Staff AI Engineer

About the role

We are seeking a Founding Applied AI Engineer to build the technical foundation of Kastle's AI platform. This role is ideal for an engineer passionate about applied AI, eager to solve real-world challenges, and excited to build the technical foundation of an early-stage AI startup.

What You'll Do

• AI Model Integration: Fine-tune and deploy Large Language Models (LLMs) for real-time voice-based borrower interactions
• Prompt Engineering: Design and iterate on prompt strategies to optimize AI performance and compliance
• Evaluate LLMs and AI Agents: Build high-quality evaluations using our proprietary datasets to benchmark AI agent performance and run experiments
• Custom AI Solutions: Train and implement domain-specific AI models for consumer lending
• Scalability & Compliance: Ensure AI solutions meet regulatory standards (FDCPA, RESPA, TILA) and scale efficiently
• Data Pipelines & APIs: Build robust AI-driven workflows that integrate seamlessly with loan servicing platforms
• Continuous Optimization: Monitor performance metrics and continuously improve agent quality and borrower experience

What We're Looking For

• 2+ years building and deploying ML/AI systems in production environments
• Strong proficiency in Python and deep learning frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch)
• Experience with LLM orchestration frameworks (LangChain, LlamaIndex, or similar)
• Track record of shipping AI products that real users depend on
• Strong product mindset and ability to translate business requirements into AI solutions
• Excellent communication skills to collaborate across product, engineering, and compliance teams

Why join Kastle

• Build what banks run on: Your code powers real borrower interactions at top-10 mortgage lenders—live in production from day one
• Act like a founder: High ownership and autonomy with direct input on product, technical direction, and company culture
• Learn fast: Daily customer exposure with rapid feedback loops—see your work deployed within days
• Strong upside: Competitive salary, meaningful early-stage equity, and relocation support
• Great team: Work alongside founders and engineers from Verkada, NVIDIA, Apple, Intuit, and Redfin

Compensation Range

$180K - $250K