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# Founding AI/ML Engineer

- **Company:** David Joseph & Company
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA, United States
- **Experience:** Experienced
- **Salary:** $165,000.0 - $250,000.0
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision, Distributed Systems, Python (Programming Language), Software Deployment, Data Streaming, Unstructured Data, Speech Recognition, ReactJS, Retrieval-Augmented Generation, Large Language Models, Backend, Machine Learning Operations, Semantic Modeling, Programming Languages
- **Published:** October 22, 2026
- **Apply:** https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=f1e68bc2db382dee

## About the Role

* Backend Grounding: You can build resilient, secure distributed systems, with comfort across programming languages (especially Python, React, etc.) and infrastructure providers.
 * AI Depth: Experience deploying LLMs, VLMs, and/or other ML in real-world settings. Bonus if you've worked with or are excited by agentic experiences: systems that reason, plan, and take actions across data.
 * Data Versatility: You've designed RAG or similar pipelines for unstructured data, and know how to build for structured data too (query planning, semantic modeling, or structured reasoning).
 * Adaptability: The team moves fast, and new models and approaches to infrastructure are constantly coming online. You are naturally curious and keep up with the latest in AI., * Mission-Driven: Excited to contribute to U.S. government competence and public safety.
 * Owner-Builder Mindset: Bias toward action; thrives in extremely fast-paced environments. Looking to do the best work of your life.
 * Comfort with Ambiguity: This is an early-stage startup with many exciting questions to be answered; you run toward unasked and unanswered questions., * Do you have valid U.S. work authorization and are you willing to undergo an FBI background check / CJIS clearance process?
 * Are you able to work in-person from NYC or SF at least 3x/week?
 * Are you OK with 25% travel on the job?
 * Do you have experience with RAG, speech-to-text, or computer vision?
 * Why are you interested in this role and joining this company?
 * Do you see yourself closer to the Research or Applied side of ML systems?
 * Do you see yourself as proficient in general backend engineering?
 * Do you have strong English communication skills? This is a requirement due to the company's customer base.

## Description

You'll be an early engineer shaping the company's AI backbone, processing massive video, audio, and text datasets to surface investigative leads. The work spans backend infrastructure and applied ML: building retrieval pipelines, integrating LLMs/VLMs, and deploying secure, distributed systems. You should be comfortable shipping end-to-end, from data flow design to production deployment in sensitive environments, and thrive in fast-paced, high-impact settings.