Founding AI Engineer
Arkadia Talent · Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Apply & track with Apply EdgeFounding AI EngineerSydney CBD | 5 days in office, | PermanentAttractive Salary Package + meaningful equityThe OpportunityWe are looking for a Founding AI Engineer to join at the ground floor and help architect the intelligence layer that powers the entire platform. You will work directly alongside founders, operators and engineers to design and deploy production grade AI systems that create measurable operational leverage across multiple businesses.This is a rare opportunity for someone who loves building from first principles, thrives in ambiguity and wants to work at the edge of applied AI.You will move between rapid experimentation and long term platform thinking, solving difficult real world problems rather than developing prototypes that never leave the lab.What You’ll Be DoingBuild and scale applied AI systemsDesign and deploy multi agent workflows that automate complex operational processes end to endBuild production grade LLM infrastructure including orchestration, retrieval, evaluation and observabilityDevelop knowledge systems including RAG architectures, structured data layers and intelligent retrieval pipelinesTranslate operational complexity into reusable platform primitives that scale across multiple portfolio companiesOwn platform perforDrive decisions across architecture, latency, reliability and inference economicsImprove system quality through evaluation frameworks and continuous learning loopsBuild for production outcomes rather than experimentationPartner deeply with opratorsWork directly with portfolio businesses to identify bottlenecks and deploy practical AI solutionsRapidly test, iterate and operationalise ideas with measurable business impactInfluence product direction through strong engineering judgement and customer empathyHelp shape the companyEstablish engineering standards, culture and technical directionContribute to platform strategy and future acquisition integration modelsBe part of building a company designed to compound over decadesAbout YouYou’re an exceptional builder who combines technical depth with product instinct.You may currently be:A Founding Engineer or early employee at a startupA Senior AI Engineer building production systemsA CTO or technical founder looking to return to hands on buildingA Staff or Principal Engineer wanting greater ownership and impactYou’ll likely bring:Proven experience building with LLMs, agents or production AI systemsStrong software engineering fundamentals across backend, cloud and data infrastructureExperience designing scalable architectures in modern environmentsStrong product intuition and obsession with solving real user problemsComfort operating in ambiguity with incomplete data and evolving requirementsHigh ownership, strong execution and low egoBonus points for:Experience building AI products from zero to oneExposure to fintech, services businesses or operational platformsExperience with agent orchestration, evaluation frameworks or workflow automationExperience across GCP, event driven systems or modern full stack environments