Applied AI Researcher / Founding Engineer

Job Type: Remote / Full-time / B2B Your Role As a Applied AI Researcher / Founding Engineer, you will work directly with the CEO to define and execute the technical roadmap. You will make critical architectural decisions, lead the development of our platform, and shape features from scratch. This role combines hands-on engineering with strategic leadership: you’ll both build and manage. This is not just a job - it’s a career-defining challenge for someone with a strong AI/math background (PhD preferred) who is ready to take ownership, move fast, and grow into a world-class leader. You’ll be working on text and image generation systems in an early-stage product with real users, where research decisions directly impact what ships. Responsibilities - Own the entire technical foundation of the company - from system architecture to deployment. - Design, fine-tune, and implement cutting-edge AI models for real-world use. - Lead and mentor a team of engineers to deliver high-quality, scalable solutions. - Collaborate with leadership to align technology with business strategy. - Manage the full lifecycle: infrastructure, model training, deployment, and optimization. Preferred Qualifications - PhD or strong academic background in mathematics, computer science, or AI/ML. - Experience with LLMs, multimodal models, or advanced deep learning architectures. - Hands-on expertise in Python, PyTorch/TensorFlow, and cloud infrastructure (AWS/GCP/Azure). - Experience in model lifecycle management: training, fine-tuning, scaling, and monitoring. - Strong ability to prototype quickly in ambiguous, fast-changing environments. Minimum Requirements - 3–7 years of experience in AI/ML research or product engineering. - Proven track record of delivering working AI systems (academic publications, open-source contributions, or product launches). - Solid software engineering background: clean, modular code and best practices. - Strong leadership potential with ambition to manage and grow teams. - Curiosity, adaptability, and hunger for building something from the ground up. We Would Love to See - Contributions to open-source or research communities. - Experience with multimodal models (text, vision, or speech). - Familiarity with MLOps pipelines and large-scale data workflows. - Desire to grow as a C-level executive and industry thought leader. About Us AlpacaRelay(https://alpacarelay.com/) is an early-stage startup with a bold vision: to build next-generation AI platforms that push the boundaries of what’s possible in applied machine learning. Our founders have a track record of delivering complex technical products and are now setting out to build something ambitious with a small but elite team. We are at the very beginning of our journey. With limited funding but big goals, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for someone who wants to join at C-level from day one, help define the technology and product, and grow into a recognized leader in the AI industry.