About Fluent Software Groupย
Fluent Software Group is part ofย Valsoftย Corporation's family of operatingย groups-a global leader inย acquiringย and growing vertical market software companies. We focus on specialized industries where deepย expertiseย truly makes the difference.ย
At Fluent, we give founders and their teams a forever home-preserving their culture and momentum while unlockingย new resources, technology, and proven operational playbooks that fuel sustainable, long-term growth.ย
The Missionย
We'reย building AI startups inside an established portfolio of vertical software companies-and we need engineers who can make ideasย real,ย fast.ย
Our mandate is to partner with Fluent's existing businesses to create new AI-powered products and sell themย intoย theirย verticalized customerย bases-and once proven, expand beyond them. The starting point could be either:ย agentifyingย an existing workflow that the business software already helpsย facilitateย today, orย buildingย a net-new product altogether. The through-line is simple-we'reย creating customer value in one of two forms: helping themย operateย moreย efficiently, orย helping them capture revenue opportunitiesย they'reย currently missing.ย
This is startup building with a cheat code: you get established customer relationships, industryย expertise, existing infrastructure, and revenue toย validateย against-without starting from zero.ย
The Opportunityย
You'llย work alongside an AI Ventures Lead who owns customer discovery, product strategy, and the roadmap. Your job is to be the person who makes their ideasย tangible-taking a validated concept or rough direction and turning it into a working,ย demoableย prototype in days.ย
This is a hands-on engineering role with real product influence.ย You'reย not just writing code toย spec-you'llย shapeย how things get built, push back when an approachย won'tย work, suggest better solutions,ย and make technical decisions on theย fly.ย You'llย integrate AI APIs, build agentic workflows, stand up full-stack prototypes, and partner with portfolio company R&D teams to move the best work into production.ย
This role is designed for someone who wants to grow into a technical leadership position. Build well, ship fast, and the scope expands with you.ย
Note: We do have offices in Montreal and Toronto. The role could require working at the office should you be located there. Otherwise, it is remote.
The Mindsetย We'reย Hiring Forย
Skills can be learned. Mindsetย can't. These are the traits that will make you successful here:ย
Builder Instinct:ย You'dย rather build than plan. When someone describes a problem, your brainย immediatelyย starts architecting the solution.ย You'reย the person who has a working version before the meeting ends.ย
Speed Over Perfection:ย You understand that a prototype that lands in front of a customer on Wednesday is worth more than a polished product next quarter. You ship, you learn, you iterate.ย
Self-Directed:ย Youย don'tย need detailed tickets to be productive. Give youย a directionย andย you'llย figure out the rest-choosing the right tools, making tradeoffs, and unblocking yourself without waiting for someone to tell you how.ย
Technically Curious:ย You'reย the first to know when a new modelย drops,ย a framework ships a breaking change, or a toolย emergesย that changes the game. You stay on the frontier because youย can'tย help it.ย
Collaborative:ย You'llย work closely with your Ventures Lead and with R&D teams at each portfolio company. You communicate clearly, ask good questions, earn trust from engineers who know their product deeply, and raise your hand early when somethingย isn'tย working.ย
Hungry:ย You want to build something that matters and grow your career fast. You see this as a launchpad-not a landing pad.ย
Whatย You'llย Doย
- Rapidly prototype AI-powered products and features: take a concept from your Ventures Lead and deliver a working,ย demoableย solution in 2-3 days.ย
- Build end-to-end: frontend, backend, API integrations, and database-whatever it takes to get a prototype in front of a customer.ย
- Integrate AI model APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Azure) and build agentic workflows using function calling, tool use, and orchestration frameworks.ย
- Build RAG pipelines that ground AI in domain-specific customer data using vector databases and embedding models.ย
- Partner with portfolio company R&D teams to take validated prototypes intoย production-translating your fast-build into their architecture, standards, and infrastructure.ย
- Participate in customer demos and POCs alongside your Ventures Lead, providing technical depth and fielding implementation questions.ย
Technical Skillsย You'reย a full-stack generalist who can wire together an entire working product solo. Weย don'tย need depth in every layer-we need someone who can go end-to-end, fast.ย
Full-Stack Fundamentalsย
- Comfortable building end-to-end: modern frontend frameworks (React, Vue.js, TypeScript), server-side development (Node.js, Python, or C#/.NET), REST/GraphQLย APIs, and relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL).ย
- Youย don'tย need to be an expert in every layer, but you need to be able to stand up a working,ย demoableย product without waiting on another team.ย
AI & Agentic Developmentย
- Hands-on experience integrating AI model APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Azure Cognitive Services) into real products-not just toy projects.ย
- Experience building agentic workflows: multi-step AI agents using function calling, tool use, and orchestration frameworks (LangChain,ย CrewAI,ย AutoGen, Semantic Kernel).ย
- Strong RAG skills: building pipelines that ground AI in domain-specific customer data using vector databases (Pinecone,ย Weaviate) and embedding models.ย
- Fluency in prompt engineering, token/cost management, and latency tradeoffs inย productionย AI features.ย
Tools & Velocityย
- Proficiencyย with AI-enhanced development tools (Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Code,ย bolt.new, v0,ย Replit)-and the instinct to adoptย whatever'sย next.ย
- Git, CI/CD, and agile workflows. You ship, you iterate, youย don'tย over-process.ย
Qualificationsย
- 1-4 years of professional experience in software engineering, applied AI, or product development-but whatย you'veย built matters more than tenure.ย
- Demonstrated ability to take an idea from concept to working prototype independently.ย
- Deep fluency in the AI tooling ecosystem-and the habit of staying current. You know about new releases before anyone asks you to look.ย
- Clearย communicator whoย can explain technical decisions to non-technical stakeholders and collaborate effectively with engineers across teams.ย
- A track recordย of self-directed work: side projects, open-source contributions, hackathon wins, or entrepreneurial ventures carry significant weight.ย
- Bonus: experience in SaaS, vertical market software, or early-stage startup environments.ย
What This Role Is Notย
This is not a role whereย you'llย pick up fully scoped tickets from a backlog.ย There'sย no establishedย playbookย and the requirements will often be ambiguous. Youย won'tย beย heads-downย onย a single productย forย months-you'llย move between ideas quickly as the teamย validatesย and iterates. If you needย heavyย structure or prefer deep specialization over breadth and speed, thisย isn'tย the right fit. If that excites you-keep reading.ย
Why Fluentย
- Growth-track role: Prove yourself as an engineer and grow into technical leadership as the products and team scale.ย
- Skin in the game: Compensation includes meaningful participation in the product's success-because we want youย buildingย like an owner, not an employee.ย
- Built-in distribution:ย You'reย notย building forย hypothetical users. Fluent's portfolio gives you real customers, real data, and real feedback from day one.ย
- Direct impact: Your prototypes will be in front of customers within days, not buried in a roadmap.ย
- Autonomy with support:ย You'llย have a Ventures Lead to set direction and clear obstacles, but how you build is up to you.ย
- AI-first culture:ย We'reย building a center of excellence around AI integration and are committed to responsible, value-driven adoption.ย
Ifย you'dย rather build the demo than sit through the meeting aboutย it-we want to talk to you.ย
#WeSuite
#FluentSoftware