Founding AI Engineer - Seed stage startup - TWE45209

CompanyAn early-stage deep tech organisation building next-generation AI systems for complex scientific and engineering domains. The team operates at the intersection of artificial intelligence, optimisation, large-scale computation, and software infrastructure, developing technology that tackles challenging real-world problems where off-the-shelf solutions do not exist.RoleAs the first Founding AI Research Engineer hire, you will join a small, ambitious team and play a key role in designing, building, and scaling advanced AI systems. You will work across research and engineering, solving novel problems that require a combination of machine learning, systems thinking, and first-principles reasoning.ResponsibilitiesDesign and implement reasoning models for complex scientific and engineering problemsBuild scalable data, training, inference, and evaluation pipelinesDevelop novel approaches to optimisation, reasoning, and decision-making problemsCollaborate on technical direction, architecture, and product strategyTranslate research ideas into robust, production-quality systemsWork across the full lifecycle from experimentation through deploymentKey SkillsStrong mathematical and analytical problem-solving abilitiesExcellent Python programming skills (C++ experience beneficial)2+ years of industry or research engineering experienceExperience with PyTorch and modern machine learning frameworksProven ability to build and maintain technically complex systemsStrong software engineering fundamentalsAbility to thrive in fast-moving and ambiguous environmentsCuriosity for scientific, computational, or systems-level challengesInterest in machine learning beyond prompt engineering and off-the-shelf AI toolsNice to HaveMachine learning research or research engineering experienceExperience with optimisation, reinforcement learning, simulation, or probabilistic modellingKnowledge of distributed training, inference optimisation, or large-scale ML systemsExperience with scientific computing or high-performance computingSystems engineering, compiler, tooling, or infrastructure experienceHardware-aware machine learning or performance optimisation experiencePublications, patents, or meaningful open-source contributionsBenefitsCompetitive salary plus meaningful equityOpportunity to influence technical direction from day oneWork directly with an experienced founding teamHybrid working model (3 days onsite in London)Next StepsApply below or reach out directly: tical.doyle@twentyai.com