Applied AI Engineer

CGS; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 250,000 - 500,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity: 1–5%

In-office in San Francisco

Job summary

CGS is seeking a founding-level engineer in San Francisco to build AI-native products from zero to one. You will own large areas of the tech stack, from UI and agent workflows to model orchestration and infrastructure, with significant autonomy and direct user interaction.

This in-person, full-time role requires exceptional technical ability and product judgment, and offers the opportunity to shape the company’s architecture and engineering culture at the ground floor.

Qualifications

• Full-stack engineering ability spanning UI, agent workflows, model orchestration, and infrastructure.
• Ability to turn cutting-edge model capabilities into simple, useful products.
• Exceptional product judgment and taste.
• Comfortable working directly with users and iterating extremely quickly.
• A high degree of ownership and independence.

Responsibilities

• Build AI-native products from zero to one.
• Design and develop agent workflows capable of pursuing complex objectives over extended periods.
• Work across the full stack UI, agent systems, model orchestration, and infrastructure.
• Turn frontier model capabilities into simple, useful experiences for real users.
• Work directly with users and rapidly iterate based on feedback.
• Make critical product and technical decisions with significant autonomy.
• Help define the architecture, product direction, and engineering culture of the company.

Skills

Full-stack engineering

Product judgment

Ownership

Frontier AI experience

Job description

San Francisco | $250,000–$500,000 base + 1–5% equity | Full-time | In-office | 4 openings

About the Company

This is a very early-stage AI agents lab founded by a team with backgrounds in leading AI research labs and quantitative trading. The company is building a new generation of long-running AI agents that can take ownership of complex objectives and pursue them autonomously over days or even months. Rather than simply responding to individual prompts, these agents turn sparse human direction into a persistent understanding of what a user wants. They then plan, act, measure outcomes, learn from mistakes, and continuously improve.

The first application focuses on self-improving products: agents that understand what customers are trying to achieve, build or configure solutions, deploy them, measure results, and continue iterating.

The team is building from the ground up and is looking for exceptional engineers who want to shape the product and technology from the earliest stage.

About the Role

This is a founding-level engineering role for someone who is genuinely exceptional at building products. The company isn't looking for someone who is simply a strong engineer. They're looking for breakout talent, someone who has either:

• Built a product from zero to one that achieved meaningful traction, revenue, growth, or an exit
• Demonstrated exceptional technical ability at the very top of their field
• Shipped consequential work at a frontier AI company

You'll own entire product areas across the stack, from the user interface and agent workflows to model orchestration and infrastructure. You'll have significant autonomy and will be expected to combine deep technical ability with excellent product judgment and taste.

What You'll Own

• Build AI-native products from zero to one
• Design and develop agent workflows capable of pursuing complex objectives over extended periods
• Work across the full stack user interface, agent systems, model orchestration, and infrastructure
• Turn frontier model capabilities into simple, useful experiences for real users
• Work directly with users and rapidly iterate based on feedback
• Make critical product and technical decisions with significant autonomy
• Help define the architecture, product direction, and engineering culture of the company

What We're Looking For

Typically 3–6 years of experience, although exceptional candidates outside this range will be considered. We’re particularly interested in:

• Founders or CTOs who built a product with real traction or achieved an exit
• Senior or Staff Product Engineers at leading agentic AI companies
• Engineers who have shipped consequential products at frontier AI companies
• Exceptional olympiad, competitive programming, quantitative trading, or other world-class technical backgrounds

Must-Haves

• Full-stack engineering ability spanning UI, agent workflows, model orchestration, and infrastructure
• Ability to turn cutting-edge model capabilities into simple, useful products
• Exceptional product judgment and taste
• Comfortable working directly with users and iterating extremely quickly
• A high degree of ownership and independence

Nice to Have

• Experience building agentic AI products
• Early-stage startup or founding-team experience
• Quantitative trading or competitive technical background
• Experience working at the frontier of AI

What We’re Not Looking For

This role is deliberately not for everyone. It is unlikely to be a fit if you are:

• A solid engineer without evidence of exceptional technical or product achievement
• A narrow backend, infrastructure, or research specialist without shipped user-facing products
• Someone who needs significant structure or hand-holding
• Coming primarily from enterprise, consultancy, or enterprise GenAI environments
• An ML engineer without meaningful zero-to-one product experience
• No longer interested in hands‑on building
• Looking for a hybrid or remote role

This is an intense, highly hands‑on environment.

The role is fully in‑person in San Francisco, with a 9am–9pm, 6‑day schedule. The interview process includes a paid 2–3 day in‑person work trial. The company supports visa sponsorship.

Initial Screening

To be considered, candidates should be prepared to answer:

• Can you work in person in San Francisco on a 9am–9pm, 6‑day schedule, including a paid 2‑3 day on‑site work trial?
• What product have you built from zero to one, and what did it achieve in terms of users, revenue, growth, or an exit? Please include link where possible.
• Where are  you genuinely at the top of your category — for example olympiads, competitive programming, quantitative trading, or frontier AI work with measurable impact?
• What is your current US work authorization?

This is a rare opportunity for an exceptional engineer to join at the ground floor of a new AI company and have founding‑level ownership over what gets built.