Founding AI Engineering Lead

Founding AI Engineering Lead | Early-stage AI Startup (Stealth) New York (3 days/week in office), open to San Francisco $250k–$300k + meaningful founding equity Existing US work authorisation required (no sponsorship available)I'm working with a small, seriously impressive team building at the intersection of AI and enterprise software. They're hiring their most senior engineer, someone who wants to own the technical direction of a business from its earliest stages while still spending most of their time building.It's one of the more interesting founding engineering opportunities I've worked on this year.What they're buildingWithout giving too much away, they're tackling some genuinely difficult problems around making AI systems work reliably in complex, real-world environments.There's a huge difference between getting an AI agent working in a demo and building something that enterprises can actually depend on. That's where this team is focused.Think agentic systems, complex data infrastructure, challenging architectural decisions and plenty of problems that don't have obvious answers.I can share much more about the product and the wider opportunity on a call.Why I rate themThere's no shortage of early-stage AI startups with an interesting idea and a pitch deck. What's refreshing about this team is that they've already turned their ideas into a product that some of the biggest businesses in the world are paying for.They're small, moving quickly and have genuine commercial momentum.I've also really enjoyed getting to know the people behind the business. They're ambitious, pragmatic and genuinely good to work with. The sort of team where a strong engineer can have an enormous impact.The roleYou'll work closely with the founders, taking ownership of the technical direction while remaining very hands-on.You'll be responsible for:Designing and building production-grade AI systems and agent workflows.Tackling challenging problems across data infrastructure, retrieval and backend architecture.Building reliable, scalable software that can handle demanding enterprise requirements.Making important architectural decisions without layers of process or management.Helping shape the engineering team, standards and culture as the company grows.This is a proper builder's role, not an engineering management position dressed up as one.There's a genuine opportunity to grow into engineering leadership as the business scales, but right now they need someone who loves writing code and solving difficult problems.Who I'm looking forYou've built and shipped agentic AI systems in production. This is essential.You're a strong software engineer, comfortable working across the stack with TypeScript and Python.You've experienced the early stages of a startup, ideally pre-Series A, and enjoy the ambiguity that comes with it.You can make sound technical decisions, challenge assumptions and take ownership without needing much direction.You're pragmatic, commercially minded and care about getting things into customers' hands.Additional depth in ML would be a bonus.You don't need to have managed a team before. This is about technical ability, judgement and the appetite to build something from an early stage.ProcessA straightforward interview process, combining technical assessment with time getting to know the founders and the opportunity.If this sounds interesting, apply or drop me a message. I'm happy to share much more about the business, the product and the people behind it on a call.