Founding AI Lead Engineer (YC experience)
Location: United States — Remote
Type: Full-time
Languages: Fluent English required
About The Opportunity
Pragmatike is recruiting on behalf of a fast-growing technology company building critical infrastructure that powers high-volume, real-time business operations across multiple systems and platforms. We are seeking a Founding AI Lead Engineer with experience in YC-backed start-ups to lead the company's AI engineering organization and establish the technical strategy for production AI systems.
Responsibilities
- Lead 0→1 product initiatives from discovery through scale.
- Partner directly with customers and Product leadership.
- Design and implement full-stack product architectures.
- Establish technical foundations for new products.
- Translate ambiguous product problems into scalable solutions.
- Balance speed, product quality, and technical sustainability.
- Mentor engineers working on product initiatives.
- Influence product roadmap and engineering priorities.
Requirements
- 7+ years of software engineering experience.
- Strong full-stack and product engineering experience.
- Proven 0→1 product development track record.
- Excellent product judgment and technical depth.
- Strong architecture and system design skills.
- Ability to work independently in highly ambiguous environments.
Nice to Have
- AI product development.
- Startup/scale-up experience.
- Experience working closely with founders or product leadership.
- Experience taking products from prototype to significant scale.
Benefits
- Full benefit package.
- Competitive compensation.
Pay
$200,000–$350,000 USD
Why Join?
Our client is building highly scalable technology that sits at the core of critical business operations, offering engineers the opportunity to work on complex systems, large-scale integrations, and real-world technical challenges. You'll join a collaborative, fast-moving environment where ownership is encouraged, decisions are made quickly, and engineers have meaningful influence on architecture, product direction, and engineering culture. This role offers the opportunity to tackle challenging backend problems, work with modern technologies, and grow alongside an ambitious team building for scale.