Demo

Founding AI/ML Engineer

David Joseph & Company
San Francisco, CA Full Time
POSTED ON 7/11/2026
AVAILABLE BEFORE 8/9/2026
San Francisco, CA

  • New York City, NY
  • On-site
  • Full-time Compensation: $125,000–$200,000 0.3%–1% equity


About The Company

An early-stage public-safety AI company building tools that help law enforcement search digital evidence and accelerate investigations into major crimes by reducing evidence overload. The team includes engineers who have previously built national-scale systems. Backed by top-tier investors, with live deployments and paying customers already in production.

Founded 2025

  • 1–10 people
  • Industry: Public safety / law-enforcement AI


The Role

An early engineer role building the company’s AI backbone — processing massive video, audio, and text datasets to surface investigative leads across backend infrastructure and applied ML.

What You’ll Be Doing

  • Build retrieval pipelines over large-scale video, audio, and text datasets
  • Integrate LLMs/VLMs and deploy secure, distributed systems in sensitive environments
  • Ship end-to-end, from data flow design through production deployment
  • Surface investigative signals and leads from unstructured data
  • Work closely with founders on system architecture and technical direction


Tech stack: Python, FastAPI, LangChain, PyTorch; LLM/VLM inference; distributed backend infrastructure

Requirements

  • 4–6 years of engineering experience, ideally 2 in applied ML
  • Strong Python backend ML ops familiarity (FastAPI, LangChain, PyTorch, etc.)
  • U.S. work authorization and willingness to undergo FBI background check
  • Deep technical communication skills (can explain systems and trade-offs clearly)
  • Production experience deploying LLMs/VLMs or custom ML inference pipelines
  • Experience understanding and scaling backend infrastructure (does not have to be an expert but must have solid knowledge)


Green Flags

  • Built secure, distributed backend systems (Python/Go/TypeScript)
  • Demonstrated curiosity across both infrastructure and model-level work
  • Worked on real-time or high-throughput data systems
  • Prior early-stage or mission-driven startup experience
  • SWE and data engineering experience/knowledge


Red Flags

  • Only academic or research exposure to AI (no production deployment)
  • Preference for large-company processes or siloed work
  • Weak understanding of data security / compliance requirements


Why Join

  • Mission with real weight: bring technical excellence to public safety
  • Founding-level ownership shaping the AI backbone end-to-end, with meaningful founding equity
  • Serious backing and real traction — live deployments and paying customers in production


Details

Location San Francisco, CA

  • New York City, NY Work policy In-person, at least 3x/week Compensation $125,000–$200,000 equity Visa sponsorship None available Employment type Full-time

Salary : $125,000 - $200,000

If your compensation planning software is too rigid to deploy winning incentive strategies, it’s time to find an adaptable solution. Compensation Planning
Enhance your organization's compensation strategy with salary data sets that HR and team managers can use to pay your staff right. Surveys & Data Sets

What is the career path for a Founding AI/ML Engineer?

Sign up to receive alerts about other jobs on the Founding AI/ML Engineer career path by checking the boxes next to the positions that interest you.
Income Estimation: 
$101,387 - $124,118
Income Estimation: 
$119,030 - $151,900
Income Estimation: 
$119,030 - $151,900
Income Estimation: 
$149,493 - $192,976
Employees: Get a Salary Increase
View Core, Job Family, and Industry Job Skills and Competency Data for more than 15,000 Job Titles Skills Library

Job openings at David Joseph & Company

  • David Joseph & Company Orange, FL
  • The Senior Project Engineer (Utilities-IV) is responsible for directing the engineering design team in a variety of Water/Wastewater and general public fac... more
  • 4 Days Ago

  • David Joseph & Company Palo Alto, CA
  • San Francisco, CA Palo Alto, CA On-site (remote for truly exceptional candidates) Full-time Compensation: $150,000–$175,000 0–1% equity About The Company A... more
  • 5 Days Ago

  • David Joseph & Company San Francisco, CA
  • San Francisco, CA · On-site (5 days) · Full-time Compensation: $150,000–$200,000 base $300–400K OTE (2x, uncapped) competitive equity About the Company We'... more
  • 6 Days Ago

  • David Joseph & Company Irvine, CA
  • About The Role We are looking for a Labor and Employment Associate with 3–7 years of defense-side experience to join our growing team. We are seeking a pas... more
  • 7 Days Ago


Not the job you're looking for? Here are some other Founding AI/ML Engineer jobs in the San Francisco, CA area that may be a better fit.

  • Clera San Francisco, CA
  • About The Role A pre-seed AI recruiting marketplace startup is looking for a Founding AI/ML Engineer to shape the core intelligence layer of their platform... more
  • 7 Days Ago

  • Delfino AI San Francisco, CA
  • We are an early stage, Y Combinator-backed health tech start-up that uses generative AI to help automate the calls that providers’ offices make to payors. ... more
  • 14 Days Ago

AI Assistant is available now!

Feel free to start your new journey!