Lead AI Egineer

AI Futures; Berlin; Vor Ort; EUR 120.000 - 180.000; Vollzeit

Benefits dieser Stelle

Equity participation

Competitive salary

Onsite in Berlin

Zusammenfassung

AI Futures in Berlin is seeking a Lead AI Engineer to shape a fast-growing, AI-native product. You’ll own AI architecture, lead hands-on technical delivery and help establish engineering standards as the team scales.

You will work closely with founders, mentor engineers, and drive product strategy while remaining deeply hands-on with production AI systems, Generative AI, and LLM orchestration. The role is fully onsite in Berlin with significant equity and the chance to influence hiring and the

Qualifikationen

• Extensive hands-on experience building production AI systems.
• Proven track record with LLMs and Generative AI.
• Experience leading or mentoring engineers in a startup/scale-up.
• Strong ownership in ambiguous, fast-moving environments.
• Background in software architecture and production engineering.

Aufgaben

• Lead the design and development of production AI and LLM applications.
• Build and scale Generative AI, RAG, and Agentic AI systems.
• Make key architectural and technical decisions.
• Remain hands-on across engineering and delivery.
• Own complex technical problems from concept to production.
• Establish engineering standards and best practices.
• Mentor and support other engineers.
• Collaborate with founders on product and technology strategy.
• Prioritize technical initiatives as the company scales.
• Contribute to hiring and building the future AI engineering team.
• Continuously evaluate emerging AI technologies for product value.

Kenntnisse

AI Engineering

Machine Learning

Software Engineering

LLMs & Generative AI

RAG & AI Agents

Vector Databases

LLM Orchestration

Startup Experience

Leadership / Mentoring

Product-minded

Jobbeschreibung

Lead AI Engineer | AI-Native Startup | Berlin

Location: Berlin (5 days onsite)

Employment: Full-time

Package: Competitive salary + Equity

AI Futures has been exclusively retained to identify a Lead AI Engineer for a fast-growing, well-funded AI startup based in Berlin.

The company is building an AI-native product from the ground up and is looking for a senior engineer who can combine deep hands‑on technical ability with the potential to take increasing ownership of the engineering team as the business scales.

This is a hands‑on leadership position. You’ll still be building, designing architecture and solving difficult AI engineering problems, while helping establish the technical standards, processes and culture of a growing team.

The Role

You’ll work closely with the founders and engineering team to build and scale production AI systems.

You’ll have significant influence over AI architecture, engineering decisions, product development and technical direction, with the opportunity to play a major role in how the wider engineering organisation develops.

Responsibilities include:

• Lead the design and development of production AI and LLM applications.
• Build and scale Generative AI, RAG and Agentic AI systems.
• Make key architectural and technical decisions.
• Remain highly hands‑on across engineering and delivery.
• Take ownership of complex technical problems from concept through to production.
• Establish engineering standards and best practices.
• Mentor and support other engineers.
• Work directly with founders on product and technology strategy.
• Help prioritise technical initiatives as the company scales.
• Contribute to hiring and building the future AI engineering team.
• Continuously evaluate emerging AI technologies and determine where they can create genuine product value.

Your Background

• Strong professional experience across AI Engineering, Machine Learning or Software Engineering.
• Hands‑on experience building production applications using LLMs and Generative AI.
• Experience with areas such as RAG, AI Agents, Agentic workflows, vector databases and LLM orchestration.
• Strong understanding of software architecture and production engineering.
• Experience taking AI products from experimentation into production.
• Previous startup or scale‑up experience is highly desirable.
• High level of ownership and comfort operating in an ambiguous, fast‑moving environment.
• Product‑minded approach rather than purely research‑focused AI experience.
• Comfortable working closely with founders and commercial stakeholders.
• Previous experience leading, mentoring or managing engineers is highly desirable.
• Experience building or scaling an engineering team would be particularly attractive.

Why Join?

• Take a leading technical position within an early‑stage AI company.
• Work directly with the founding team.
• Build genuinely AI‑native products rather than adding AI onto legacy technology.
• Significant influence over architecture, product and technical strategy.
• Remain hands‑on while developing your leadership responsibilities.
• Opportunity to help build and shape the AI engineering team.
• Meaningful equity participation and long‑term upside.
• Significant scope for the role to grow alongside the company.

This is particularly suited to a strong Senior / Lead AI Engineer who still wants to build but is ready to take considerably more ownership over people, architecture and technical direction.