Hourly Rag Jobs in Chicago, IL (NOW HIRING)

We are looking for a motivated Junior-to-Mid-Level PHP developer to help us build and scale AI systems within our backend ecosystem. In this role, you will work in our in-house PHP agent framework to connect Large Language Models (LLMs) to internal APIs and databases, build RAG pipelines, and develop multi-step agent workflows. Working alongside senior engineers, you will turn business logic into intelligent, automated workflows that reason, call tools, and execute multi-step tasks. This is an in-person role in Glenview, IL. This requires regular on-site work, and relocation assistance is not provided.

Core Responsibilities

• Agent Implementation: Build and refine AI agents and multi-step workflows using our in-house agent framework.
• API Integration: Write clean PHP code to connect commercial LLM APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google) to internal REST APIs and enterprise databases, including tool calling and structured outputs.
• RAG & Vector Management: Assist in building and maintaining Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines using embeddings and vector search.
• Testing & Evaluation: Write test scripts to evaluate agent outputs, benchmark token costs, and track down hallucinations and runaway loops.
• Prompt Engineering: Design, test, and version-control system prompts, function schemas, and tool definitions for chat and batch processing.

Required Technical Skills

• Programming: 1-3 years of professional experience writing clean, readable, object-oriented PHP.
• API Fundamentals: Strong understanding of RESTful APIs, JSON parsing, and serialization in backend environments.
• Databases: Solid SQL experience (we use Oracle, MySQL/MariaDB, and Postgres).
• Version Control: Proficiency with Git and collaborative code-review workflows.

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on experience with LLM APIs
• Experience working with legacy code in a large, established codebase.

We offer our team members:

• Full Time starting pay: $50-54 based on experience
• Yearly performance review
• Potential for advancement
• Performance-based bonuses throughout the year
• Medical/Dental (Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO Network) & Vision (VSP)
• 401(k) (Charles Schwab) which includes a matching program
• Life & Disability insurance (Lincoln Financial)
• Generous Paid Time Off/Sick Pay Program
• Continued training & career development
• Employee discounts on all the products we sell

Employment Type: Full-Time Hourly