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Founding Ai Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

De Circle

Rengo AI - AI Engineer

New York, NY · On-site +1

$125K - $150K/yr

The Role As a Founding AI Engineer , you will build the core system that powers AI-driven portfolio monitoring for institutional investors . You will design systems that continuously: * ingest ...

Gitwit

Mechro Founding Applied AI Engineer

Tulsa, OK · On-site

$165K - $190K/yr

Mechro Founding Applied AI Engineer Department: Mechro Employment Type: Full Time Location: Tulsa, OK Compensation: $165,000 - $190,000 / year Description Build the AI Troubleshooting Engine That ...

Revic AI

Founding GTM AI Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

As Revic's Founding GTM AI Engineer, you will work directly with Revic's CEO, Head of Revenue, and Head of Engineering to design and build the systems that translate real customer conversations and ...

Navi AI

ML/AI Founding Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

About the role This is a founding AI/ML role. You'll own the intelligence layer that sits at the ... Strong engineering fundamentals - you can build the infrastructure your models need, not just the ...

Scribe

Founding AI Transformation Strategist

New York, NY · On-site

$200K - $260K/yr

As Scribe's Founding AI Transformation Strategist, you'll help the world's largest companies turn ... Engineering background or strong enough technical fluency to either build agentic workflows, or ...

Impact Bridge Consulting

Data Engineer - AI

Dallas, TX · On-site

$113K - $136K/yr

The companys founding engineering team is currently focused on building higher-level AI systems, semantic layers, ontology frameworks, and enterprise-scale platform architecture. This role exists to ...

Gitwit

Yask Founding Software Engineer

Bentonville, AR · On-site

$170K - $195K/yr

Yask Founding Software Engineer Department: Yask Employment Type: Full Time Location: Bentonville ... We're building an AI-powered operating system that turns what people observe in the field and what ...

Qumis Inc

Founding Staff AI Engineer

Chicago, IL · On-site

$150K - $250K/yr

About the Role We're hiring a Founding Staff AI Engineer to build and ship production-grade AI that powers the core workflows of Qumis. You'll partner closely with the CTO and co-founders to design ...

Mechro

Mechro Founding Applied AI Engineer

Tulsa, OK

$165K - $190K/yr

We're hiring the founding, forward-deployed engineer who will bring Mechro's AI troubleshooting platform to life by owning customer outcomes end-to-end, from first discovery workshop to production ...

K1

AI Automation Intern

Manhattan Beach, CA · On-site

$40/hr

AI Automation Intern Founding AI Team Reporting Directly to Partner If you want to move fast, ship ... Proficiency with Claude (Anthropic) as a daily working tool -- prompt engineering, multi-step ...

IMA Financial Group

AI Engineering Lead

Denver, CO · On-site +1

$105K - $139K/yr

We are hiring a founding AI Engineer Lead to build and scale AI capabilities from the ground up. This role will directly shape how AI is built and delivered across the organization. This is a hands ...

Clera

Founding Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$120K - $250K/yr

About the Role A YC-backed enterprise AI SaaS startup is looking for a Founding Engineer to join their small, high-output team in San Francisco. The company is building an agentic operating system ...

Clera

Founding Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$120K - $250K/yr

About the Role A YC-backed enterprise AI SaaS startup is looking for a Founding Engineer to join their small, high-output team in San Francisco. The company is building an agentic operating system ...

EQL Tech

AI Engineer

Phoenix, AZ · On-site

$125K - $175K/yr

You will work alongside top talent, including a founding engineer who did AI research at MILA and at Elon Musk's SpaceX school, a Head of Risk from Mercury, Stripe, and Circle, and a Payments ...

EQL Tech

AI Engineer

Phoenix, AZ

$125K - $175K/yr

You will work alongside top talent, including a founding engineer who did AI research at MILA and at Elon Musk's SpaceX school, a Head of Risk from Mercury, Stripe, and Circle, and a Payments ...

GC AI

Applied AI Engineer

San Mateo, CA · On-site +1

$165K - $350K/yr

You'll be the technical cornerstone of our AI initiatives, working directly with our CTO (ex-Replit) and founding data engineer (ex-Lyft, Instagram and Plaid) to architect systems that push the ...

EQL Tech

AI Engineer

Phoenix, AZ · On-site

$125K - $175K/yr

You will work alongside top talent, including a founding engineer who did AI research at MILA and at Elon Musk's SpaceX school, a Head of Risk from Mercury, Stripe, and Circle, and a Payments ...

EQL Tech

AI Engineer

San Francisco, CA

$125K - $175K/yr

You will work alongside top talent, including a founding engineer who did AI research at MILA and at Elon Musk's SpaceX school, a Head of Risk from Mercury, Stripe, and Circle, and a Payments ...

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All JobsFounding Ai Engineer Jobs

Founding Ai Engineer information

See salary details

$25

$53

$76

How much do founding ai engineer jobs pay per hour?

As of Jul 14, 2026, the average hourly pay for founding ai engineer in the United States is $53.63, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $43.27 and $62.26 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a Founding AI Engineer?

A Founding AI Engineer is an early member of a startup's technical team, responsible for designing, building, and implementing artificial intelligence systems that form the core of the company's product or service. This role often involves working closely with company founders to set technical direction, make key architectural decisions, and develop scalable machine learning solutions from the ground up. Founding AI Engineers are expected to wear multiple hats, contribute to both research and engineering efforts, and help establish best practices as the company grows. They play a crucial role in shaping the company's technology culture and long-term vision.

What are some unique challenges a Founding AI Engineer might face in an early-stage startup environment?

As a Founding AI Engineer in a startup, you'll often be responsible for both building core AI systems and setting up foundational engineering practices. Unique challenges include balancing rapid prototyping with long-term scalability, working with limited resources, and defining the technical roadmap alongside product priorities. You'll likely collaborate closely with founders, product managers, and sometimes even customers, making adaptability and strong communication essential. This role offers significant autonomy but also requires comfort with ambiguity and frequent shifts in direction as the company grows.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Founding AI Engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Founding AI Engineer, you need deep expertise in machine learning, software engineering, and algorithm development, typically supported by an advanced degree in computer science or a related field. Proficiency with frameworks like TensorFlow or PyTorch, cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP), and version control systems is essential, along with experience deploying AI models to production. Strong problem-solving, adaptability, and entrepreneurial mindset distinguish top performers in this role. These skills are vital for building innovative AI solutions from the ground up, shaping product direction, and driving early-stage company success.

What is the difference between Founding Ai Engineer vs AI Engineer?

AspectFounding Ai EngineerAI Engineer
Required CredentialsBachelor's or Master's in Computer Science, AI, or related fields; experience in AI developmentBachelor's or Master's in Computer Science, AI, or related fields; experience in AI development
Work EnvironmentStartup or early-stage company, often in a founding or core team roleEstablished companies, tech firms, or startups with ongoing AI projects
Employer & Industry UsageFounding AI roles are common in startups and new venturesWidely used across industries including tech, finance, healthcare, and more

The main difference is that a Founding AI Engineer is typically an early team member in a startup, often involved in shaping the company's AI strategy from the ground up, whereas an AI Engineer generally works within established organizations on ongoing AI projects. Both roles require similar technical credentials but differ in scope, environment, and level of responsibility.

More about Founding Ai Engineer jobs
What cities are hiring for Founding Ai Engineer jobs? Cities with the most Founding Ai Engineer job openings:
What states have the most Founding Ai Engineer jobs? States with the most job openings for Founding Ai Engineer jobs include:
What job categories do people searching Founding Ai Engineer jobs look for? The top searched job categories for Founding Ai Engineer jobs are:
Founding Ai Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Founding Ai Engineer job openings in the United States as of July 2026, with employment types broken down into 75% Full Time, 22% Part Time, and 3% Contract. Highlights an 66% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 31% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $111,552 per year, or $53.6 per hour.

Founding AI Product Engineer

LiteLLM AI Gateway

San Francisco, CA • On-site

$170K - $230K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision

Posted 3 days ago

New

Job description

Product Engineer
LiteLLM is the world's most popular AI Gateway, trusted by companies like Adobe, Netflix, and NASA. We're building the next generation of infrastructure for AI applications-and now we're building our second product.
We're looking for a Product Engineer who wants to work directly with the founders to figure out what developers need, ship quickly, and build products that thousands of engineering teams use every day.
About the Role
This isn't a traditional product management role, and it isn't a traditional software engineering role.
You'll spend your time talking to customers, understanding their problems, designing solutions, writing production code, and shipping features. One week you might build a new authentication flow, the next week you're redesigning an onboarding experience, integrating with a new provider, or launching an entirely new product.
If you enjoy owning a problem end-to-end-from idea to production-you'll thrive here.
Responsibilities
  • Build new product features from concept to production.
  • Work directly with customers to understand pain points and validate solutions.
  • Ship quickly while maintaining a high quality bar.
  • Prototype new ideas and iterate based on user feedback.
  • Own major product areas and continuously improve them over time.
  • Design backend APIs and services using Python and FastAPI.
  • Build intuitive developer experiences across our API, dashboard, and CLI.
  • Collaborate directly with the founders on product direction and technical decisions.
  • Help define and build LiteLLM's second major product.
What We're Looking For
  • Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or a related field.
  • Strong software engineering fundamentals.
  • Experience building production software, preferably with Python.
  • Comfortable moving across the stack when needed (backend, frontend, infrastructure, APIs).
  • Strong product intuition and curiosity about how customers use software.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication.
  • High ownership-you naturally identify problems and solve them without waiting to be asked.
  • Comfortable operating in ambiguity and making decisions with incomplete information.
  • Excited by shipping quickly and learning from real users.
Bonus Points
  • Experience at an early-stage startup.
  • Experience building developer tools or infrastructure products.
  • Open source contributions.
  • You've built and launched your own product.
  • Familiarity with AI infrastructure, LLMs, or developer platforms.
Why Join LiteLLM?
  • Work directly with the founders every day.
  • Build products used by thousands of engineering teams around the world.
  • Own meaningful product decisions-not just implementation.
  • Move incredibly fast and see your work in production immediately.
  • Help define the future of AI infrastructure and developer tooling.
  • Competitive salary, equity, health, dental, and vision benefits.
About LiteLLM
LiteLLM is the world's most widely adopted AI Gateway. We provide a unified API for 100+ LLM providers along with routing, authentication, budgets, observability, and governance for production AI systems. Thousands of companies rely on LiteLLM to power AI in production.
If you love talking to users, building products, and shipping software that people actually use, we'd love to meet you.

Apply