Job Description
About Ropes & Gray Ropes & Gray is a preeminent global law firm. The firm has been ranked in the top three on The American Lawyer's prestigious A-List for eight consecutive years and #1 on Law.com's UK A-List twice in the past three years - rankings that honor the "best of the best" law firms. The firm has approximately 2,500 lawyers and professionals serving clients in major centers of business, finance, technology, and government in Boston, Chicago, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Milan, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. The firm has consistently been recognized for its leading practices in many areas, including asset management, private equity, M&A, finance, real estate, tax, antitrust, life sciences, health care, intellectual property, litigation & enforcement, privacy & cybersecurity, and business restructuring. Ropes & Gray is an equal opportunity employer. Overview The Senior Applications Developer is responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining intelligent, AI-enhanced web and database solutions within the Microsoft ecosystem, primarily using C#, JavaScript, and modern AI frameworks and services. This developer should be passionate about coding and emerging AI technologies, thrive on solving complex business challenges through innovative approaches—including AI-driven automation and agentic workflows—and be able to manage multiple concurrent priorities spanning new AI-powered software development as well as applications maintenance and support. Individual must have a strong technical foundation in both traditional software engineering and modern AI development practices, including prompt engineering, AI agent orchestration, and the integration of large language models into enterprise applications. A full understanding of common coding standards, design patterns, configuration management, and full life cycle systems development is essential. Individual plays a critical role on a high-performing Application Development team that is actively embracing AI to transform how the firm builds and delivers software. The team works effectively across Information Services and with the business stakeholders we serve. Should have the ability to present complex technical information—including AI concepts and capabilities—to a wide range of audiences, be a fast learner of rapidly evolving AI technologies, be a creative thinker, share skills and information freely, and be able to mentor and train other developers on AI-assisted development practices. Effective communication skills a must. Responsibilities ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS: Develop and support maintainable, scalable, efficient, and effective solutions—including AI-powered features and intelligent automation—that contribute to and adhere to architecture and application framework standards and good coding practices across multiple solution patterns. Design, build, and maintain AI agents and copilot experiences using Microsoft Copilot Studio and related AI orchestration platforms, integrating them into existing business workflows and applications. Leverage agentic coding tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, and similar AI-assisted development environments to accelerate development velocity, improve code quality, and establish best practices for AI-augmented software engineering across the team. Evaluate, prototype, and integrate AI services—including Azure OpenAI Services, large language models, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) patterns, and semantic search—into enterprise applications to deliver measurable business value. Prepare technical specifications, design documentation, code walk-throughs, test plans, and documentation of completed code, including documentation of AI model configurations, prompt templates, and agent behavior specifications. Make quality a priority by thoroughly unit testing and integration testing code—including AI component validation and prompt regression testing—before releasing it to QA and Production. Collaborate effectively and willingly with all IS departments, business and QA analysts, project managers, business stakeholders, and vendors. Help define requirements and explain the capabilities and limitations of various systems, including the responsible and effective use of AI technologies. Review requirements documentation thoroughly and confirm requirements with solutions architect and business analyst before work begins. Raise concerns and identify gaps in requirements, particularly as they relate to AI feasibility, data readiness, and ethical considerations. Stay current with the rapidly evolving AI landscape, proactively identifying opportunities to apply new AI tools, models, and techniques