Founding AI Engineer
$160k - $250kAimhire
Title: Founding AI Engineer (Research & Systems)
Target: PhDs & Research Masters from Stanford, MIT, Berkeley, CMU focused on AI, ML, NLP, Agents.
Location: San Francisco, CA | On-Site
Compensation: $160K - $250K | 0.8% - 2.0% Equity
Visa Sponsorship: Available (H1B, OPT, F1, TN, O1)
About Us
We are a seed-stage startup, backed by Khosla Ventures and leading AI researchers , building the next generation of reasoning systems for AI agents. Our mission is to move beyond simple RAG and chain-of-thought, creating models that can dynamically plan, execute, and learn in complex environments. Our technical founder is a former Research Lead from Google DeepMind .
The Role
We are looking for our first AI hire to own the research and implementation of our core agentic models. You will be responsible for turning groundbreaking research papers into robust, scalable systems. This is a rare opportunity to work on cutting-edge problems like long-horizon planning, tool-use optimization, and self-improving agents, with the compute resources to test your ideas at scale.
Ideal Profile
- Currently pursuing or recently completed a PhD/MSc in Computer Science, AI, or a related field.
- Publication record at top conferences (NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, ACL) is a huge plus.
- Deep, hands-on experience with PyTorch, transformer architectures, and reinforcement learning.
- Experience with frameworks like LangChain, LangGraph, or AutoGen is preferred, but a strong fundamental understanding of what they abstract is more important.
- You read ML papers and immediately think about the implementation details and edge cases.
- You are passionate about both theoretical rigor and shipping code that works.
Apply if you've done research in: Multi-agent systems, RLHF, reasoning, planning, memory architectures, or program synthesis.
$150k - $250k
...Bronco's mission is to keep Moore's law going by building AI agents that automate large swaths of repetitive chip verification... ...at leading-edge process nodes. About the Role As a Founding AI Engineer, you will own the core intelligence of Bronco's agents. That...Suggested- ...This is a job that Jill, our AI Recruiter, is recruiting for on behalf of one of our customers. She will pick the best candidates... ...The next step is to speak to Jack. Job Title: AI-Native Founding Engineer Company Description: Fancysauce Inc. - AI-native load...Suggested
$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...SuggestedWork at officeImmediate start3 days per week- ...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...Suggested
- ...Founding Ai Engineer At Falconer, we're transforming how engineers create, access, and share knowledge with each other and their AI agents. We're looking for a Founding AI Engineer to help us build an AI-powered knowledge platform that companies love. As a founding...SuggestedWork experience placementWork at officeFlexible hours
- ...software that delights users and measurably improves patient outcomes, you’ll feel at home here. The role We're hiring a Founding AI Engineer to design and ship the AI systems at the core of our product. You'll work in a fast, hands-on environment, iterating quickly...Full timeShift work3 days per week
- Gallop Intelligence Inc. is seeking a Founding AI Engineer to lead the development of advanced AI systems that modernize legacy software for Fortune 500 companies. This role offers significant ownership and requires expertise in production-grade software development and...
- A technology startup in San Francisco is seeking a Founding AI Engineer to develop an AI-powered knowledge platform. You will participate in product development from architecture to deployment, optimize systems, and implement backend services. Candidates should have an...Flexible hours
- Why This Role Exists This role exists to turn GTM signal into company-wide execution. As Revic’s Founding GTM AI Engineer, you will work directly with Revic’s CEO, Head of Revenue, and Head of Engineering to design and build the systems that translate real customer conversations...Remote work
$180k - $220k
Who we are: Cooper AI is building AI for commercial insurance, taking the manual, time‑consuming work off professionals’ plates... ...insurance industry. About the role: We’re hiring the Founding Engineering team for a new hyper‑growth AI business unit. You’ll build AI...Full timeWork experience placementLocal areaWork from home$140k - $200k
Founding Forward Deployed AI Engineer Job type: Full Time · Department: Engineering · Work type: On-Site San Francisco, California, United States About Fulcrum The $1.5 trillion insurance industry is powered by brokers. Every business needs insurance, and the brokerage...Full timeWork at officeImmediate start- Role Overview Founding AI Engineer responsible for building core AI systems that analyze and improve engineering team productivity. This is a ground-floor role with full ownership of AI systems, working directly with founders to define product direction and technical architecture...
- ...backlog of legacy enterprise systems blocking AI adoption. It is humanly impossible to... ...these systems for Fortune 500 companies. Founded by veterans from Lovable, Google, and... ...world. What you will do As a Founding AI Engineer, you will have outsized impact. You will...
- B Capital is seeking a founding member for its Applied AI team in San Francisco. You will be crucial in building the Forward Deployed Engineering function, bridging AI research with real-world deployments. This role requires a deep software engineering background, experience...
- ...specialist in San Francisco, California. In this founding role, you will work closely with the CTO to design and productionize AI systems aimed at modernizing legacy... ...will rapidly prototype features, establish engineering standards, and engage with various industry...
$100k - $150k
...This is a job that Jill, our AI Recruiter, is recruiting for on behalf of one of our customers. She will pick the best candidates... ...network The next step is to speak to Jack. Job Title: Founding AI Engineer - Agent Runtime Salary: $100k-$150k + Equity Company...- A leading AI startup in San Francisco seeks an AI Engineer to join their founding team. In this role, you will develop and optimize advanced AI models that support the logistics industry, which plays a critical role in the economy. The position requires hands-on experience...
- Jack & Jill is seeking a Founding Engineer to architect an essential governance layer for AI adoption in regulated enterprises. Located in San Francisco, this role offers a high-impact trajectory with significant equity. The ideal candidate will build integrations with...
- Wildcard is looking for a Founding Engineer to lead the development of their AI commerce platform in San Francisco. The role requires a strong full-stack engineering capability, with experience in fast-paced startups and a clear ownership mentality. You will shape product...
$130k - $200k
This is a job that Jill, our AI Recruiter, is recruiting for on behalf of one of our customers. She will pick the best candidates... ...from Jack's network. The next step is to speak to Jack. Founding AI Engineer Salary: $130,000 - $200,000 + Equity Company Description:...Immediate start- A tech startup in San Francisco is seeking a Founding Engineer to build one working AI application each week, optimizing product performance and achieving revenue milestones. The ideal candidate has over 5 years of experience in software production, with expertise in TypeScript...
$130k - $200k
A fast-growing Healthtech AI startup is seeking a Founding AI Engineer to develop LLM-powered systems for medical diagnosis and treatment. This role offers the opportunity to impact patient outcomes directly by building production-ready AI solutions. Requirements include...- Stealth AI Infrastructure Startup is seeking a Founding / Early Engineer for real-time AI systems in healthcare. You'll take ownership of GPU-powered systems that operate locally in clinics, ensuring AI functions during patient care. Required expertise includes TensorRT...
$150k - $185k
Early-career founding AI role for a recent graduate or engineer with roughly two years of experience who has already shipped AI systems to real users and wants to grow into senior ownership across agents, retrieval, evals, observability, and document or voice pipelines...Full timeInternshipWork at office- David Joseph & Company in San Francisco is seeking a Founding Engineer for an early-stage AI company developing an AI-native operating system. This role offers product architecture ownership and execution from design to deployment, ideal for a resourceful engineer who thrives...
$140k - $220k
Legion Health seeks a Founding Engineer in San Francisco to own the infrastructure for their autonomous mental healthcare system. This role involves... ...architecture using Node.js and TypeScript, integrating AI agents, and ensuring compliance with healthcare regulations. The...Flexible hours- Strategic Employment Partners (SEP) is seeking a founding engineer for their healthcare AI platform based in San Francisco. You will directly interface with therapists, ship code daily, and play a key role in shaping the product and engineering culture. Ideal candidates...
- A leading healthcare tech startup in San Francisco is seeking a founding engineer to build and scale AI infrastructure. The role involves collaborating with a skilled team to shape the company's product and culture. Candidates should have 1 to 10+ years of experience in...
$160k - $210k
Alpha Associates Recruitment is seeking a Founding Engineer in San Francisco, working for an early-stage startup that enhances access to therapy... ...skills, focusing on operational problem-solving using AI. Candidates should have 2+ years of software engineering experience...Work at office$100k - $150k
Most AI systems generate text. We’re building one that makes decisions . Pareto Agent... ...in San Francisco, the company is founded by serial entrepreneurs who have successfully... ...investors. The Role As our Founding Software Engineer — Studio , you will own the full product...Summer workWork at officeFlexible hours
Do you want to receive more vacancies?
Subscribe and receive similar vacancies to Founding AI Engineer. Be the first to apply!
- machine learning ai engineer San Francisco, CA
- senior ai engineer San Francisco, CA
- ai engineer remote San Francisco, CA
- ai ml engineer San Francisco, CA
- ai engineer San Francisco, CA
- ai developer San Francisco, CA
- ai research engineer San Francisco, CA
- ai prompt engineer San Francisco, CA
- ai solutions engineer
- machine learning ai engineer


