Founding Engineer
About the Role
Join an early-stage AI startup as its first engineer, partnering closely with the founding team to build a foundational model from the ground up. This hands-on individual contributor role spans novel model architecture, training, and reinforcement learning.
What You'll Do
Contribute directly to the development of a foundational model using a novel architecture rather than fine-tuning existing models.
Work across the model-building pipeline, including architecture, training, and reinforcement learning.
Help establish the engineering foundations for an early-stage AI team.
What We're Looking For
A PhD and experience at a frontier AI lab.
Hands-on experience contributing as an individual engineer rather than primarily in a management role.
Experience spanning foundational model architecture, training, and reinforcement learning.
Compensation & Benefits
Base salary up to $400,000, flexible for the right candidate, plus equity. Visa sponsorship details were not provided.
Location
On-site in San Jose, California.
Source: the employer's careers page. Last checked 2026-10-20. Posted 2026-10-20.