with engineers, IT leadership, security, and business stakeholders.

  • Demonstrated ability to lead platform initiatives, drive cross-team adoption, and mentor engineers.

Preferred
  • Insurance or financial-services industry background; familiarity with regulatory and compliance requirements for software delivery.

  • Experience with security-as-code, OPA/Rego policy authoring, or compliance-automation pipelines (e.g., GitHub governance at scale, branch protection policy-as-code).

  • Hands-on with container base image pipelines, dev container standards, or starter app template frameworks.

  • Open-source contributions to platform engineering, developer tooling, or AI-agent projects.

Education & Experience
  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related discipline, or equivalent work experience.

  • Minimum of 7 years of platform and software engineering experience, including direct ownership of enterprise CI/CD pipelines in a regulated industry.

  • Previous technical leadership experience on platform, developer-tooling, or AI-engineering initiatives.

  • Applicable certifications preferred (e.g., GitHub Actions, Kubernetes, cloud provider, or Harness certifications).

  • #LI-KJ1 #LI-HYBRID

In certain jurisdictions, CNA is legally required to include a reasonable estimate of the compensation for this role. In District of Columbia, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Washington, the national base pay range for this job level is $72,000 to $141,000 annually. Salary determinations are based on various factors, including but not limited to, relevant work experience, skills, certifications and location. CNA offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package to help our employees - and their family members - achieve their physical, financial, emotional and social wellbeing goals. For a detailed look at CNA's benefits, please visit cnabenefits.com.
CNA utilizes AI-enabled technology during the recruiting process. For more information, please visit our careers page.
CNA is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities in the recruitment process. To request an accommodation, please contact leaveadministration@cna.com