AI Product Engineer at Texas Tribune Inc – Austin, Texas

The Texas Tribune is seeking a resourceful full stack engineer with a passion for ethical, responsible AI to accelerate how our organization uses artificial intelligence in real-world news products. At the Tribune, AI isn’t about replacing journalists. It’s amplifying the reach, quality and accessibility of local journalism.

This position sits within the Product Department, reports to our Technical Delivery Manager, and is key to building features that make our work more accessible and efficient across the Tribune and our new brands, including The Waco Bridge and Austin Current. We design and ship systems that help guide transformation as we launch and sustain new local newsrooms to serve more Texans.

This is not an editorial or research lab position, but you will work directly with journalists and product teammates to create and improve the technologies that power the Tribune.

The salary for this position starts at $100,000, depending on qualifications.

Responsibilities

• Develop, deploy and maintain audience- and newsroom-facing AI features in the Tribune’s publication platforms (primarily WordPress), always aligning with newsroom needs, privacy and Tribune values.
• Work closely with product managers, designers, data, and editorial teams to scope, prototype and evolve production-ready tools that personalize content, improve accessibility and optimize workflows.
• Integrate off-the-shelf and custom AI/ML services (such as content tagging, chatbots or personalized recommendations) into the Tribune’s core stack with attention to performance, maintainability and responsible use.
• Uphold rigorous standards for transparency, privacy, data protection and ethical implementation, proactively addressing real-world risks.
• Document solutions for both technical and non-technical colleagues and participate in cross-team training and workshops to improve organization-wide AI literacy.
• Monitor, support and adapt AI-driven features post-launch, including planning for maintenance, updates and responsible sunsetting.
• Continually track new AI/ML opportunities and risks relevant to media and journalism, communicating findings openly to the team and making actionable recommendations.
• Contribute to the team’s broader product and platform goals — not just discrete AI experiments — by embedding AI responsibly into existing and new digital products.
• This role is opportunistic and leveraged: In 2026, they will participate in a number of funded cohorts designed to explore the use of AI in journalism.

Illustrative project example

A possible initiative might involve developing and managing a network of MCP servers that link our work with journalistic data (e.g., the Tribune’s Schools Explorer or election API) to enable deeper content personalization across Tribune brands. This is one example of the kind of applied, impact-driven AI development you’d work on, but the exact project focus will evolve with newsroom needs and strategic goals.

About You

You’re an adaptable, hands-on engineer eager to shepherd AI and ML features from early prototypes to production, within the context of a multidisciplinary product team. You have real experience integrating APIs and third-party services into platforms like WordPress, balancing rapid experimentation with reliability, user privacy and product/platform realities. You raise important questions about ethics, data usage and outcomes, and you confidently communicate AI concepts and decisions to non-specialists.

Preferred Qualifications

• Early-career or mid-level background in front- and back-end web development
• Experience implementing AI/ML features (Python, JS or relevant APIs), ideally with WordPress plugin or integration expertise
• Familiarity with responsible privacy, data security and accessibility practices
• Understanding of how journalists and content teams operate — interest in building usable, valuable internal tools
• Experience with or interest in cloud-based infrastructure for AI/data workflows
• Scrappy, gritty and creative — you’re literate in the way that AI can power your work and eager to experiment quickly on iterative projects.

We know some great candidates won’t check all of these boxes, and we also know you might bring important skills that we haven’t considered. If that’s you, don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself.

Location

The Tribune is headquartered in Austin, and we have journalists in cities across the state. This position can be based anywhere in the United States, but we prefer candidates who are familiar with Texans and their news needs.

Benefits

This job is full-time and has the following benefits:

• Medical, vision and dental insurance
• Monthly cellphone stipend
• 20 days of paid time off each year
• 12 paid holidays
• Up to 16 weeks of paid family leave plus four weeks of additional job protection
• Annual 401(k) match
• Support for professional training and career development
• Remote working flexibility

How to apply

Submit your application by Feb. 8. Be prepared to upload:

1. Your resume
2. A cover letter telling us about yourself and why you want to work for The Texas Tribune. Please describe your relevant engineering experience creating features that make information more accessible and efficient at a newsroom or similar organization.
3. A description of an AI-powered tool you created. What problem did it solve? Tell us about your role in the work and what you learned from the process.

The Texas Tribune is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We can't wait to hear from you.

About The Texas Tribune

Here’s what you should know about the Tribune. From day one, we’ve had disruption, innovation and risk-taking in our DNA. We’re ambitious as all get out but still have the punch-above-your-weight mentality of a scrappy start-up. We believe we can meet the demands of our audience and our own expectations for excellence without breaking the bank — or our staff. We understand not everything is a story for us — we have to make choices — but we’re always looking to expand our boundaries.

We’re nonprofit because the challenging economic reality for media these days obligates us to find a different way, reliable and sustainable, to fund serious journalism. We’re nonpartisan because we live in the United States of Confirmation Bias — and we don’t need to be part of the problem. We don’t need to be yet another source of information affirming the voices and perspectives that are already in people’s heads. At the same time, nonpartisan is not non-thinking. We call B.S. when B.S. needs to be called.

The Texas Tribune seeks to ensure that its newsroom and its news coverage reflect Texas by including a wide range of perspectives from people of different backgrounds, ideologies and experiences.

Learn more about The Texas Tribune here.