Vice President of Engineering

Unleeshed; Chicago (IL); Remote; USD 175,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Unleeshed, a stealth-mode startup, is seeking a founding engineer passionate about sports and technology. This role involves leading the development of an AI-driven platform that redefines sports commentary. Ideal candidates will have extensive engineering experience and a strong understanding of machine learning applications.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of engineering experience in high-growth consumer or media platforms.
• Hands-on experience with AI and machine learning integration.
• Strong product mindset with a focus on end-user experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture and development of core platform for AI-driven content delivery.
• Design agentic systems for creator and fan interaction.
• Establish engineering best practices including CI/CD and automated testing.

Skills

Technical leadership

Machine learning

AI integration

Performance optimization

TypeScript

Python

Cloud-native infrastructure

Video-based platforms

Scalability

Sports passion

Job description

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Location: Remote (but preferably NYC or Chicago)

Type: Full-time (immediately post-funding, part-time prior)

Compensation: Equity (very meaningful participation); Competitive salary post-funding

ABOUT UNLEESHED

Unleeshed is a stealth-mode startup redefining how sports commentary is created, distributed, and consumed. We’ve already built our MVP, partnered with top-tier sports media personalities, and are building early traction with major media and brand partners.

Founded by a small team of serial tech entrepreneurs who’ve successfully built and sold companies, alongside media executives from ESPN, the NFL, and ABC, Unleeshed is backed by real industry experience and a deep understanding of the evolving sports and media landscape.

This isn’t just another product role—it’s a founding opportunity for someone deeply entrepreneurial who wants to own and build something transformative from the ground up. If you’ve been waiting to shape the future of sports media at the intersection of AI and fan engagement, now’s your shot. We’ll share more details under NDA.

WHO YOU ARE

You are a builder who lives at the intersection of sports passion and technical excellence. You’re hands-on, experimental, and always pushing the boundaries of what AI and machine learning can do. You care deeply about scalability, system performance, and building with intention—but you’re also comfortable rolling up your sleeves and shipping before it’s perfect.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Lead architecture and development of our core platform—built to support high-speed, AI-driven, and personalized content delivery at scale.
• Design and deploy agentic systems that enable creators and fans to interact with and scale their voice and content.
• Establish engineering best practices including CI/CD, observability, infrastructure management, and automated testing.
• Collaborate closely with product, creator, and partnership teams to turn high-level ideas into performant features.
• Recruit, mentor, and inspire a small, elite team of engineers as we grow.

WHAT YOU BRING

• 10+ years of engineering experience, including leading architecture for high-growth consumer or media platforms.
• Hands-on machine learning and AI integration experience—you’ve worked extensively with LLMs, embeddings, LoRA adapters, RAG, and vector databases in production.
• Exposure to reinforcement learning techniques and interest in applying them to real-world AI systems.
• Deep experience with video-based platforms or streaming infrastructure, with a command of performance optimization and delivery systems.
• Familiarity working with or building for media properties—CMS platforms, content APIs, broadcast workflows, etc.
• A strong product mindset—you build with the end-user in mind and iterate quickly.
• Technical leadership and code fluency—you can architect the system, write the PR, debug the issue, and ship the feature.
• Fluency in TypeScript/Node.js, Python, and cloud-native infrastructure (AWS, Terraform, containers).
• A builder’s curiosity—constantly exploring new frameworks, dev tools, and emerging AI capabilities.
• A deep love for sports and the role technology can play in reshaping how fans experience it.

To apply:

If you're excited about shaping the future of sports media with us, we’d love to hear from you. **Apply here** by filling out a short form to tell us who you are, what you've built, and why Unleeshed is the right next step for you.

Seniority level

• Seniority level

  Executive

Employment type

• Employment type

  Full-time

Job function

• Job function

  Engineering and Information Technology

• Industries

  Technology, Information and Media

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