Application Engineer

Job Title: Applications Engineer - Niche 3Duration 6+ MonthsLocation: Beaverton, OR About the Role We are looking for a forward-thinking technologist who sits at the intersection of modern software development and applied AI.This is not a traditional developer role — it is a transformation role.You will inherit a production Assortment Planning that Sport Planners rely on daily to build multi-season demand forecasts, manage style-level assortment plans, and support the Line Planning process across Footwear, Apparel, and Equipment.Today, the tool is Excel and VBA-based. Tomorrow, it needs to be something fundamentally better.Your mission is to reimagine how planners interact with Assortment and Demand data — reducing cycle times from weeks to hours, replacing manual macro-driven workflows with intelligent, AI-augmented experiences, and making the platform resilient enough to evolve as business needs change.You will lead this evolution end-to-end: from vision through architecture through delivery.Key Responsibilities AI Strategy & Transformation Define and execute the technical vision for modernizing the LRAP platform, moving fromExcel/VBA to a scalable, cloud-native architectureIdentify high-impact opportunities to apply AI/ML — such as forecast generation, anomaly detection in plan inputs, intelligent defaults, and natural-language plan adjustments — andprioritize them against business valueServe as the team's AI thought leader: evaluate emerging tools, frameworks, and paradigms (LLMs, copilots, agentic workflows) and translate them into practical capabilities for Sport PlanningPlatform Development & Architecture Design and build the next-generation LRAP platform, enabling planners to construct and adjust multi-season demand forecasts at Mid-Level through Style/Geo granularityArchitect data pipelines that replace manual CSV ingestion with automated, real-time data flows from upstream systemsBuild intuitive interfaces that let planners filter, slice, and manipulate plans (by Sport, Gender,Category, Season, Silhouette, Geo) with the speed and flexibility they have today — without the fragility of spreadsheet macrosEnsure seamless version control, import/export, and plan comparison capabilities that planners depend on for seasonal continuityPlanner Partnership & Delivery Partner directly with Sport Planners to understand their workflows, pain points, and decision making processes — turning planner feedback into rapid iterationsCollapse the feedback-to-deployment cycle: drive a culture where plan adjustments and tool enhancements are delivered in hours, not weeksOwn the end-to-end delivery lifecycle: requirements, design, development, testing, deployment, and ongoing supportMaintain and support the existing LRAP tool during the transition period, ensuring zero disruption to active planning cyclesTeam Enablement & Influence Mentor teammates on AI-first development practices and modern engineering approachesAdvocate for and demonstrate how AI can augment (not replace) planner expertise — building trust through practical, visible resultsContribute to broader technology strategy by sharing learnings and patterns that can scale acrossthe Planning organizationQualifications Required 5+ years of software development experience with strong proficiency in at least two of: Python, TypeScript/JavaScript, SQL, or cloud-native frameworksDemonstrated experience applying AI/ML in a product or business context — not just experimentation, but solutions that users depend onProven ability to take a legacy tool or process and modernize it end-to-end (architecture, data layer, UX, deployment)Experience designing and building data-intensive applications — working with large, structured datasets, aggregation logic, and multi-dimensional planning gridsStrong communication skills with the ability to translate between technical and business stakeholders; comfortable leading workshops, demos, and whiteboard sessions with non-technical plannersSelf-directed mindset: you can take ownership of a problem space, define the roadmap, and execute with minimal directionStrongly Preferred Working knowledge of demand planning, assortment planning, or merchandise financial planning processes — understanding how planners think about seasonal horizons, style-level forecasting, and geo-level allocationExperience with Excel/VBA automation tools and an appreciation for why users love spreadsheets (flexibility, speed, visibility) — and how to preserve those qualities in a modern platformHands-on experience with LLMs, prompt engineering, AI agents, or copilot-style interfaces in an enterprise settingFamiliarity with cloud data platforms (e.g., Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery) and modern data orchestration toolsBackground in retail, consumer products, or supply chain technologyNice to Have Experience with forecasting models (statistical, ML-based) for demand or sales planningFamiliarity with planning tools such as Anaplan, o9, Kinaxis, or similarExperience building tools that replaced or augmented spreadsheet-based workflowsBackground in sport or lifestyle retail