About the company
Our client is a fast-growing software company.
The role
Raydar is recruiting for this role on behalf of our client. Own the machine learning layer of a production software product, covering model integration, data pipelines and the testing frameworks that confirm changes work. This is a hands-on engineering seat as one of the earliest engineers, with real influence over architecture and a focus on frequent releases to live users.
What you'll do
- Own AI features from design through deployment, including how models are instructed, how they pull in information and how they call other services.
- Create automated evaluation tooling ahead of new releases so model changes are verified rather than assumed.
- Bring response time and running costs down to levels that hold up under real production load.
- Diagnose unclear product problems and determine whether the cause is the model, the data or the user experience, then resolve them.
- Release to production weekly and monitor how changes behave in real use.
- Make early architecture decisions that will shape the platform for years.
Requirements
What we're looking for
- A computer science degree, ideally from a highly ranked institution.
- Solid practical Python experience developing AI and ML services.
- Experience creating LLM evaluation systems that successfully caught regressions.
- A track record of launching AI-driven software to live users, beyond research prototypes or internal demos.
- Experience at a company known for a rigorous engineering bar.
- Experience working at a growth-stage startup.
Bonus points
- Contributions to the wider developer community, such as published work or personal projects.
- Background in machine learning or model tuning.
- Experience in commerce or marketplace environments.
Benefits
Compensation and benefits
- Base salary: USD 150,000 to 250,000 per year
- Equity
Location and work model
- San Francisco, CA, United States
- On-site
- Full-time
What you need to know about the San Francisco Tech Scene
Key Facts About San Francisco Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 365,500; 13.9% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: Google, Apple, Salesforce, Meta
- Key Industries: Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, fintech, consumer technology, software
- Funding Landscape: $50.5 billion in venture capital funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
- Notable Investors: Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners, Greylock Partners, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins
- Research Centers and Universities: Stanford University; University of California, Berkeley; University of San Francisco; Santa Clara University; Ames Research Center; Center for AI Safety; California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
