Founding Engineering Lead

ABOUT THE ROLE Lead engineering for an early-stage SaaS company applying machine learning to enterprise software. You will shape technical architecture and product direction while leading a small engineering pod and remaining hands-on with critical builds. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Build and lead a pod of engineers, supporting their growth, performance, and hiring while personally shipping critical work. - Own platform architecture and make build-versus-buy and infrastructure decisions. - Establish engineering standards for AI-assisted development, including review criteria, definition of done, release cadence, and on-call practices. - Lead technical designs and initial implementations for new initiatives. - Assess applied machine learning research and determine what is ready for production systems. - Partner with technical leadership on product roadmap, model strategy, and machine learning direction. - Initially spend most of your time building, with leadership responsibilities growing over time. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR - Typically 5 to 8 years of engineering experience, with 4 to 5 years considered for exceptional candidates. - Commercial experience training and deploying machine learning models in production, beyond integrating third-party LLM APIs. - Experience at an AI-native company, with technical leadership or ownership and a record of attracting strong engineering talent. - End-to-end ownership of technical architecture, including infrastructure and cost decisions. - Experience setting engineering standards and leading delivery practices for a team. - Recent hands-on experience shipping production software, strong applied ML judgment, and effective use of AI coding agents. - Comfort working through ambiguity, inherited code, and hands-on implementation. COMPENSATION & BENEFITS Base salary: $200,000 to $400,000 USD annually. Visa sponsorship is not available. LOCATION On-site in New York City, United States.