Founding AI/ML Engineer (Remote)

Dear applicants, please note that applications without salary expectations and an active LinkedIn profile will not be considered.

We are hiring a Founding AI/ML Engineer to architect and ship production-grade AI systems transforming one of the world’s largest and least automated industries — construction. This is a product-first AI engineering role focused on multimodal intelligence, document understanding, and agentic workflow automation. You will work directly with the Chief AI Officer and founders to move from low-automation to high-automation mode, where AI agents perform core operational work with light human oversight.
DetailsLocation: Philadelphia, PA · New York City, NY · Washington, D.C.Work Model: Hybrid / Remote-first with optional Philly hubEmployment Type: Full-TimeExperience Level: 6+ yearsEquity: Competitive early-employee equityVisa Sponsorship: H-1B available
Key ResponsibilitiesBuild and ship production-grade AI systems used daily by real customersDesign multimodal pipelines for drawings, specs, and construction documentsBuild agentic workflows automating preconstruction tasks:

• Document intake
• Extraction
• Takeoff support
• Bid preparation
• QA workflows

Build and improve:

• Retrieval systems (embeddings, reranking, chunking)
• Evaluation systems
• Orchestration layers

Optimize model quality, latency, reliability, and cost efficiencyPrototype and iterate quickly on customer-facing AI featuresOwn systems end-to-end (experiment → deploy → monitor → improve)Help shape engineering culture and long-term technical direction
Requirements6+ years of engineering experienceExperience at an early-stage, high-growth startupShipped production-grade AI systems to real customersHands-on LLM and/or computer vision experienceRetrieval systems experience (embeddings, chunking, grounding)Agentic workflow experience (tools, APIs, state management, retries, guardrails)Strong backend fundamentals:

• APIs
• Async jobs / queues
• Databases
• Cloud deployment
• Monitoring
• Full end-to-end ownership mindset

Nice to HaveConstruction / AEC exposureMultimodal AI or document intelligence backgroundOCR / segmentation / computer vision experienceExperience converting human-operated workflows into AI product systemsInference optimization or evaluation system expertise
BenefitsMeaningful early-employee ESOP grantEmployer-funded health insurance (Patch model)Team / meal stipendGrowth path to technical leadership (optional management track)
Interview ProcessInitial Screen (30 min)Culture & Team Round~2-hour Technical / Architecture Deep DiveOptional On-Site (Philadelphia)Offer