AI Engineer

Crossing Hurdles is a global recruitment firm that partners with cutting-edge startups to hire the best talent.

About Client

Our client is an AI-first company building a platform designed to deploy thousands of intelligent agents that automate complex real-world workflows. Backed by top-tier investors, the team is composed of founders and engineers from world-class AI and product companies. With a fast-growing customer base and a mission to scale AI systems to millions of daily interactions, they are assembling a high-caliber engineering team in San Francisco.

Role —AI Engineer

Location: San Francisco, California, United States (Hybrid, 2–3 days in office)

Compensation: $180k — $250k + Competitive Equity

Benefits: Comprehensive healthcare, dental, vision coverage

About the Role

As an AI Engineer , you’ll work at the intersection of machine learning systems and full-stack product development. This role is ideal for engineers who thrive in early-stage, high-intensity environments, want to own technical decisions end-to-end, and have a passion for applying AI in production at scale.

You’ll design and deploy AI-driven workflows, integrate models into customer-facing systems, and shape both product and infrastructure decisions alongside the founding team.

Responsibilities

• Build and optimize AI-powered workflows for large-scale, real-time applications.
• Integrate AI models into production systems, ensuring reliability, scalability, and low latency.
• Own technical architecture spanning customer integrations, APIs, and intelligent automation.
• Collaborate directly with product and design teams to build customer-facing features.
• Establish engineering best practices and mentor team members in an early-stage setting.

Requirements

• 5+ years of engineering experience, ideally with exposure to AI/ML systems.
• Strong proficiency in Python, TypeScript, React, Next.js (experience with Go or backend infra is a plus).
• Experience deploying machine learning systems into production environments.
• Background in high-growth startups or large-scale platforms (AI, SaaS, consumer, or mobility).
• CS/Engineering degree from a top program (advanced degrees in ML/AI a plus).
• Passion for AI and ability to bridge research with productization.
• Founder-style mindset: grit, ownership, and adaptability.

Why Join

• Shape the future of AI-native platforms and build systems used at massive scale.
• Join a world-class founding team and work closely with experienced AI and startup leaders.
• Competitive compensation with meaningful equity upside.
• Opportunity to define both technical culture and product direction at an early stage.

If you’re an AI-focused engineer who loves both building systems and deploying models in the real world, this is the chance to define the early chapters of a breakout company. Apply now!