Five to eight years of professional software engineering experience, including meaningful experience shipping production code against third-party APIs and SaaS platforms.
Strong programming fundamentals in at least one modern language used for AI and integration work; Python and TypeScript are preferred. Ability to write, test, deploy, and operate production code.
Hands-on experience building against business SaaS APIs such as HubSpot, Microsoft Graph/Microsoft 365, Slack, or Confluence, or comparable platforms, including reading API documentation, evaluating authentication and rate-limit constraints, and designing robust integrations.
Demonstrated experience building with large language models in production, including prompt and context design, tool use/function calling, retrieval, evaluation, and cost and latency tradeoffs.
Hands-on experience with AI agent frameworks and Model Context Protocol connectors, or comparable multi-step automation spanning multiple systems; ability to explain when an agent architecture is appropriate versus a deterministic pipeline.
Practical experience building with a major large language model provider such as Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, or Copilot; production-grade platform experience is acceptable.
Familiarity with business process automation tools such as HubSpot workflows, Zapier, Make.com, or n8n, sufficient to determine when off-the-shelf automation is preferable to new code.
Problem-solving and debugging ability to diagnose issues across distributed systems and design iterative, scalable solutions.
Project management ability to balance multiple priorities, meet deadlines, and deliver continuous improvements while maintaining quality.
Comfort working independently amid ambiguity and a rapidly evolving role scope.
Ability to translate technical capabilities into business outcomes for non-technical stakeholders and business problems into technical specifications.
Ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise discretion when handling sensitive company and customer data.
A bachelor's degree in computer science, information systems, or a related field is preferred but not required; equivalent professional engineering experience is welcome.
Responsibilities
Design, build, and maintain AI agents, integrations, and automations that reduce manual work, remove bottlenecks, and improve productivity across departments.
Inspect internal SaaS platforms, including HubSpot, Microsoft 365, Confluence, and Slack, to identify available APIs, webhooks, and Model Context Protocol connectors, then build the integrations teams need.
Partner with leadership and department heads to identify and prioritize high-impact opportunities by mapping workflows and identifying where AI-powered or deterministic engineering can deliver measurable improvement.
Write production code and build multi-tool and multi-agent systems connecting internal platforms into end-to-end processes; determine when AI or deterministic solutions are appropriate.
Build evaluations and monitoring for deployed AI systems so output quality can be measured.
Lead internal AI education, training, and adoption efforts, and serve as an engineering resource for AI questions, best practices, and emerging use cases.
Establish and maintain responsible AI governance covering data handling, privacy, model and tool selection, output-quality monitoring, and ethical use.
Evaluate emerging AI tools, agent frameworks, model providers, and orchestration libraries; pilot promising technologies and recommend adoption based on impact, cost, and fit.
Measure and report the return on investment of deployed systems, tracking time saved, error reduction, cost impact, and quality improvements.
Develop and maintain documentation for systems, integrations, and AI workflows.
Serve as a liaison across Engineering, Finance, Sales, Marketing, Customer Support, and Product to align on technology needs and deliver workflow improvements end to end.
Monitor security and compliance across integrations and AI systems, collaborating with engineering and leadership to follow data-protection best practices.
Continuously redefine the role's scope, priorities, and deliverables as company needs and the AI ecosystem evolve.
Desired Qualifications
Knowledge of security best practices for API integrations, secrets management, and AI system data handling.
IFD AI Engineer
Chipply · United States (Remote) · Full-time · Posted 2026-07-14
Workplace: remote
Department: Engineering
Description
Company Overview
Chipply is the industry's preferred web store platform that gives the power to team dealers, custom apparel decorators, and corporate suppliers to launch online stores with confidence and grow their GMV efficiently.
Primary Purpose and Function
Chipply is hiring an Internal Forward Deployed AI Engineer to embed with our internal teams and ship AI-powered solutions that reduce manual work, accelerate decision making, and improve productivity across the company. This role reports to the CEO and is responsible for building real, production-grade engineering work — agents, integrations, and deterministic tooling — directly on top of the systems Chipply already runs on.
This is a hands-on engineering role, not an orchestration or admin role. You will not be configuring SaaS platforms from the ground up. Instead, you will inspect the systems we already use (HubSpot, Microsoft 365, Confluence, Slack, and others), understand what APIs, webhooks, and MCP surfaces they expose, and partner with each department to design and build the AI agents, integrations, and automations that plug into them. Where AI is the right tool, you build with AI. Where a deterministic solution is better, you build that instead. The judgment to know the difference is part of the job.
This is also an intentionally evolving role. The scope of AI in the business will change as tools, models, and capabilities mature, and you must be comfortable defining the work as you go, reshaping priorities frequently, and building capabilities from the ground up. You will report directly to the CEO and partner closely with leadership, Engineering, Finance, Sales, Marketing, Customer Support, and Product to identify high-impact opportunities and ship the engineering work that captures them.
Responsibilities
Design, build, and maintain AI agents, integrations, and automations that reduce manual work, eliminate bottlenecks, and improve productivity across every department at Chipply.
Inspect Chipply's internal SaaS platforms (HubSpot, Microsoft 365, Confluence, Slack, and others) to understand what APIs, webhooks, and MCP connectors they expose, and use those surfaces to build the integrations each team needs.
Partner with leadership and department heads to identify and prioritize high-impact opportunities by mapping existing workflows and pinpointing where engineering effort — AI-powered or deterministic — will deliver measurable improvement.
Write production code. Build multi-tool and multi-agent systems that connect Chipply's internal platforms into seamless end-to-end processes. Make sound judgment calls on when AI is the right tool and when a deterministic solution is a better fit.
Build evals and monitoring for AI systems you ship, so output quality is measurable rather than assumed.
Serve as Chipply's internal AI champion by leading education, training, and adoption efforts, and by acting as the go-to engineering resource for AI questions, best practices, and emerging use cases.
Establish and maintain responsible AI governance, including guidelines for data handling, privacy, model and tool selection, output quality monitoring, and ethical use.
Continuously evaluate emerging AI tools, agent frameworks, model providers, and orchestration libraries; pilot promising technologies and recommend adoption decisions based on impact, cost, and fit.
Measure and report on the ROI of the systems you ship, tracking time saved, error reduction, cost impact, and quality improvements.
Develop and maintain documentation for the systems, integrations, and AI workflows you build so institutional knowledge scales with the company.
Serve as a liaison across Engineering, Finance, Sales, Marketing, Customer Support, and Product to align on technology needs and ship workflow improvements end to end.
Monitor security and compliance across the integrations and AI systems you build, collaborating with engineering and leadership to ensure data protection best practices are followed.
Continuously redefine the scope, priorities, and deliverables of the role as Chipply's needs and the broader AI ecosystem evolve.
Requirements
Qualifications
Five to eight years of professional software engineering experience, with a meaningful portion of that time spent shipping production code against third-party APIs and SaaS platforms.
Strong programming fundamentals in at least one modern language commonly used for AI and integration work (Python and TypeScript preferred). Comfortable writing, testing, deploying, and operating code in production.
Hands-on experience building against the APIs of business SaaS platforms — HubSpot, Microsoft Graph / Microsoft 365, Slack, Confluence, or comparable systems. You should be able to read API docs, evaluate auth and rate-limit constraints, and design a robust integration on top of them.
Demonstrated experience building with large language models in production: prompt and context design, tool use / function calling, retrieval, evaluation, and cost and latency tradeoffs.
Hands-on experience with AI agent frameworks and MCP (Model Context Protocol) connectors, or comparable multi-step automation that spans multiple systems. You should be able to explain when an agent is the right architecture and when a deterministic pipeline is better.
Practical experience building with a major LLM provider (Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, Copilot, or similar). Chipply primarily uses Claude, but experience with any production-grade LLM platform is welcome.
Familiarity with business process automation tools (HubSpot workflows, Zapier, Make.com, n8n) — not as your primary craft, but enough to know when an off-the-shelf automation is the right answer instead of new code.
Strong problem-solving and debugging skills, with the ability to diagnose issues across distributed systems and design iterative, scalable solutions.
Excellent project management skills, with the ability to balance multiple priorities, meet deadlines, and ship continuous improvements without losing the thread on quality.
Self-starter who is comfortable with ambiguity, thrives in fast-moving environments, and is energized by a role whose scope will evolve significantly over time.
Strong cross-functional communication skills, with the ability to translate technical
capabilities into business outcomes for non-technical stakeholders, and to translate business problems into technical specs.
Curiosity and discipline to stay current on a rapidly changing AI landscape and translate emerging trends into practical applications for Chipply.
Excellent interpersonal and collaboration skills, with strong organizational habits and attention to detail.
Ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise discretion when handling sensitive company and customer data.
Knowledge of security best practices for API integrations, secrets management, and AI system data handling is preferred.
Bachelor's degree in computer science, information systems, or a related field is preferred but not required; equivalent professional engineering experience is welcome.
Attendance grows for annual Chipply Summit.
NEW BERLIN, WISCONSIN (May 21, 2026) - Web store and team sports platform Chipply hosted its annual Chipply Summit in early May in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, drawing nearly 200 attendees for two days of education, networking and industry insights. The 2026 event was the largest in the Summit's history and continued to solidify its reputation as a must-attend event for decorators, dealers and distributors in the decorated apparel and team sports industry.
The Summit was held at Saint Kate the Arts Hotel in downtown Milwaukee - a larger venue chosen to accommodate the event's growing attendance. Milwaukee serves as more than just a backdrop for the Summit; attendees were given exclusive access to tour Chipply's headquarters and the facilities of its sister company, Burghardt Sporting Goods, offering a behind-the-scenes look at operations few industry events can replicate.
The two-day program opened with facility tours, followed by an evening reception at the Arc Theater inside Saint Kate's. The Chipply Merch Store returned as one of the event's most popular features where attendees could select items from a curated selection of Chipply-branded merchandise, including tech accessories, drinkware, apparel and more. Day two featured a full slate of sessions and panels covering Chipply best practices, industry trends, print on demand, web store customization, new products and features and the company's roadmap for the year ahead.
New to the 2026 Summit, several sessions incorporated expert panelists - spanning apparel decorators to top vendors - fostering more interactive and collaborative discussions throughout the day.
"Hearing how others utilize the platform was very insightful. Every company has different values, goals and needs that Chipply assists with. Getting to hear what others do similarly or differently makes you evaluate your own processes and steps moving forward," said one attendee.
The event concluded at Lakefront Brewery, where attendees enjoyed a brewery tour alongside food, drinks and continued networking.
Chipply President Lynn Burghardt stated: "The Burghardt tour and the sessions are the backbone of the Summit, but what happens after hours is just as important. The closing event is where conversations deepen and real relationships are built - and in an industry like ours, those relationships are everything."
This was also the first year that Chipply welcomed sponsoring vendors to the Summit floor. SanMar, Pearsox and Momentec each presented product displays and delivered 15-minute presentations to attendees. The response from both attendees and vendors was overwhelmingly positive and Chipply will be expanding sponsorship opportunities for the 2027 Summit for vendors interested in connecting with this engaged and growing audience.
As the Summit continues to grow, Chipply has made the deliberate decision to cap future attendance at approximately 200 - ensuring that the event retains the intimacy and personal access to Chipply leadership and staff that attendees have come to value.
"I've attended a lot of conferences, and it's rare to see a leadership team as present and accessible as Chipply's. They weren't just there to present; they were there to listen, connect and have real conversations," said an attendee.
The next Chipply Summit is already in the works, returning to downtown Milwaukee on May 3-4, 2027. Full event and registration details will be announced in the coming months.
Chipply is a member and supporter of NSGA.
Pearsox Momentec SanMar Sports Burghardt Sporting Goods Chipply Lynn Burghardt
Chipply appoints SVP of revenue.
February 24, 2026
Chipply, the team store platform for team dealers and custom apparel decorators, headquartered in New Berlin, Wisconsin, appointed Elle Carstens as SVP of revenue.
Carstens brings over 16 years of SaaS sales experience, including seven years in leadership and sales development. Her past roles include director of sales at Tripleseat and Chowly, district sales manager, Great Lakes West, at Toast, and regional sales manager at Aetrex Worldwide.
Chipply said in a media release, "Throughout her career, she has built and led high-performing teams, earning a reputation for creating scalable sales organizations grounded in adaptability, accountability, and measurable results."
In her new role, Carstens will oversee the company's revenue strategy, leading customer acquisition, account expansion, and retention efforts. She will partner with Senior VP of Sales Grace Schettler.
"Chipply has always been a company that puts people first; as we grow, that commitment remains unwavering," said Schettler. "Elle's leadership will help us scale thoughtfully while continuing to deliver the exceptional customer experience our partners expect."
Carstens will also collaborate closely with CEO Angie Hardwick and President Lynn Burghardt, both members of Chipply's executive leadership team.
"Elle has a proven track record of driving sustainable revenue growth and building teams that perform at a high level," said Hardwick. "Her strategic vision and operational discipline will be instrumental as we enter our next phase of growth."
Images courtesy Chipply
We are so proud to announce that Growth Street Partners (GSP) has made a minority growth equity investment in Chipply! Learn more about the announcement here.
Chipply, the online store software supplier for team dealers, added to its sales team Meghan Brazzelle as a senior territory manager and Patrick Tolivar as a territory sales rep.