R&D Software Engineer — Polyant & PlugSync

Please note that candidates must have the right to work in Italy and be based in the country for this role

The R&D team at Exelab

Exelab builds custom, AI-powered solutions around real business needs. Our R&D team explores new technical approaches, develops reusable software and turns useful experiments into capabilities that the wider company can put to work.

We are adding a mid-level engineer to strengthen this team, working alongside the R&D Lead across Polyant and PlugSync. Polyant is our runtime for AI agents; PlugSync is our integration and data synchronization platform. You will contribute to both products, with priorities and focus agreed with the R&D Lead.

You will take defined problems from investigation through implementation, testing and documentation. Some work will start as an experiment or proof of concept; other work will improve an existing feature, integration or operational workflow. You will help decide when an experiment is ready to become supported software and what is needed to make that transition safely.

This is a mid-level role for someone who has already delivered and maintained software in a professional setting. You should be comfortable making progress independently on a scoped piece of work, proposing an approach and raising uncertainties early. The R&D Lead will set priorities with you, provide technical guidance and review consequential architectural decisions.

You will work across Polyant and PlugSync over time, rather than splitting every day between them. The aim is sustained progress on agreed outcomes, with clear ownership of individual features or experiments.

• Build and improve scoped features, integrations and internal tools across Polyant and PlugSync.
• Investigate technical questions, build small prototypes and evaluate their usefulness before expanding them.
• Contribute to AI agent capabilities and workflows in Polyant, including LLM APIs, tool use, retrieval and evaluation.
• Develop and maintain API integrations and synchronization workflows in PlugSync, considering authentication, data mapping, retries, duplicate processing and error recovery.
• Turn validated prototypes into maintainable software with tests, documentation, observability and a clear deployment path.
• Use AI coding tools as part of everyday engineering, while checking correctness, security and maintainability.
• Contribute reusable CLI tools, skills, templates and playbooks when they address a demonstrated need in the product or delivery teams.
• Debug defects and operational issues in your areas, communicate what you find and improve the system to prevent recurrence.
• Share findings through concise documentation, demos and collaboration with delivery engineers when an R&D result is ready for adoption.

• Professional software development experience sufficient to independently deliver a scoped feature through implementation, review and release. Around 2–5 years is a useful guide; demonstrated ability matters more than tenure.
• Good working knowledge of TypeScript/Node.js or Python, and willingness to become productive in the other when the work requires it.
• Solid fundamentals in software design, databases, HTTP and APIs. A relevant degree or equivalent practical experience is welcome.
• Experience integrating external APIs and handling errors and data consistency beyond the happy path.
• Practical use of Git, automated tests and code review, with an understanding of CI/CD and deployment.
• Hands-on exposure to LLM APIs or agent tools, through professional or substantial personal work, and curiosity about how to make them reliable.
• Experience using AI coding assistants and the judgement to verify their output.
• Ability to break a problem into manageable steps, explain trade-offs, document decisions and ask for help before a blocker becomes a delivery risk.
• Fluent professional Italian and working English. Based in Italy, with availability for occasional in-person team days.
• Both TypeScript and Python, or experience working across backend and frontend.
• React, Next.js, NestJS or PostgreSQL, particularly for work on Polyant.
• Data synchronization, background jobs, webhooks, queues, idempotency or third-party platform integrations.
• Cloud services such as AWS, Docker, deployment pipelines or production monitoring.
• Agent evaluations, retrieval systems, developer tooling or open-source contributions.

• A dedicated role in Exelab's R&D team, contributing to two concrete products and reusable capabilities.
• Autonomy on scoped work, with technical guidance and regular feedback from the R&D Lead.
• A mix of product development and practical experimentation, with attention to shipping, learning and long-term maintainability.
• Room to grow toward broader product ownership, architecture or a senior R&D role.
• A remote-first working environment with occasional in-person team days.