Founding AI/ML Engineer (Production)

Founding AI/ML Engineer (Production) - California (SF/Palo Alto) $450k - $500k+ Base + Founding Equity

This role requires US Citizenship due to regulatory constraints.

Most of the Valley is obsessed with LLM wrappers for HR or marketing. We’re using them to run multi-ton autonomous machines; & fast.

We’re a Top 10 hard-tech startup with real hardware & real customers. We aren't a research lab & we don't do R&D for the sake of it. Our machines are in the field globally right now. We need a Founding AI/ML Engineer to build the production intelligence layer that turns complex logic into physical movement.

The Squad

You’ll be joining a high-density team from SpaceX, Palantir, & Anduril. We’ve cut out the corporate theater-no bloated meetings, no process for the sake of process, & zero ego. As a founding hire, you aren't just training models; you’re architecting the engine of the company.

The Work: Moving Atoms

In this role, an unreliable model isn't just a "bug"-it’s a physical failure. You’ll own the stack from fine-tuning to field deployment.

• Mission-Critical Logic: Fine-tuning & deploying models that handle real-time operational decisions where precision is the only metric that matters.
• The Pipeline: Building the RAG systems, data flywheels, & retrieval logic that allow our robots to understand their environment with sub-100ms latency.
• Hardened Evals: Designing the testing frameworks & grounding suites required for heavy hardware. You ensure the "reasoning" holds up when things get messy in the real world.
• Full Autonomy: You pick the tools, define the architecture, & own the deployment.

The Profile

We want builders who are bored with digital-only products & want to solve hard problems grounded in physics.

• Production Grit: You’ve shipped & maintained ML systems in high-bar environments (SpaceX, Tesla, or similar).
• Systems Thinking: You understand the full lifecycle-from raw telemetry & fine-tuning to inference optimization & hardware constraints.
• High-Bar Pedigree: You come from a place where "production-ready" means it works every time, & shipping broken code isn't an option.

The Deal

• Comp: $450k - $500k+ base + Meaningful Founding Equity.
• Location: SF / Palo Alto - On-site.
• Process: 1 week, 0 take-homes. No leet code. We move as fast as we ship.

1. Technical Deep Dive: A conversation about a complex system you actually built & shipped.
2. Practical Pairing: Solving a real-world production problem with the team. No Leetcode.
3. Founder Chat: A focus on judgment, trade-offs, & vision.

If you’re ready to build something that actually moves, let’s talk.

TL;DR

• Role: Founding AI/ML (Production focus)
• The Mission: Critical intelligence for heavy robotics
• The Team: Ex-SpaceX, Palantir, Anduril
• The Comp: $450k - $500k+ base + Equity
• The Speed: 1-week process. Zero BS.

All applicants will receive a response within 72 hours.

Equal Opportunity

We're hiring for an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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linkedin.com/in/sufyanbashir/