Software Developer Contract Jobs in Davis, CA (NOW HIRING)

Purpose
This position is responsible for designing, building, and deploying AI agents and applications that solve real business problems across Teichert's operations. The Applied AI Engineer evaluates large language models, agent design patterns, and traditional machine learning approaches, choosing the right tool for each problem and leads governance of AI agents and skills. This role sits within the Data & Technology Solutions department and contributes to the build-out of Teichert's AI capabilities and data platform. 
Focus & Scope
Essential duties and responsibilities, i.e. those which are basic, necessary, and an integral part of the job, are indicated below:
 

1. Designs and builds AI agents and applications for construction and materials workflows, including document analysis of contracts, specs, and safety plans, schedule risk forecasting, equipment optimization, and bid intelligence, choosing agents, classifiers, statistical models, or simple rules based on what the problem requires. 
2. Evaluates LLMs and foundation models against specific use cases, weighing accuracy, cost, latency, and vendor sustainability. 
3. Architects reasoning chains, tool use, retrieval-augmented generation, and error handling; builds evaluation frameworks and monitors agent performance in production. 
4. Leads governance of AI agents and skills, including risk review and lifecycle management, in partnership with DAAI leadership. 
5. Partners with data engineering to build AI capabilities into Teichert's data platform. 
6. Serves as a visible ambassador for AI across the organization. 
7. Builds rapport quickly with business and technical stakeholders across Construction Services and Materials; translates business problems into AI designs and communicates tradeoffs and limitations clearly to non-technical audiences. 
8. Transitions from single-agent prototypes to multi-agent orchestration as the platform matures; mentors more junior engineers on agent design and evaluation practices. 

 
Relationships, Qualifications and Requirements, & Competencies
Key Relationships 
Reports To:  

• Senior Data, Analytics & AI Manager 

Direct Reports:  

• None 

External Clients: 

• Refineries and Trucking Companies 

 Internal Clients: 

• Data, Analytics & AI team members, Data & Technology Solutions teams, business leaders and stakeholders, AI Community of Practice members 

 
Role Qualifications & Requirements 
Education:  

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Software Engineering, or a related field 
• Master's degree in related field preferred. 

Experience and Industry Expertise:  

• Minimum 5 years of experience in software engineering, AI/ML engineering, or a similar role, with demonstrated experience building and deploying agentic AI and production applications on top of large language models or other models. 
• Experience in asset-intensive industries such as construction, mining, energy, transportation, or manufacturing is preferred. 

 
Specific Job Requirements: 

• Successful completion of pre-employment drug, alcohol, and background investigation. 
• Ability to build trust and rapport quickly with employees at all levels, demystifying AI for non-technical audiences, and championing responsible adoption through day-to-day partnership. 
• Deep knowledge of agent design patterns: reasoning chains, tool orchestration, retrieval-augmented generation, and error handling, independent of vendor. 
• Ability to evaluate and compare LLMs and foundation models across use cases, making pragmatic tradeoffs on accuracy, cost, latency, and vendor sustainability. 
• Judgment to know when a classifier, statistical model, or rule is a better fit than an agent. 
• Strong software engineering skills in Python, including version control, testing, and monitoring; able to build production-grade code, not just notebooks. 
• Understanding of statistics and decision costs sufficient to design agent evaluation frameworks and confidence thresholds. 
• Ability to assess data quality for agent inputs and design dashboards to monitor agent performance in production. 
• Strong communication skills with the ability to translate technical tradeoffs into plain language. 
• Ability to preserve confidential and proprietary information and successfully avoid conflicts of interest. 
• Experience working effectively in cross-functional teams and establishing positive working relationships across functions and levels. 
• Experience with MLOps/AIOps practices, version control tools (e.g., GitHub, Azure DevOps), Agile software development best practices, AI-assisted coding tools (e.g., Claude Code) to accelerate development; and data visualization platforms (e.g., Power BI, Tableau) preferred. 
• Must be able to prioritize, manage multiple concurrent workstreams, and recognize when to seek direction. 

Competencies             

• Data, Analytics & AI 
• Building Relationships 
• Communication 
• Initiative 
• Dependability 
• Judgement/Decision Making 

 
Equipment Used, Physical Demands, and Work Environment
Equipment Used:

• General office equipment, telephone, automobile, personal protective equipment (i.e. safety glasses, hearing protection) when visiting plants.  

Physical Demands & Work Environment: The physical demands and work environment characteristics are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.  

• Physical:  Sitting for long periods of time working on the computer or attending meetings. Job site visits require walking on uneven ground, steep slopes, and exposure to extreme temperature and/or humidity.  Some lifting of materials and equipment up to 20 lbs.  
• Work Environment:  Typical office environment with adequate temperatures and lighting, low levels of noise. Demands of meeting tight deadlines. Exposed to the conditions of job sites which can include loud noise, dust, fumes, and extreme weather conditions prevalent at the time. May work various hours, including early mornings, dusk or evenings. 

 
BASE SALARY RANGE:
$138,333.00 - $193,667.00
The range displayed reflects the range the company reasonable expects to pay for the position. The actual base salary is subject to variation due to the role, level, geographic location, relevant education, training, or experience, among other factors.
Employer Disclosure Statement  
The above statements and job description is intended to describe the nature and level of work being performed within this job.  They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and tasks.  Other similar or additional duties are performed as assigned.
Equal Opportunity Employer
Teichert and its subsidiaries pride themselves on being an Equal Opportunity Employer. Individuals seeking employment at our company are considered without regards to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.
Applicants with disabilities may be entitled to reasonable accommodation.  A reasonable accommodation is a change in the way things are normally done that will ensure an equal employment opportunity without imposing an undue hardship on the company.  If you are an applicant with a disability, please inform Robert Maxey (RMaxey@teichert.com) if you need assistance completing any forms or to otherwise participate in the application process.
Notice to Staffing Agencies
Teichert, Inc. and its subsidiaries (Teichert) will not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than directly from a candidate. Any unsolicited resumes sent to Teichert, including unsolicited resumes sent to a Teichert mailing address, fax machine or email address, directly to Teichert employees, or to Teichert's resume database will be considered Teichert property. Teichert will NOT pay a fee for any placement resulting from the receipt of an unsolicited resume. Teichert will consider any candidate for whom an Agency has submitted an unsolicited resume to have been referred by the Agency free of any charges or fees. Agencies must obtain advance written approval from Teichert's recruiting function to submit resumes, and then only in conjunction with a valid fully-executed contract for service and in response to a specific job opening. Teichert will not pay a fee to any Agency that does not have such agreement in place. Agency agreements will only be valid if in writing and signed by Teichert's Human Resources Representative or his/ her designee. No other Teichert employee is authorized to bind Teichert to any agreement regarding the placement of candidates by Agencies.