AI/ML Founding Engineer

Our client is a pre-seed startup that is building AI agents to watch and understand videos, so humans don't have to. Their platform extracts insights, structures data, and automates workflows from vast video libraries. As a three-person "rocketship," they have already secured a $240K ARR customer within nine months of founding and have raised a $3M pre-seed round. This is a chance to shape the core AI system at a company with massive growth potential. Our client is looking for a Founding Engineer with an AI/ML background to design and orchestrate multi-model AI pipelines for video intelligence. This role offers founding-level ownership, allowing you to shape both the product and the AI foundation. You'll work on cutting-edge problems, with a focus on optimization and productionizing AI systems. You will be responsible for: Architecting workflows for video search, tagging, and agentic systems. Developing evaluation frameworks for accuracy, latency, and cost. Optimizing prompts, embeddings, RAG pipelines, and model fine-tuning. Working with vector databases like Milvus and Typesense. Productionizing systems on cloud infrastructure like GCP and Temporal. Requirements We are seeking a scrappy, high-ownership engineer with a strong background in shipping AI/ML systems in a production environment. The ideal candidate has a genuine curiosity about AI and a willingness to adapt to a fast-paced, chaotic startup culture. Must-Haves: 3–5 years of experience shipping AI/ML systems in production. Experience in an early-stage startup (seed/Series A). Proficiency in Python and the modern ML stack (PyTorch, Hugging Face). Strong skills with LLM/VLM APIs, embeddings, and RAG systems. Experience in self-driving, robotics, computer vision, or video intelligence. Willingness to work in-person, 5 days a week, in San Francisco. Bonus Points: A STEM degree from a top-tier university. Experience with large-scale video intelligence or recommendation systems. Familiarity with vector databases. Benefits Salary: $150,000–$200,000 Equity: 0.5%–1.5% Visa Sponsorship: Available Due to the high volume of applications we anticipate, we regret that we are unable to provide individual feedback to all candidates. If you do not hear back from us within 4 weeks of your application, please assume that you have not been successful on this occasion. We genuinely appreciate your interest and wish you the best in your job search. Commitment to Equality and Accessibility: At MLabs, we are committed to offer equal opportunities to all candidates. We ensure no discrimination, accessible job adverts, and providing information in accessible formats. Our goal is to foster a diverse, inclusive workplace with equal opportunities for all. If you need any reasonable adjustments during any part of the hiring process or you would like to see the job-advert in an accessible format please let us know at the earliest opportunity by emailing human-resources@mlabs.city. MLabs Ltd collects and processes the personal information you provide such as your contact details, work history, resume, and other relevant data for recruitment purposes only. This information is managed securely in accordance with MLabs Ltd’s Privacy Policy and Information Security Policy, and in compliance with applicable data protection laws. Your data may be shared only with clients and trusted partners where necessary for recruitment purposes. You may request the deletion of your data or withdraw your consent at any time by contacting legal@mlabs.city.