Founding AI Engineer – Build a New Vertical Platform

Protege; New City (NY); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Protege is building a privacy-centric data exchange for AI training data. We’re hiring a founding AI Engineer to define a new vertical from the ground up in New City, NY, turning early customer demand into durable technical capability.

You’ll own first deals end-to-end, build MVPs and reusable patterns, and decide what should become core platform capability. You’ll work across engineering, product, and customer teams in a fast, ambiguous environment.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of engineering experience, including founding engineer or early technical lead in ambiguous environments.
• Strong engineering generalist instincts with a backend and data orientation.
• Hands-on experience with Python and SQL.
• Comfort working across infrastructure, application logic, and data systems.
• Ability to create structure where none exists and move quickly without a fully defined roadmap.
• Strong technical judgment, especially around short-term delivery versus long-term architecture.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to work directly with senior technical and business stakeholders.
• Ability to independently run technical scoping conversations with customers and translate them into concrete execution plans.

Responsibilities

• Build the Technical Foundation: Define vertical needs with early customers and build MVPs of reusable patterns and tooling on the core platform.
• Own first deals end-to-end: lead engagements from technical scoping through delivery and post-launch support.
• Shape What Becomes Product: identify patterns from early work to become core platform capabilities.
• Partner Across the Company: work with GM, Solutions Lead, Data Lab, and other engineers to share patterns and drive cross-vertical reuse.

Skills

Python

SQL

Backend engineering

Data orientation

Tools

Cloud infrastructure

Job description

Protege is building a privacy-centric data exchange for AI training data. We’re hiring a founding AI Engineer to define a new vertical from the ground up in New City, NY, turning early customer demand into durable technical capability.

You’ll own first deals end-to-end, build MVPs and reusable patterns, and decide what should become core platform capability. You’ll work across engineering, product, and customer teams in a fast, ambiguous environment.