AI Developer Job Description Template for 2026 (Copy, Edit, Post)
By DevDey Editorial Team · September 17, 2026 · 4 min read
Most AI developer job posts are a list of every tool the founder has heard of, followed by a vague mission statement. They attract exactly the wrong people. The post below is built around the work, the data and the measure of success, which is what experienced developers look for before they decide whether to reply. Copy it, fill in the six blanks in brackets, and post it.
Before you write: decide what kind of AI work this is
Nearly every AI project a small company runs in 2026 is integration work: connecting an existing model from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google or an open source provider to your data and your tools. That is an AI developer or AI automation developer. If you genuinely need to train or fine tune models, you are hiring a machine learning engineer, a scarcer and more expensive profile. Pick the right title or you will interview the wrong people for a month.
The template
Title: AI Developer to build [one sentence describing the workflow, for example an assistant that answers customer questions from our help centre]
About the work
We are [company, one line]. Our [team or customers] currently [describe the manual process, who does it, how often]. We want a developer to build a [feature or workflow] that uses a language model to [the outcome], with a person reviewing [which cases] before anything reaches [customers or the system].
What you will build
- A first version that handles [the core case], measured on a test set of [number] real examples we will provide.
- Retrieval over [the documents or data involved], kept in sync with [the source].
- A review step for [the cases that need a human], with a simple interface for [who reviews].
- Logging, cost tracking and a way to roll back a bad change.
What we are looking for
- At least one language model feature shipped to real users. Tell us what broke.
- Strong [Python or TypeScript] and experience with [your stack, for example Postgres and a queue].
- A habit of testing prompts against a labelled set rather than by eye.
- Comfort with [your model provider] and a view on keeping API costs predictable.
- Clear written communication. We work across [your time zone and theirs] and most decisions happen in writing.
Rate and terms
[$X to $Y per hour, or a fixed budget for the first milestone]. [Estimated hours per week or project length]. Paid [weekly, fortnightly or per milestone], directly to you. Start [date].
To apply
Send a short proposal covering one model powered feature you shipped, what went wrong in the first weeks, and how you measured whether it worked. Links to code or a demo help more than a CV.
Tip: Replace every bracket with a specific answer before posting. A post that still says our data and various tools reads as a project nobody has thought through, and experienced developers skip it.
Why this structure works
It describes a workflow, not a wish list, so a developer can picture the first week. It names the data, which is the first thing an experienced person wants to know. It states how success is measured, which signals you will not be arguing about whether the output looks right. And it asks for one shipped project with a failure story, which filters for real experience in a way tool lists never do.
How to screen the proposals
Read the shipped project story first and the tool list last. A proposal that names a real product, a specific failure and a specific fix is worth a call even if the stack is slightly different from yours. A proposal that repeats your post back to you with the word expert added is not. Reply to every serious candidate within two days; the good ones are talking to other companies this week.
What to leave out
Long lists of frameworks, buzzwords about transformation, and unpaid test projects. A paid two hour task after a short call is fair and tells you everything. Also leave out the phrase AI expert. Nobody has been one for more than three years, and the people who have actually shipped rarely call themselves that.
Describe the workflow, the data and the measure of success. The right developer will tell you the rest.
Post it where the developers are
Post the job on DevDey for free. Developers listing AI skills see it, and each proposal comes with a full profile, listed rate and location. Before you post, read How to Hire an AI Automation Developer in 2026 for the interview questions, and How to Write a Job Post That Attracts Top Developers for the general craft.
Frequently asked questions
Should the job title say AI engineer, ML engineer or AI developer?
Use the title that matches the work. AI developer or AI automation developer fits integration work on top of existing models, which is most projects. Machine learning engineer signals training and tuning models and attracts a different, scarcer, more expensive pool. A mismatched title wastes both sides' time.
How long should an AI developer job post be?
Three hundred to five hundred words. Long enough to describe the actual workflow, the data involved and how success will be measured; short enough that a good candidate reads all of it. Lists of twenty technologies make posts longer without making them clearer.
Should I list a rate in the job post?
Yes. Posts with a rate or budget range get more relevant proposals and fewer that waste your time. On DevDey the rate you post is the rate the developer receives, with no commission taken, so state the real number. If you are unsure, browse developer profiles first to see what people with the skills you need list.
What should I ask candidates to include in their proposal?
One shipped project that used a language model in production, what broke and how they fixed it, and how they measured whether it worked. Those three things filter for real experience better than any list of tools.