AI Developer

Central Garden & Pet
vision insurance, parental leave, sick time, 401(k)
United States, California, Walnut Creek
1340 Treat Boulevard (Show on map)
Jul 23, 2025
Description We're looking for an experienced AI Developer to lead the development and integration of AI-powered solutions using OpenAI APIs and other foundational models. This is a unique opportunity to join our platform development team while also taking the lead on developing intelligent features using OpenAI APIs, LLMs, and RAG pipelines to transform the way we serve customers in the garden and pet industries. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Build and maintain AI-driven features using leading AI development platforms such as Open AI APIs (e.g., GPT-4o, Assistants API, fine-tuning, function calling), Azure AI Foundry, and Amazon Bedrock. Develop and optimize RAG pipelines using vector databases (e.g., Pinecone, Weaviate, FAISS) to support grounded, real-time outputs. Design, prototype, and deploy AI systems for chatbots, agents, search, summarization, and content generation. Write efficient, secure, and modular code that integrates LLMs into production environments and third party systems. Collaborate with product, analytics, customer service, and engineering teams to identify high-impact AI use cases and ship features. Contribute to our AI roadmap by identifying high-impact use cases across CX, eCommerce, and content Perform prompt engineering and prompt chaining to get the most out of LLM capabilities. Monitor model performance and user feedback to continuously improve results and reduce hallucinations. Stay current with emerging AI tools, APIs, and research to help inform our strategy. QUALIFICATIONS Solid hands-on experience working with OpenAI APIs and other LLMs. Strong understanding of generative AI, tokenization, embeddings, etc. Hands-on experience with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines. Familiarity with vector stores, semantic search, and indexing strategies. Proficient in Python (preferred) or similar languages used in ML and API integration workflows. Knowledge of prompt engineering techniques and prompt tuning/fine-tuning best practices. Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to translate ambiguous problems into scalable technical solutions. Strong grasp of software design patterns, architecture, and clean code practices. Experience integrating AI into customer service or eCommerce platforms. Understanding of data privacy, model governance, and security in AI applications. Exposure to front-end tools (Vue.js, React, etc) for deploying AI-powered UIs. Experience with PHP/Laravel, MySQL, Redis, etc. Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure) MINIMUM EXPERIENCE & EDUCATION Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field 3+ years of experience in professional software development. BENEFITS PACKAGE & EMPLOYEE PROGRAMS Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance Free Life and Disability Insurance Health and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts 401k with 3% company match and annual employer discretionary contribution Paid vacation, holidays and sick time Employee Assistance Program Access to thousands of free online courses Discounts on cell phones, movie tickets, gym memberships, and more! Education Assistance (both college degrees and professional certifications) Referral Program with cash bonus Access to on-demand pay Paid parental leave Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ: CENT) (NASDAQ: CENTA) understands that home is central to life and has proudly nurtured happy and healthy homes for over 40 years. With fiscal 2023 net sales of $3.3 billion, Central is on a mission to lead the future of the Pet and Garden industries. The Company's innovative and trusted products are dedicated to helping lawns grow greener, gardens bloom bigger, pets live healthier and communities grow stronger. Central is home to a leading portfolio of more than 65 high-quality brands including Amdro, Aqueon, Cadet, Farnam, Ferry-Morse, Four Paws, Kaytee, K&H, Nylabone and Pennington, strong manufacturing and distribution capabilities and a passionate, entrepreneurial growth culture. Central is based in Walnut Creek, California and has 6,700 employees across North America and Europe. Visit www.central.com to learn more. We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by law. #LI-CM1 #LI-Remote