AI Developer / Automation Specialist

About Focus CameraFocus Camera is a leading omnichannel retailer and e-commerce seller (Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Shopify, and more), with a growing internal technology and AI practice. Our IT & Systems team is modernizing the company's core systems and runs Focus AI, our internal AI assistant already used across every department. We move fast, measure results, and automate instead of patching. The roleWe are hiring our first dedicated AI Developer / Automation Specialist to design, build, and integrate AI-powered tools and automations across the business. This is a hands-on builder role with a strategy edge: you will write the code and ship the integrations, and also help us decide where AI and automation deliver the most value. You'll work department by department, sitting with each team to find the manual, repetitive work slowing them down, then build the AI and automation to fix it. This role is equal parts builder and problem-finder. Working directly under the Systems & IT Manager, you will turn repetitive, manual work into reliable tools and expand Focus AI so every team works faster, executing on the IT and AI roadmap they set. If your instinct when you see a slow, manual process is "that should be a tool," this role is for you. What you will do • Partner with each department to map how they work today, find the highest-impact opportunities for AI and automation, and turn them into working tools. • Build automations that eliminate manual, repetitive work across operations, e-commerce, purchasing, finance, and support. • Extend Focus AI, our internal AI assistant: develop new capabilities, connect it to internal systems, and improve reliability, guardrails, and adoption. • Integrate systems via APIs: connect platforms like Microsoft 365, SellerCloud, Shopify, Magento, and the marketplaces (Amazon, Walmart, eBay) so data and actions flow automatically. • Develop AI agents and tools: design tool-using agents, connectors, and workflows (including MCP-style tool servers) that safely take real actions against our systems. • Build retrieval and knowledge features (RAG): turn our SOPs, help content, and operational data into accurate, grounded AI answers. • Create dashboards and analytics: stand up reporting and data pipelines that give teams and leadership visibility. • Evaluate and recommend: assess build-vs-buy for AI tools, run quick proofs of concept, and pick the right model or service for each job. • Enable adoption: document what you build, train teams, and help move departments onto the tools. • Own quality and security: verify before you ship, handle credentials and data responsibly, and build with least-privilege access by default. What we are looking for Must have • Hands-on experience building with AI and LLMs (Claude, OpenAI, or similar): prompt design, tool and function calling, and putting AI to work on real tasks. • A track record of automating manual processes end to end, whether with code, automation platforms, or AI agents. • Working programming ability, especially Python: enough to build scripts, connect systems, and ship integrations. You don't need to be a senior software engineer. • Comfort connecting systems through APIs: authentication (OAuth), webhooks, and third-party SaaS. • A shipping mindset: you build, test, verify, and iterate, and you document what you ship. Nice to have • Stronger software engineering and broader coding (JavaScript/TypeScript, larger applications). • SQL and building simple data pipelines (structured and unstructured data). • RAG / vector search and knowledge-base experience. • MCP or other agent-tooling frameworks. • Cloud experience (AWS preferred), containers, and basic CI/CD. • E-commerce or marketplace data experience (SellerCloud, Shopify, Amazon/Walmart APIs). • Front-end skills to build lightweight internal tools and dashboards. • Experience with AI governance, evaluation, and cost/usage management. How you work • Practical and outcome-driven: you optimize for real business impact, not novelty. • Strong communicator who can translate between business teams and technical solutions. • Self-directed, organized, and trustworthy with sensitive company data. • Curious and current: you keep up with a fast-moving AI landscape and know when to adopt versus build. Experience • 2+ years building automations, integrations, or AI tools — in software development, IT, operations, or a similar hands-on role. A strong portfolio matters more than a title or degree. • A portfolio or examples of automations, integrations, or AI tools you have shipped. Why this roleYou will be the first dedicated AI hire at a company that is genuinely committed to AI and automation, with real problems to solve and the autonomy to solve them. Your work will be used every day across the business, and you will help shape how Focus Camera works for years to come. ReportingThis role reports directly to the Systems & IT Manager and supports their IT and AI initiatives.