Founding AI/ML Engineer

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Founding AI/ML Engineer based in the United States. As a Founding AI/ML Engineer, you will architect and deliver production-ready artificial intelligence systems designed to transform the construction industry through intelligent automation. You will focus on multimodal AI, document understanding, and agentic workflows that streamline complex operational processes and reduce manual work. Working directly with the founders and Chief AI Officer, you will help define the technical vision and build AI-powered products that solve real customer challenges. You will take ownership of the entire engineering lifecycle, from experimentation and prototyping to deployment, monitoring, and continuous improvement. This early-stage opportunity offers significant technical influence, close collaboration with leadership, and the chance to shape engineering culture from the ground up. You will help move construction operations toward highly automated workflows where AI agents perform essential tasks with minimal human oversight.

As a Founding AI/ML Engineer, you will lead the design, development, and deployment of intelligent systems that automate construction-related workflows. Your responsibilities will include: Architect, build, and deploy production-grade AI systems that deliver measurable value to customers and support daily operational activities. Design multimodal AI pipelines capable of processing construction drawings, technical specifications, and complex project documentation. Develop agentic workflows that automate preconstruction processes, including document intake, information extraction, takeoff support, bid preparation, and quality assurance. Build and optimize retrieval systems using techniques such as embeddings, chunking, reranking, and grounding to improve the relevance and accuracy of AI-generated outputs. Develop evaluation frameworks to measure model performance, validate system quality, and guide continuous improvements. Design orchestration layers that coordinate AI models, tools, APIs, and workflows reliably. Optimize model quality, inference latency, system reliability, and operating costs to ensure production readiness and scalability. Prototype, test, and iterate rapidly on customer-facing AI features, incorporating real-world feedback into product development. Take end-to-end ownership of AI systems throughout the engineering lifecycle, from initial experimentation to deployment, monitoring, troubleshooting, and ongoing optimization. Collaborate directly with founders and technical leadership to establish architectural standards, shape long-term technical strategy, and influence engineering culture. Translate manual, human-operated construction workflows into robust AI-powered product systems that require limited human intervention. Requirements: The ideal candidate is an experienced AI/ML engineer with a strong track record of building and shipping production systems in fast-moving startup environments. You should combine deep technical expertise with practical product thinking, strong backend engineering fundamentals, and the ability to take ownership of complex systems. The following qualifications are required: At least six years of engineering experience. Experience working in an early-stage or high-growth startup environment. Proven experience building and deploying production-grade AI systems used by real customers. Hands-on experience with large language models (LLMs), computer vision, or both. Practical experience building retrieval systems, including embeddings, chunking strategies, and grounding techniques. Experience developing agentic workflows involving tools, APIs, state management, retries, and guardrails. Strong backend engineering fundamentals, including API development, asynchronous jobs and queues, database management, cloud deployment, and system monitoring. Ability to own technical solutions end to end, from experimentation and architecture through production deployment and continuous improvement. Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to balance experimentation with reliability, performance, and maintainability. A product-oriented mindset, with a focus on delivering practical AI solutions that address real customer needs. An active LinkedIn profile and clearly stated salary expectations are required for an application to be considered. Nice-to-have qualifications: Experience in construction, architecture, engineering, or construction-related technology (AEC). Background in multimodal AI, document intelligence, or processing complex technical documents. Experience with optical character recognition (OCR), image segmentation, or computer vision pipelines. Experience transforming manual operational workflows into AI-powered products. Expertise in inference optimization, model evaluation, or production AI performance monitoring. Benefits: Competitive early-employee equity: Meaningful equity through an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), providing an opportunity to participate in the company's long-term growth. Employer-funded health insurance: Health coverage provided through the Patch model. Team and meal stipend: Additional financial support for team activities and meals. Technical leadership opportunities: A potential path toward greater technical leadership, with an optional management track. Remote-first flexibility: Hybrid or remote-first work arrangements, with an optional hub in Philadelphia. Direct leadership collaboration: Work closely with founders and the Chief AI Officer to influence product strategy and technical architecture. High-impact engineering work: Build production AI systems that address complex challenges in one of the world's largest industries. Full-time opportunity: Take on a foundational engineering role with significant ownership and influence over technical direction. Visa sponsorship: H-1B sponsorship is available.