Automation Engineer Intern Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Single Grain is hiring a high agency AI Automation Engineer to increase Revenue Per Employee by building AI powered systems that create nonlinear leverage across the company.

This is not a task executor role. This is a leverage role.

Your mission is to identify hidden efficiency opportunities, prioritize them based on ROI, and ship production grade AI systems that materially increase capacity without adding headcount.

If measurable leverage is not visible by Day 90, the scope or hire is wrong.

Single Grain is a fast moving, award winning, AI driven digital marketing agency. We have been helping top brands like Amazon, Uber, and Salesforce grow since 2009. We specialize in Paid Media, SEO, Content Marketing, CRO, and more, powered by a lean, high performing team focused on smart, impactful work.

We do not just use AI, we build it. We have created proprietary AI tools including Karrot.ai, an AI powered performance marketing system that generates ads, landing pages, and campaign assets in seconds, and ClickFlow, an AI driven SEO experimentation platform that helps teams identify content opportunities, optimize pages, and increase organic traffic through systematic testing and workflow automation.

These tools are not side projects. They are embedded into how we operate and how we serve clients.

We practice what we preach. Our podcast has 150 plus million downloads, and more than 193,000 marketers subscribe to our YouTube channel.

We move quickly, push hard, and expect a lot from ourselves and each other. AI is not just a tool we use. It is core to how we operate, from creative to strategy to execution. Our long term vision is to build a small but elite team that stays lean, scrappy, and relentlessly focused on tech enabled innovation and measurable business impact.

We do not micromanage. We do not hire people who need their hands held. But we do collaborate deeply, give honest feedback, and leave space for mistakes, growth, and iteration. No egos. No fluff. Just people who care about doing great work and supporting each other.

• Shadow all major departments and map the top 10 workflows end to end

• Quantify time cost and economic impact of each workflow

• Identify the top 5 highest ROI automation opportunities

• Present a ranked Automation Opportunity Matrix to the CTO

• Prioritize based on revenue impact, margin expansion, and headcount avoidance, not novelty

• Ship first automation end to end

Output is clarity and prioritization

By Day 90: Proof of Leverage

• Ship 3 to 5 production grade AI automations

• Document each automation via SOP and Loom using the Camcorder Method

• Demonstrate at least 15 hours per week of recurring time saved

• Launch an Automation ROI Tracker dashboard

• Establish a clear automation intake and prioritization framework

• Achieve at least 70% adoption rate within 30 days of launch for shipped systems

Failure condition: no measurable recurring value created.

• Automate at least 30 to 40% of repetitive internal workflows

• Reduce production cycle times by at least 30% in targeted areas

• Enable at least one function to increase client capacity without hiring

• Build reusable automation templates and internal frameworks

• Implement quarterly leverage reporting tied to RPE

• Deliver at least $250k in annualized measurable efficiency value

• Improve Revenue Per Employee by at least 30%

• Create an internal automation architecture layer

• Build a self serve automation request and ROI ranking system

• Institutionalize an ROI first automation culture across teams

Primary KPI: Revenue Per Employee

Target: Increase RPE by 100% within 12 months.

Supporting Metrics:

• Monthly recurring efficiency value of at least $15k to $20k by Month 4

• Automation adoption rate of at least 70%

• Workflow cycle time reduction of 25 to 40% in targeted systems

• Annualized efficiency value of at least $250k

• Put “AI is cool” as the first line of your cover letter or subject line, or your application will not be reviewed.

• Demonstrated ability to generate at least $15k to $20k per month in recurring efficiency value in a prior role by Month 4 equivalent

• Shipped at least 3 production grade AI or automation systems that delivered measurable business impact

• Proven experience orchestrating LLMs, automation tools, APIs, and no code or low code platforms into working systems

• Clear documentation habit with SOPs and async training assets

• Ability to independently diagnose workflows and propose ROI ranked solutions without being told what to build

• Comfort being measured on Revenue Per Employee and annualized efficiency value

• High adoption track record with at least 70% usage of systems within 30 days of deployment

• High agency systems thinker who rapidly diagnoses inefficiencies and maps processes visually and logically

• Thinks in Revenue Per Employee, margin expansion, headcount avoidance, and compounding leverage

• Strong ROI based prioritization judgment and ability to distinguish high leverage systems from low value noise

• Builder with bias toward shipping fast v1s and iterating in production

• Skilled in prompt system design and structured AI workflows

• Comfortable asking uncomfortable but productive questions

• Influences cross functional teams without formal authority

• Handles resistance maturely and drives adoption through clarity and results

• Treats AI as infrastructure, not a novelty tool

Reports to: CTO
Location: Hybrid (M/T/W in office)
Base Salary: $30/hr