Vice President of Engineering Applications - Artificial Intelligence
About the job
- Significant experience leading application or product engineering for complex systems.
- Artificial Intelligence experience is required.
- Strong hands-on experience building and shipping backend systems used in production.
- Experience delivering Artificial Intelligence-powered products, with a deep understanding of model integration trade-offs.
- Excellent system design skills across services, application programming interfaces, clients, and data flows.
- Ability to operate across backend, mobile, and desktop platforms, even if depth is concentrated in one platform.
- Proven ability to make high-impact technical decisions under ambiguity.
- Ability to ship, iterate, and learn from real-world usage.
- Strong judgment and ability to raise the technical bar for the applications organization.
- Own the application engineering strategy and execution across backend, mobile, and desktop.
- Lead and grow a small, senior applications team, including backend, mobile, and desktop engineers.
- Set the architectural direction for Artificial Intelligence-powered product workflows, application programming interfaces, and client integrations.
- Ensure Artificial Intelligence capabilities are integrated into the product with clear abstractions, predictable behavior, and graceful failure modes.
- Partner with Machine Learning leadership to translate model capability into shippable product features.
- Make high-impact decisions across latency, cost, reliability, security, and user experience.
- Establish clear ownership boundaries across backend, mobile, and desktop to prevent architectural drift.
- Ensure production readiness through observability, monitoring, retries, fallbacks, privacy, and cost controls.
- Balance rapid shipping with long-term system quality.
- Deliver reliable, low-latency Artificial Intelligence user experiences across backend, mobile, and desktop.
- Establish architectural boundaries that allow teams to move quickly without constant rewrites.
- Improve system performance, stability, and production reliability.
- Maintain observability and operational discipline across application systems.
- Build a small, senior team that ships frequently and owns what it builds.
- Empower team members to grow in their roles and make high-impact contributions.
About the company
Next Step Systems focuses on matching information technology professionals with permanent, full-time jobs across the United States. It covers a wide range of IT areas including software, hardware, networking, storage, database, web, sales, and IT management, and handles roles at all levels. The process involves recruiting, screening, and placing qualified candidates with employer clients, providing end-to-end staffing support. The firm differentiates itself through a long track record (since 1995) and strategic growth, notably the 2014 acquisition of Parallel Partners to broaden its ability to serve both company clients and job seekers. Its goal is to deliver quality, professional service that connects employers with top IT talent and helps candidates find lasting careers.
Company Size
11-50
Company Stage
N/A
Total Funding
N/A
Headquarters
null
Founded
1995
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- The website was updated October 1, 2026, signaling active business development.
- Its August 3, 2026 blog celebrated 31 years, showing durable market presence.
- Recent July 2026 posts advertised AI, NetSuite, and engineering roles across multiple geographies.
What critics are saying
- LinkedIn lists only 1-10 employees, making revenue dependent on a tiny team.
- The firm still relies on recruiting fees, so client hiring freezes hit immediately.
- If enterprise clients internalize AI sourcing, Next Step Systems loses its core fee stream.
What makes Next Step Systems unique
- Since 1995, Next Step Systems has specialized solely in permanent IT recruiting.
- Its 2026 website markets AI, cloud, data, and cybersecurity placements nationwide.
- The firm spans Chicago, Cleveland, and other metro pages for hyperlocal candidate sourcing.
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Benefits
- Health Insurance
- Vision Insurance
- Health Savings Account/Flexible Spending Account
- 401(k) Retirement Plan
- 401(k) Company Match
- Paid Vacation
- Paid Holidays
- Remote Work Options
- Hybrid Work Options
- Flexible Work Hours
- Phone/Internet Stipend
- Tuition Reimbursement