Founding Engineer: Build an AI Data Platform

Epic Placements; New York (NY); On-site; USD 150,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity (0.3%–1.7%)

Health, dental and vision insurance

401(k) with company match

Meal & coffee stipend

Beautiful NoMad office

Job summary

Epic Placements is seeking its first engineering hire for an early-stage AI startup in New York City. You will work directly with the founders, building core product capabilities and shaping both the product and engineering culture from day one.

You will design backend-heavy features, collaborate with customers to translate problems into product improvements, and help define architectural direction. Strong backend fundamentals and a drive to own outcomes are essential.

Qualifications

• Experience building products from 0→1 in startup or high-growth environments.
• Strong backend fundamentals with sound architectural judgment.
• Experience shipping customer-facing products, not just internal tooling.
• Some frontend experience and a good eye for building intuitive user experiences.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to work directly with customers.
• A natural curiosity for emerging AI development workflows and tools.

Responsibilities

• Build core product capabilities from the ground up.
• Design and implement backend-heavy features with thoughtful, intuitive user experiences.
• Work directly with customers to understand real-world problems and turn feedback into product improvements.
• Help shape architecture, engineering standards, and technical direction.
• Build AI-native workflows and production systems using modern development tools.
• Collaborate across the entire product lifecycle—from whiteboard discussions to production deployments.

Skills

Backend engineering

Product from 0→1

Frontend experience

Communication

AI workflows

Python

React/Next.js

Job description

Epic Placements is seeking its first engineering hire for an early-stage AI startup in New York City. You will work directly with the founders, building core product capabilities and shaping both the product and engineering culture from day one.

You will design backend-heavy features, collaborate with customers to translate problems into product improvements, and help define architectural direction. Strong backend fundamentals and a drive to own outcomes are essential.