Signalfire · Remote

Founding AI Engineer (Senior/Staff) - VC Backed Startups at Signalfire — Remote

Full-timeRemote$170,000–$250,000/yearPosted 2026-08-05Apply on Ashby

Full job description

# Join SignalFire’s Talent Network for Founding AI Engineer Roles at VC-Backed Startups

🛑 This is not an application for a specific job. Instead, this is a way to get on the radar of VC-backed startups that are actively hiring AI talent. If you have any questions, please direct inquiries to talentnetwork@signalfire.com.

We’re looking to connect with exceptional Founding AI Engineers who are excited about joining high-growth startups as core technical leaders. By joining SignalFire’s Talent Network, your profile will be shared with our portfolio companies, giving you visibility into exclusive early-stage opportunities that may not be publicly listed.

## Who Should Join?

We’re looking for AI engineers who are:

✔ Passionate about building AI models from the ground up and deploying them in production ✔ Excited about joining early-stage startups and working directly with founders ✔ Interested in shaping AI strategy and leading the development of AI-powered products

## Typical Roles & Responsibilities

  • Designing, developing, and deploying machine learning (ML) and deep learning models
  • Building scalable data pipelines for preprocessing, feature engineering, and model training
  • Optimizing and deploying AI models for real-time and batch processing
  • Working closely with founders to align AI strategies with product and business goals
  • Researching and integrating state-of-the-art AI methodologies
  • Developing and optimizing RAG pipelines, agent architectures, and LLM-powered systems

## Common Qualifications

While each startup has its own hiring criteria, many founding AI roles in our network look for:

  • 3+ years of experience in machine learning, deep learning, or applied AI
  • Strong Python skills with frameworks like TensorFlow, PyTorch, or JAX
  • Experience with big data tools (Apache Spark, Kafka, Hadoop) and MLOps platforms
  • Familiarity with cloud environments (AWS, GCP, Azure) and containerization tools (Docker, Kubernetes)
  • Startup experience or an interest in early-stage environments is a plus

💡 Technologies You Might Work With: Python, TensorFlow, PyTorch, JAX, scikit-learn, Kubernetes, Docker, MLflow, TFX, Kubeflow, FastAPI, Flask, SQL, NoSQL, Apache Spark, Kafka, Hadoop, Flink, Airflow, AWS (SageMaker, Lambda, S3), GCP (Vertex AI, BigQuery), Azure (ML Studio, Synapse).

## What Happens Next?

  • Submit your application to join SignalFire’s Talent Ecosystem.
  • We review applications on an ongoing basis to identify strong candidates.
  • If there’s a match, a SignalFire talent partner or a leader from one of our startups may reach out directly.
  • No match yet? We’ll keep your profile on file for future AI/ML roles in our portfolio.

Required skills

  • amazon web services
  • python
  • scikit-learn
  • kafka
  • kubernetes
  • flask
  • deep learning
  • fastapi
  • machine learning
  • spark