Founding AI Engineer for New Vertical Platform

Protege; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Protege is seeking a founding AI Engineer to build a new vertical from the ground up. You will work with the GM to shape market strategy, create reusable infrastructure, and establish patterns for future hires.

This is a rare chance to define the technical foundation of a new business line, collaborating with Product and Engineering to elevate core capabilities. You’ll own early customer engagements from scoping to delivery and post-launch support, translating customer needs into durable,

Qualifications

• 3+ years of engineering experience, including early work in a highly ambiguous environment.
• Strong generalist instincts with 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 around short-term delivery vs. long-term architecture.
• Excellent written and verbal communication with senior stakeholders.
• Ability to run technical scoping conversations with customers and translate into execution plans.

Responsibilities

• Build the technical foundation for the new vertical, defining needs with early customers.
• Create the MVP of reusable patterns, integrations, and tooling on top of Protege core platform.
• Decide what belongs in platform vs vertical-specific tooling.
• Develop the technical playbook for future engineers to build on.

Skills

3+ yrs exp engineering

Python

SQL

Backend/data systems

Ambiguity navigation

Client scoping

Job description

Protege is seeking a founding AI Engineer to build a new vertical from the ground up. You will work with the GM to shape market strategy, create reusable infrastructure, and establish patterns for future hires.

This is a rare chance to define the technical foundation of a new business line, collaborating with Product and Engineering to elevate core capabilities. You’ll own early customer engagements from scoping to delivery and post-launch support, translating customer needs into durable,