Founding Applied AI Engineer

RecruitSeq; California (MO); On-site; USD 220,000 - 320,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Equity

Job summary

RecruitSeq in Los Angeles (on-site) seeks a first dedicated Applied AI Engineer to define and build the company’s AI agent strategy and production-ready workflows. You will own the architecture from concept to production, collaborating with a small, highly technical team to convert emerging AI capabilities into reliable systems for real-world workloads.

You will architect scalable AI-agent and LLM-based workflows, design deep integrations, and establish the technical direction for model

Qualifications

• 2+ years of software engineering experience in applied AI, deep learning, or ML systems.
• I Middles: production-grade software design and shipping experience.
• Practical experience with LLMs, agents, and AI tools.
• Experience applying ML concepts to real implementations, not just research.
• Familiarity with model fine-tuning, post-training, optimization, or evaluation.
• Experience with large-scale information processing and distributed systems.
• Ability to work on-site in Los Angeles five days per week.
• Authorization to work in the United States without sponsorship.

Responsibilities

• Architect and implement scalable AI-agent and LLM-based workflows.
• Design integrations, agent harnesses, tool-use patterns, and evaluation frameworks.
• Apply traditional ML techniques alongside modern generative AI approaches.
• Fine-tune and evaluate specialized models for domain-specific workflows.
• Build information-processing, semantic indexing, search, and retrieval capabilities.
• Set technical direction for model selection, orchestration, observability, reliability.
• Work independently to translate opportunities into high-quality software systems.

Skills

Applied AI

Deep learning

LLMs

Software engineering

Python

PyTorch

Distributed systems

MLOps

Tools

Agent orchestration

Observability tooling

Semantic indexing

Search systems

Post-training / fine-tuning

Job description

Los Angeles, CA | On-Site 5 Days per Week | Relocation Assistance Available

About the Role

As the first dedicated Applied AI Engineer, you will define and build the company’s approach to AI agents, LLM-based workflows, model adaptation, and intelligent engineering automation. You will own technical architecture from concept through production, partnering closely with a small, highly technical team to turn emerging AI capabilities into reliable systems for complex real-world workflows.

Responsibilities

• Architect and implement scalable AI-agent and LLM-based workflows for engineering and systems-integration use cases.
• Design deep integrations, agent harnesses, tool-use patterns, and evaluation frameworks for production AI systems.
• Apply classical machine learning techniques - including statistical modeling, regression, optimization, and supervised or unsupervised learning - alongside modern generative AI approaches.
• Fine-tune, post-train, and evaluate specialized models for domain-specific workflows and performance requirements.
• Build information-processing, semantic indexing, search, and retrieval capabilities that support intelligent agent behavior.
• Establish technical direction for model selection, orchestration, observability, reliability, and scalability.
• Work independently in a fast-moving environment, translating ambiguous technical opportunities into concrete, high-quality software systems.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of software engineering experience with hands-on work in applied AI, deep learning, or machine learning systems.
• Strong software engineering and computer science fundamentals, including experience designing and shipping production systems.
• Practical experience building with LLMs, agentic systems, specialized models, computer vision, or related AI technologies.
• Experience applying machine learning concepts to real implementations, not solely research or experimentation.
• Familiarity with model fine-tuning, post-training, optimization methods, or evaluation approaches.
• Experience with large-scale information processing, semantic or quantitative indexing, search, or distributed systems.
• Ability and willingness to work on-site in Los Angeles five days per week.
• Authorization to work in the United States without employer visa sponsorship.

Preferred Skills

• Experience at a high-growth applied AI, robotics, hardware, or AI-infrastructure company.
• Academic or professional background in computer science, mathematics, machine learning, or a related technical discipline.
• Experience building systems that use tools, agent orchestration, reinforcement learning, or domain-specific model adaptation.
• Familiarity with Python, PyTorch, and AI evaluation or observability tooling.
• Experience operating in an early-stage startup environment with substantial autonomy and ownership.
• Demonstrated record of rapid growth, technical leadership, or solving difficult problems independently.

Pay range and compensation package

Base salary of $220,000–$320,000, with flexibility for exceptional candidates. Early-stage equity. Relocation assistance. High ownership over the company’s AI technical direction. Direct collaboration with a small, experienced engineering team. Fast, streamlined interview process.