Description
Company and Vision
PlanetArt's vision is to be the leading seller of personalized and make-on-demand products worldwide. We provide consumers with unmatched tools and content and an unparalleled end-to-end customer experience that result in high-quality, meaningful finished products and memorable celebrations of life events.
The company's brands include the popular FreePrints and FreePrints Photobooks apps and the industry leading Simplytolmpress card and stationery site, as well as Personal Creations, Cafe Press and ISeeMe! Visit planetart.com to learn more about our brands.
We have more than 500 team members across multiple offices, primarily in Calabasas CA, San Diego CA, Woodridge IL, Minneapolis, MN and Pleasanton, CA. We also have team members in two company-owned offices in China, as well as in Europe.
Job Overview
PlanetArt is seeking an AI Product Engineer, Internal Tools to help build the next generation of AI-powered internal tools, prototypes, automations, and workflows across the company.
This is a hands-on builder role working directly with the Head of AI, engineering team members, and business departments across PlanetArt. The ideal candidate is a highly effective AI-native builder who can use tools like Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, ChatGPT, and other modern AI development workflows to quickly turn ambiguous business problems into useful software.
This role is not just about taking requests and building exactly what was asked for. We are looking for someone who can work directly with internal users, understand the real workflow problem, ask sharp questions, prototype quickly, translate feedback into better tools, and know when to simplify, iterate, or push back. Strong UX instincts, technical judgment, communication skills, and a high-agency mindset are essential.
IMPORTANT: A public portfolio is required. Candidates must include links to publicly reviewable portfolio work, such as live apps, websites, GitHub repositories, demos, case studies, or shipped tools. Applications that do not include portfolio links will not be considered.
PLEASE NOTE: Candidates must be local to or willing to relocate to the Calabasas area as we operate on a hybrid work model (3 days onsite, 2 remote).
What You'll Do
Key Responsibilities
- Build AI-powered internal tools, prototypes, dashboards, automations, and workflow applications for teams across PlanetArt
- Work directly with departments and internal users to understand pain points, observe workflows, gather feedback, and translate needs into practical software solutions
- Use AI-assisted development tools such as Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, ChatGPT, and similar platforms to rapidly prototype and iterate
- Partner closely with the Head of AI and a small team of software engineers to identify high-impact opportunities for internal tooling and AI enablement
- Create functional prototypes quickly, validate them with users, and refine them based on real feedback and usage
- Design and improve prompts, prompt chains, structured outputs, agent workflows, and AI-assisted processes for internal business use cases
- Build lightweight full-stack applications, scripts, integrations, and automations using modern web and AI development tools
- Balance speed with quality by knowing when a prototype is good enough, when it needs hardening, and when engineering support is required
- Translate vague or incomplete stakeholder requests into clear requirements, user flows, acceptance criteria, and implementation plans
- Improve user experience through thoughtful workflow design, clear interface choices, concise copy, and practical usability improvements
- Document tools, workflows, prompts, assumptions, and handoff notes so internal teams and developers can understand and maintain what was built
- Stay current with emerging AI coding tools, prototyping platforms, LLM capabilities, and applied AI workflows
What You Should Have
Skills, Qualifications, and Requirements
- Publicly reviewable portfolio work is required; applications without portfolio links will not be considered
- Demonstrated ability to build and ship functional apps, websites, prototypes, automations, or internal tools
- Strong hands-on experience with AI-assisted development tools such as Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, v0, or similar tools
- Practical full-stack development ability, especially with modern web technologies such as JavaScript, TypeScript, React, Next.js, Python, APIs, databases, or similar tools
- Strong prompt engineering skills, including the ability to design, test, refine, and document prompts for real business workflows
- Ability to work directly with non-technical users, gather feedback, identify the real problem, and convert that feedback into product improvements
- Strong UX and product instincts, with the ability to make tools simple, useful, and easy for internal teams to adopt
- Technical judgment to review AI-generated code, debug issues, avoid fragile implementations, and escalate appropriately when production engineering support is needed
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with technical and non-technical audiences
- High agency, strong ownership, and comfort operating in ambiguity
- Ability to manage multiple small projects, prioritize high-impact work, and move quickly without losing sight of quality
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Human-Computer Interaction, Design, Analytics, or a related field preferred; equivalent practical experience and exceptional portfolio work will be considered
Portfolio Requirement
- A strong candidate portfolio may include:
- Live apps, websites, or internal-tool-style projects with meaningful functionality
- GitHub repositories showing code quality, iteration history, and technical decision-making
- AI-powered tools, LLM workflows, prompt systems, automations, or agent-based applications
- Case studies showing how user feedback was translated into product changes
- Examples of rapid prototypes that solved real business, workflow, operational, creative, or ecommerce problems
- Projects with real UX depth, not just landing pages, toy demos, or tutorial clones
- Candidates should be prepared to walk through their portfolio, explain what they built, what tools they used, what tradeoffs they made, and how they improved the work based on feedback.
Bonus Qualifications
- Experience building internal tools for business operations, ecommerce, marketing, creative, customer service, analytics, or product teams
- Experience with AI-assisted product development workflows, rapid prototyping, and vibe coding methodologies
- Experience with LLM APIs such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, or similar platforms
- Familiarity with structured outputs, RAG, vector databases, embeddings, evals, AI agents, or tool-calling workflows
- Experience with low-code or rapid development platforms such as Retool, Supabase, Firebase, Vercel, Airtable, n8n, Zapier, Make, or similar tools
- Experience designing simple interfaces, workflows, or prototypes in Figma or similar tools
- Experience working with ecommerce, consumer products, personalization, creative production, or make-on-demand businesses
- Experience collaborating with software engineers and preparing prototypes for production handoff
What You Can Expect
Working Conditions
- Work is performed in an office environment with low to moderate noise levels.
- Occasional lifting of up to 20 pounds.
- Position requires regular, continuous use of computer.
- Position requires regular sitting and standing.
- Position requires regular interaction with team members through the following methods: in-person, phone, Zoom, or email.
- May require occasional travel.
- This is a hybrid position; employees are expected to be in the office three days per week (Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday) with the option of working remotely two days (Wednesday and Friday).
The compensation range for this position is $110,000 - $130,000 annual salary.
PlanetArt offers a comprehensive benefits package, including:
- Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance
- Life Insurance
- 401(k) with matching
- Pet Insurance
- Mental Health Benefits
- Comprehensive Time Off Program, including Vacation, Sick Days, Paid Holidays, and Floating Holidays
- Employee Product Discounts