Machine Learning Engineer Early-stage software company San Francisco, California $125k to $200k USD base a year

raydar; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 125,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Performance bonus

In-office in San Francisco

Job summary

Raydar is seeking a Machine Learning Engineer to join as the first engineering hire in San Francisco. You will build reinforcement learning environments from proprietary datasets and deploy AI agents for business customers.

You will help shape technical priorities with leadership, take on engineering leadership as the team grows, and deliver quickly without sacrificing quality in a startup setting. This role requires 3 to 7 years in ML with RL fundamentals and hands-on production experience; Bay

Qualifications

• 3 to 7 years of engineering experience with reinforcement learning fundamentals.
• Hands-on experience building and running AI agents in production.
• Experience building RL environments and deploying AI systems in production.
• Bay Area living or willingness to relocate to the Bay Area for in-office work.

Responsibilities

• Build reinforcement learning environments from proprietary datasets.
• Develop and deploy AI agents for business customers.
• Help company leadership decide technical direction and plan what to build next.
• Take on leadership of the engineering team as it expands.
• Deliver quickly without lowering quality standards in a startup setting.

Skills

Reinforcement learning

AI agent development

Production ML systems

AI-assisted coding tools

Tools

TypeScript

AWS

React Native

Swift

Job description

# Machine Learning EngineerEarly-stage software company* LocationSan Francisco, California* TypeFull-time* Posted6 October 2026Apply for this roleTalk to us firstYou apply on Workable, where Raydar manages applications.The role, as published## About the companyOur client is an early-stage software company.## The roleRaydar is recruiting for this role on behalf of our client. Serve as the first engineering hire, building reinforcement learning environments and production AI agents. Work side by side with the company's leadership to shape technical priorities, and step into running the engineering function as headcount grows.## What you'll do* **Build reinforcement learning environments** from proprietary datasets.* **Develop and deploy AI** agents for business customers.* Help company leadership decide technical direction and plan what to build next.* Take on leadership of the engineering team as it expands.* **Deliver quickly without lowering** quality standards in a startup setting.## What we're looking for* **3 to 7 years** of engineering experience with strong reinforcement learning fundamentals.* Prior experience building reinforcement learning environments, at an RL-focused company or a data company with hands-on RL exposure.* Hands-on experience building **and running AI agents in production**.* Daily use of AI-assisted coding tools as part of production work.* Living in the Bay Area or ready to move there, with a full in-office schedule.## Bonus points* Prior experience at a leading human data company.* Full-stack engineering background, for example TypeScript and AWS.* Mobile development experience with iOS, Swift or React Native.* Startup experience with a demonstrated record of shipping quickly.## Location and work model* San Francisco, CA, United States* On-site* Full-time## Compensation, as the posting describes it* Performance bonusPay$125k to $200kUSD base a year