Job Specifications
AI Platform Engineer - Infrastructure
San Francisco, CA | $150K-$225K + 0.10%-0.50% Equity | Visa Sponsorship Available
Our client is an AI-first startup that's reimagining a $900B industry by replacing outdated, pre-internet systems with high-performance AI agents. Fresh off an $8M seed round from top-tier investors, they're looking for a hands-on AI Platform Engineer to design and build the backbone of their platform - infrastructure that enables one person to deliver the output of thousands.
In this role, you'll work side-by-side with the founding team to ship production systems at speed. You'll evolve their proprietary context engineering platform, develop evaluation frameworks, architect ML models, and build growth-focused AI tools. This is a role for someone who thrives in high-intensity environments, takes ownership, and measures success by shipped product, not planning decks.
Key responsibilities:
Enhance their in-house AI Grid platform combining ETL pipelines with LLM orchestration
Build evaluation systems using human-annotated datasets for model fine-tuning (SFT/RL)
Develop ML models for reasoning engines, load balancing, and market-making systems
Architect robust data pipelines feeding multiple destinations (vector DBs, ML platforms, analytics systems)
Implement MCP servers to connect agents with tools and persistent memory
Create voice AI systems for outbound, follow-up, and customer service use cases
Integrate payment providers and financial systems directly into the platform
Work closely with forward deployed engineers to ensure business impact
You'll be a great fit if you have:
Strong background in distributed systems, AI agents, and modern data engineering
Proven experience in both TypeScript/Node.js and Python
Track record building production ML infrastructure, ETL/ELT workflows, and orchestration systems
Experience with MCP protocols, vector DBs, and retrieval-augmented generation
Familiarity with voice AI architecture, payment integrations, and real-time processing systems
A bias toward action - you ship fast, iterate, and improve continuously
Tech stack: TypeScript, Node.js, Python, Next.js, Databricks, Astronomer, Temporal.io, Pydantic-AI, Redis Streams, PostgreSQL, ClickHouse, Apache Airflow, vector DBs, Claude, GPT-4, and more.
Why join:
This is a rare chance to be early in a well-funded, high-growth AI startup where your work directly shapes the company's technical foundation. The role is based in San Francisco, with relocation assistance provided, and requires working in-office 5.5 days a week alongside an exceptional founding team.
If you're an engineer who thrives on building AI systems that change industries, we'd like to hear from you.
About the Company
Founded in 2019, HartleyCo is a boutique Recruitment Firm who solely focus on placing highly skilled technology professionals, into Permanent & Contractor opportunities across Hampshire, Surrey, Berkshire and London.
Simply put, HartleyCo are trusted advisors who provide great recruitment experiences. We're not trying to reinvent the wheel. We listen, advise then action.
What you'll find partnering with HartleyCo, will be a series of enjoyable experiences coupled with human conversation & delivery.
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