First AI Engineer — Build Internal AI Tools for a VC

Unusual; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 190,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Unusual Ventures is hiring its first AI Engineer to build the internal systems that scale our small team. You’ll own the stack, set technical standards, and ship tools used daily across sourcing, diligence, and portfolio support.

This is a hands-on builder role in the Bay Area, with 3–6 years of software experience and experience shipping LLM-powered products. You’ll work directly with partners and portfolio companies to shape what we build.

Qualifications

• 3–6 years of software engineering experience, with at least 1–2 years shipping LLM-powered products or internal tools to production
• BS or MS in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience
• Strong Python (TypeScript a plus); comfortable across the stack, from data pipelines and APIs to a simple, usable front end
• Hands-on experience with LLM APIs, retrieval, agents/tool use, and evaluation — and a clear view on when each is the wrong tool
• Product taste: you talk to users, find the real problem, ship something small, and iterate
• Experience working with messy real-world data (CRMs, email, calendars, third-party data providers)
• Clear communicator who can explain tradeoffs to non-technical partners and earn their trust
• Self-directed: comfortable setting priorities with light direction

Responsibilities

• Build internal tools and intelligence products that scale across the VC firm’s sourcing, diligence and portfolio support
• Own end-to-end AI tooling from design to production and iteration
• Collaborate with portfolio companies and partners to scope AI features and validate approaches

Skills

Python

LLM development

Data pipelines

APIs

Front-end basics

Communication

Self-direction

Problem solving

Messy data handling

Education

Bachelor's / Master's in CS or related field

Tools

LLM APIs

Retrieval

Agents/Tool use

Job description

Unusual Ventures is hiring its first AI Engineer to build the internal systems that scale our small team. You’ll own the stack, set technical standards, and ship tools used daily across sourcing, diligence, and portfolio support.

This is a hands-on builder role in the Bay Area, with 3–6 years of software experience and experience shipping LLM-powered products. You’ll work directly with partners and portfolio companies to shape what we build.