AI Product Engineer / Technical Product Builder

AI Product Engineer / Technical Product Builder Company: XP Marketing / XPM Labs / XPM.agency Type: Part-time contractor Location: Remote, preference for Colombia / LATAM Language: Fluent English with strong communication skills Hours: 10–15 focused hours/week Budget: Approximately $1,500/month with future growth opportunities Time Zone: Must overlap with U.S. Central Time THE ROLE XPM is looking for a hands-on AI Product Engineer / Technical Product Builder who can turn ideas into finished products. Our biggest bottleneck is not ideas. It is shipping. I need someone who can understand a messy idea, challenge it, simplify it, quickly visualize it, and then personally build it. This is not a traditional project manager role. You should sit somewhere between a product thinker, full-stack builder, and automation engineer. The goal is simple: Help us ship more while getting the founder out of the technical weeds. HOW WE WORK: 15 / 80 / 5 First 15%: We Think Together I bring the customer problem, idea, or opportunity. Together we decide: Is this worth building? Will it create or protect revenue? Is the payoff worth the effort? What is the simplest useful V1? What should we NOT build? You are expected to push back when something is unnecessary, overbuilt, or poorly timed. Middle 80%: You Own It Once we agree to build, you take ownership. That may include: Rapid mockups Lightweight PRDs UX and workflows Frontend and backend development APIs and webhooks Databases and data pipelines n8n and automation Dashboards AI agents and LLM integrations Testing and debugging QA and documentation GitHub and ClickUp management Client implementation If you hit something you do not know, figure it out first. If a specialist is genuinely needed, recommend one, but you still own the outcome. Final 5%: Founder Review Bring back something working. Demo it, explain what changed, what you left out, known issues, and what should happen next. Nothing goes into production without founder approval. WHAT YOU’LL HELP BUILD Current projects include: XPM Client Portal Client KPI dashboards Automated client onboarding AI-assisted Systems Checks Marketing reporting systems CRM automations Digital marketing data learning loops / Recursive Learning Paid media optimization systems Client data pipelines Sandbox to Production AI agents The client experience should be simple. The AI, data, and automation complexity should happen behind the scenes. WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR You should be able to: Build real software Create strong mockups quickly Understand product and UX Work with APIs and webhooks Work with databases Build automations Integrate AI models Use Git and GitHub comfortably Debug independently Learn unfamiliar tools quickly Use AI coding and design tools heavily Finish what you start Our stack includes Codex, Claude Code, Gemini, GitHub, n8n, GoHighLevel, BigQuery, Supabase/Postgres, Google Cloud, Railway, Airtable, ClickUp, WordPress, and marketing APIs. You do not need experience with every tool. You do need to be able to figure things out quickly. PRODUCT PHILOSOPHY We prefer: Working over perfect. Simple over overbuilt. Revenue impact over technical novelty. One shipped V1 over five half-built projects. Existing tools over custom code when they solve the problem. You should be comfortable telling me: “We can build this, but I don’t think we should build it right now.” And explaining why. WEEKLY RHYTHM We will typically meet twice per week. Beginning of week: Prioritize, scope, make decisions, and remove blockers. End of week: Demo what shipped, review problems, and decide what happens next. Between meetings, I expect independent execution. THIS ROLE IS NOT FOR YOU IF You primarily manage tickets. You need perfectly written requirements. You need constant direction. You are a strategist who does not build. You over-engineer everything. You say yes to every founder idea. You regularly get projects to 80% and stop. APPLICATION I am attaching XPM’s brand/design system to this job posting. As part of your application, I want you to create a quick visual concept for an XPM Client Portal using that brand system. The mockup does not need to work. I am testing whether you can quickly go from limited context to a thoughtful, well-designed product concept using modern AI tools. Imagine you are designing a client portal for a modernization company with a focus on marketing and management tools. A client should be able to log in and quickly understand things such as: Marketing performance Goals and KPIs Current projects Important insights Approvals or actions needed Recent progress Recommended next steps Use your judgment. You do not need to include everything. Create at least: 1. A main client dashboard 2. One deeper view, such as marketing performance, SEO, campaigns, projects, reporting, goals, or approvals Use whatever tools you want: Figma, Stitch, v0, Lovable, Claude, Codex, Gemini, Replit, Framer, Cursor, or anything else. This is meant to be a rapid concept, not free production work. Do not spend excessive time on it. WITH YOUR APPLICATION, SEND: 1. Your XPM Client Portal mockup. 2. A short explanation of what you prioritized, what you left out, and any assumptions you made. 3. One product you personally helped take from a messy idea to a finished product. 4. Evidence of previous work: GitHub, Loom, screenshots, live products, or similar. 5. An example of something you recommended not building and why. 6. A short explanation of your current AI development workflow. 7. Your experience with frontend, backend, APIs, databases, automation, AI integrations, and GitHub. 8. Your hourly rate and weekly availability. Start your application with: SHIP IT INTERVIEW If your application and mockup are strong, we will meet to review your concept. Be prepared to explain: What you prioritized Why you structured the portal that way How you used the brand system What AI tools you used What you would change with more context What you would build first What you intentionally would NOT build yet I may challenge some of your decisions. I want someone who can defend good thinking, accept good feedback, and change direction when the evidence supports it. PAID TRIAL The strongest candidate will receive a paid trial: Ship XPM Client Portal V1. The portal is already mostly built. Your job will be to understand the existing product, finish it, improve the UX, fix issues, QA it, and prepare it for production. Target: 1 week / 10–15 hours. SUCCESS Thirty days in, one thing should be obvious: More products are shipping and the founder is spending less time building them. If you are a high-agency builder who likes turning messy ideas into working products, I’d like to talk.