Founding ML Engineer / Series A / NYC / $350k + Founding Equity

Open Talent; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 250,000 - 500,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Founding Member Equity

Job summary

Open Talent in NYC is seeking a founding AI/ML engineer to build the production intelligence layer for autonomous heavy machinery. This is a 100% production role focused on deploying multi-ton systems with real customers and field performance. Role requires base salary and equity for founding team members.

You will own the pipeline, tuning, and performance in the field, shipping production-grade ML systems, and ensuring low latency and high reliability in mission-critical environments.

Qualifications

• Production ML systems shipped at scale.
• Deep experience with fine-tuning LLMs and RAG.
• Strong systems thinking across full stack.
• Experience in environments with high production standards.

Responsibilities

• Build the production intelligence layer for autonomous heavy machinery.
• Develop and deploy LLMs for real-time control and decision making.
• Design evaluation frameworks to ensure safety and reliability in production.
• Own the data pipelines, model tuning, and field performance.

Skills

Production ML systems

LLM fine-tuning

Systems thinking

High-bar pedigree

Tools

RAG pipelines

Data infra

Job description

Founding AI/ML Engineer (Production) | NYC | $350k + Founding Equity

We7re hiring for one of NYC7s top 10 robotics startups. If you7re an elite engineer looking to join an A squad-builders from SpaceX, Palantir, Google & Anduril - this is where you want to be.*

Most AI roles are currently focused on generating pixels or text. This team are using LLMs to command multi-ton autonomous machines.

Must be based in NYC & role requires US citizenship due to regulatory constraints.

We need a Founding AI/ML Engineer to build the production intelligence layer for autonomous heavy machinery. This isn' 4t a research lab. We have real robots, real customers, and systems operating in the field 24/7. Your work won7t just generate tokens; it will drive physical outcomes.

The Work

This is a 100% production role focused on critical AI infrastructure. You are responsible for the intelligence that allows multi-ton machines to act on complex environments.

• Production LLMs: Fine-tuning and deploying models that handle mission-critical operational logic.
• Systems & Infra: Building the RAG pipelines and data flywheels that power our fleet 8s intelligence.
• Evals & Determinism: Designing evaluation frameworks to ensure model outputs are safe and reliable enough for heavy hardware.
• Problem Solving: Moving from raw telemetry to deployed models. You own the pipeline, the tuning, and the performance in the field.

The Team

Youll be joining a high-density team from SpaceX, Palantir, and Anduril. We7ve stripped away the typical corporate friction-no bloated meetings or research for the sake of research. We hire for high agency and low ego. As a founding hire, you aren7t just training models; you7re architecting the intelligence of the company.

What we\'re looking for

We want high-signal builders who are bored with "wrapper" apps and want to solve hard problems grounded in physics.

• Production Grit: You 92ve shipped ML systems at scale. You care about inference latency and reliability more than "vibe checks."
• LLM Mastery: Deep experience with fine-tuning, RAG, and prompt engineering in high-stakes environments.
• Systems Thinker: You understand the full stack. You know how to optimize models to run efficiently and how to build the infra that supports them.
• High-Bar Pedigree: You 2ve worked in environments where the standard for "production-ready" is exceptionally high.

Stack & Comp

• Location: NYC (Manhattan) - On-site/Hybrid.
• Comp: $250k - $500k+ base + Founding Member Equity.

The Process:

1 Week & 0 Take-Homes We move as fast as we ship. We can go from first touch to offer in one week:

• (Founders) Technical Deep Dive: A conversation about the most complex AI system you 9ve actually shipped.
• (Team)Practical Pairing: Solving a real-world production ML or data infra problem together. No Leetcode.
• (Exec) Founding Team Chat: A focus on judgment, trade-offs & vision.

If you 7re ready to put AI into the physical world, let 7s talk.

TL;DR

• Focus: Fine-tuning, Evals, and RAG for Robotics
• Team: Ex-SpaceX, Palantir, Anduril, Google
• Comp: $350k+ base + Founding Equity
• Process: 1 week. 3 rounds.

We\'re hiring for an Equal Opportunity Employer.