Founding AI Engineer
Tangerine Search, Inc.
Voice Agent Pipeline Developer
Our client is building the conversational voice layer for how people work. People already use dictation for input and text-to-speech for output. They are going further: a single continuous conversation where users can stay in flow, get responses back, and actually get things done without stepping out of their workflow.
They are initially building for people with vision impairment — a community where this type of interface is not a nice-to-have, but essential. However, this is not a niche product. The same way curb cuts were designed for wheelchair users and ultimately benefited everyone, accessibility is being used as the design constraint to build something meaningfully better.
The long-term vision is a product that scales far beyond accessibility use cases — ultimately serving hundreds of millions of sighted users who want to stay productive while commuting, working away from a screen, or remaining in flow throughout their day.
What You'll Own
The quality of our AI agent is the product. You'll own the intelligence layer, this isn't a research role. This is the person who makes the agent reliable, fast, and smart enough that users trust it with their actual work.
- Voice agent pipeline: Designing and optimizing the full model orchestration chain for real-time, low-latency conversational interactions. You'll decide which models to use, how to stitch them together, and how to make the whole thing feel instant.
- Prompt engineering and evals: Crafting, testing, and iterating on prompts across the product. Building eval frameworks that catch regressions before users do.
- Agentic workflow orchestration: Building multi-step reasoning and action-taking capabilities that let users manage email, calendar, and documents through natural conversation. Handling context management, memory, and deciding when the agent should act versus ask.
- You'll continuously make hard tradeoffs between quality, latency, and cost across the stack.
Requirements
- 2–5 years of experience as a software engineer
- Experience building and shipping AI agents
Location & Work Policy
- On-site in San Francisco
- Full-time role
Tech Stack
- Python
- JavaScript
- TypeScript
- LLM APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, etc.)
- LLM evals
- Applied GenAI tooling
From Tangerine Search:
Tangerine Search is an equal opportunity agency that values diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform crucial job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.
- ...Founding AI Engineer We founded Bild AI to tackle the mess that is blueprint reading, cost estimation, and permit applications in construction. It's a tough technical problem that requires the newest CV and AI approaches, and we’re impact-driven to make it more efficient...SuggestedFull timeWork at officeRelocation
- ...technology that works for them, not against them. Revic is an AI-native sales acceleration engine built to uplift sales professionals. We handle the... ...GTM signal into company-wide execution. As Revic’s Founding GTM AI Engineer, you will work directly with Revic’s CEO...SuggestedRemote jobFull time
- ...Who we are: Cooper is an AI coworker for the insurance industry. Getting a business insured involves mountains of paperwork... ...global insurance industry. About the role: We're hiring the Founding Engineering team for a new hyper-growth AI business unit. You’ll build AI...SuggestedFull time
- ...For phase 1, we're training foundational AI models that create building code-compliant... ...models, geometric and physics engines from scratch to transform how the world designs... ...from raw 2D or spatial data using AI. As a Founding AI Engineer for Scan-to-BIM on our core AI...SuggestedFull timeVisa sponsorship
- ...Founding Engineers: Build the AI That Builds AI Full-time • Founding Team • Engineering • On-site (India or US) What We're Building We're tackling one of the biggest constraints in modern artificial intelligence: AI is still built through slow, manual engineering...SuggestedFull time
$230k - $300k
...place the best people in the right roles to drive long-term success for both clients and candidates. Title of Role: Founding AI Engineer (Agentic Systems / Full-Stack) Location: San Francisco, CA Company Stage of Funding: Seed Stage (~$7.5M raised) Office...Work at officeImmediate start3 days per week$225k - $255k
...the Role We're a small, product-focused team building an AI-powered B2B pricing platform that helps companies... ...to real-time deal guidance and discount governance. As our Founding AI Engineer , you'll own the evaluation systems, feedback loops, and LLM...Relocation- ...Founding AI Engineer Weave (YC W25) is building the definitive platform for understanding and improving how engineering teams work. We believe the way engineering output is measured today is fundamentally broken and that modern AI can give teams a far more accurate...
$160k - $200k
...Our client is a seed-stage startup building agentic AI for the built world: multimodal agents that review... ...— one of the very few places in tech where an engineer works directly on the housing crisis. This is a founding-engineer seat on a tiny, high-ownership team. Founded...Full timeWork at officeVisa sponsorshipRelocation packageWeekend work$120k - $180k
...Job Description Job Description About the Role This is a founding engineering role at a seed-stage AI startup building the intelligence layer for the construction industry. The company's platform transforms messy blueprints, permits, and construction documents into...Full timeWork at officeRelocation$120k - $200k
Our client, an AI-driven legal tech company, is hiring a Founding AI Engineer to join the team in San Francisco, CA. The successful candidate will design and deploy production-grade LLM systems for a next-generation legal technology platform, while also transforming complex...Full time$160k - $210k
...Job Description Job Description Mason AI is on the frontier of agentic AI for the built world: we're the technical leaders... ...blueprints are buildable and safe. We’re looking for a Founding AI Engineer to improve Mason's accuracy on our evals. You will go deep on...Full timeWork at officeFlexible hoursWeekend workWeekday work$120k - $180k
...Job Description Job Description About the Role This is a founding engineering position at an early-stage construction technology startup building an AI intelligence layer that transforms messy blueprints, permits, and construction documents into actionable cost estimates...Full timeWork at officeRelocation$120k - $200k
...120,000 - $200,000 + 0.5‑2% Equity + Flexible PTO Are you an AI engineer who wants to build and own the core agentic systems powering an... ...intelligence, whilst benefiting from full autonomy and founding‑level equity? This is a rare opportunity to join a YC‑backed,...Full timeImmediate startFlexible hours$120k - $180k
...Job Description Job Description About the Role This is a founding AI engineering role at a seed-stage construction technology company building an intelligence layer that transforms messy blueprints, permits, and construction documents into actionable insights — making...Full timeWork at officeRemote workRelocation$160k - $200k
...Description About the Company A seed-stage company (founded 2025) on the frontier of agentic AI for the built world, building the technical leader in... ...affordable. It's one of very few places in tech where an engineer can work directly on housing, and that mission —...Full timeVisa sponsorshipWeekend work- At Middleware — one of the fastest-growing AI observability platforms — we're looking for a talented and experienced AI/ML founding engineer to join our team. You'll play a key role in building AI on our observability platform to detect and fix issues automatically. In...
- ...a huge opportunity to transform the trillion dollar legal industry using AI, and we are building a small, elite team to do it. The role We are looking for a Founding Applied AI Engineer to work at the core of our product. You will work directly with our CTO...Contract work
- Do you want to work at the intersection of AI, product, engineering, and real -world operations? \ \ Join a fast -growing technology startup building intelligent systems that optimize workflows, improve efficiency and implement AI for operations in industrial environments...Full timeImmediate start
- ...We’re hiring an AI Engineer to build the intelligence layer for the leading AI companion for language learning. You’ll own the core AI systems powering personalized conversations for millions of users. Language learning shouldn’t feel like an app — it should feel like...Full time
$150k - $225k
A modern technology company in San Francisco is looking for a Founding AI Engineer to design and build the intelligence layer for their innovative product. This role combines machine learning infrastructure and applied engineering to enhance user experience. Ideal candidates...- A pioneering tech company is seeking a Founding Forward Deployed Engineer to launch and manage AI systems in hotels across the U.S. This role involves real-time system deployment, debugging under pressure, and frequent travel. Ideal candidates are strong engineers comfortable...
$150k - $225k
...building the smart operating system for modern families. Most AI tools are designed for work life, but managing home life is... ...strengthen their communities. The Role We’re looking for an Founding AI Engineer to design, build, and scale the intelligence layer that powers...Full timeWork from homeFlexible hours$175k - $225k
...the Company Our client is an early-stage AI lab building foundation models in the... ...shapes both the product and the culture. Founded 2024 · ~5 people · Industry: AI, Consumer... ...The Role Our client is hiring a founding engineer to help build production-ready ML systems...Full timeH1bRelocationVisa sponsorship$200k - $250k
A fast-growing AI company in San Francisco seeks a Founding Engineer to architect and build core systems that power precision outbound for startups. Ideal candidates have 1-6 years of experience, strong full-stack expertise especially in TypeScript, React, Next.js, and...- Embedding VC is seeking a founding engineer to help build core products and systems. Work directly with the CEO and CTO as part of an experienced team. You will design AI systems, implement features, and enhance product usability. The ideal candidate has over 5 years of...Flexible hours
- ...Applied AI Engineer Atlas is the concierge and credit card built for those who expect more — unlocking coveted access across dining, travel, and lifestyle while making spending seamless and effortless. Our members are discerning, busy individuals who rely on Atlas...Work at office3 days per week
$155k - $180k
...to accelerate our growth. We were co-founded by Brian Overstreet and Travis May (founder... ...of risk-based contracting. Arbital AI allows users to interact with complex VBC... ...actionable. We are looking for an AI Engineer to help build our next-generation conversational...Full timeContract workWork at officeRemote workFlexible hours2 days per week- ...is a scalable, data science-first growth engine that gives B2C teams predictive clarity into... ...We're also co-building alongside leading AI companies. We're looking for an AI... ...THE ROLE You'll work directly with the founding team and across product, data, and GTM to...Full timeShift workNight shiftWeekend work
- ...Be one of the founding engineers at Nen, shaping the AI layer that powers automation across enterprise desktop environments at scale. The role Build and extend a multi-model agent loop across leading AI providers Benchmark models across cost, latency, and reliability...Full time
Do you want to receive more vacancies?
Subscribe and receive similar vacancies to Founding AI Engineer. Be the first to apply!
- ai ml engineer San Francisco, CA
- ai prompt engineer San Francisco, CA
- senior ai engineer San Francisco, CA
- ai research engineer San Francisco, CA
- machine learning ai engineer San Francisco, CA
- ai developer San Francisco, CA
- ai engineer San Francisco, CA
- ai engineer remote San Francisco, CA
- ai ml engineer
- entry level ai ml engineer



