Who is Recruiting from Scratch:  https://www.recruitingfromscratch.com/

Software Engineer, Applied AI

Location: San Francisco, CA
Company Stage of Funding: Series C (Profitable, $10B Valuation)
Office Type: Onsite, Full-Time (5 Days/Week)
Salary: $130,000 – $500,000 USD
Equity: Included
Relocation: $20K Relocation Bonus + $10K Housing Bonus

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1. Company Description

We’re representing a profitable Series C company operating at the intersection of labor markets and frontier AI research. The company partners with leading AI labs and enterprises to provide the human intelligence required to train, evaluate, and refine next-generation AI systems.

Their expert network spans tens of thousands of specialists who collectively power some of the most advanced AI development efforts in the world. With strong revenue, rapid growth, and a multi-billion-dollar valuation, the company is building a new category of work where human expertise directly accelerates AI advancement.

The team works fully in person from its San Francisco headquarters and operates with high intensity and ownership.

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2. What You Will Do

As a Software Engineer, Applied AI, you will build and operate the systems that sit directly between frontier AI research and high-quality data delivery. This is a deeply technical, high-ownership role with direct exposure to leading AI labs.

You will:

• Partner closely with frontier AI labs to understand data, post-training, and evaluation needs.

• Build and operate scalable data pipelines supporting post-training workflows and model evaluation.

• Design systems for synthetic data generation and large-scale data quality management.

• Prototype new data types, evaluation frameworks, and benchmark systems.

• Lead technical discussions with customers and translate research needs into production systems.

• Take projects from ambiguous early experiments through reliable, scalable deployment.

This role blends backend systems work, applied ML understanding, and direct customer interaction.

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3. Ideal Background

The ideal candidate is a backend-leaning engineer with strong AI/ML intuition who thrives in ambiguous, research-adjacent environments.

• Strong backend engineering fundamentals in a modern language (e.g., Python, Go, Rust).

• Experience working with model training and inference workflows.

• Strong grounding in statistical analysis and experimental design.

• Familiarity with evaluation methodologies for large language models.

• Experience building scalable data pipelines and distributed systems.

• Comfort operating in fast-moving, ambiguous environments and shipping iteratively.

• Ability to balance engineering rigor with rapid prototyping.

• Strong communication skills, comfortable engaging with technical customers and researchers.

You are likely someone who:

• Enjoys ownership and customer-facing technical problem solving.

• Thinks entrepreneurially and moves quickly.

• Thrives in high-leverage, high-impact environments.

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4. Preferred

• Direct experience working with frontier AI labs or research teams.

• Experience designing evaluation benchmarks for LLMs or generative models.

• Experience building synthetic data systems or data quality frameworks.

• Exposure to large-scale post-training workflows.

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5. Compensation and Benefits and Other Things

• Salary: $130,000 – $500,000 USD base (range reflects experience and scope).

• Equity: Generous 4-year vest equity package.

• Relocation: $20,000 relocation bonus + $10,000 housing bonus (within proximity to office).

• Benefits:

  • Health insurance

  • $1,000 monthly meal stipend

  • Free Equinox membership

Work Model:

Full-time, onsite in San Francisco (5 days per week). + 1 day remote

https://www.recruitingfromscratch.com/