Founding Software Engineer for Data and ML Infrastructure

Founding Software Engineer (Data / ML Infrastructure)

San Mateo, CA (Onsite)

Compensation

• $180k – $220k base
• Equity: 0.75% – 1.5%

We’re supporting a fast-growing AI startup building real-world robotics systems, already deployed with customers and backed by top-tier investors.

This is not a research lab environment. The focus is on shipping production systems that operate in messy, real-world settings, with a strong emphasis on impact and deployment.

They’re now hiring a Founding Engineer to build the data and ML infrastructure powering their models end-to-end.

The role

You’ll own the systems that sit at the core of model development, from raw data ingestion through to training and deployment.

This includes:

• Designing and scaling data pipelines for large-scale, multimodal datasets (including video and sensor data)
• Building and optimizing ML training infrastructure and workflows
• Managing GPU utilization, distributed training, and resource allocation
• Setting up data versioning, lineage, and reproducibility across experiments
• Developing internal tooling to explore and leverage real-world data efficiently

You’ll work directly with the founders on both technical direction and broader company roadmap.

What they’re looking for

• Strong experience building data / ML infrastructure systems end-to-end
• Background in MLOps, data engineering, or ML platform engineering
• Hands-on experience with tools such as PyTorch, Spark, GRPC, Triton, or similar
• Solid understanding of distributed systems and large-scale data processing
• Ability to operate autonomously in a startup environment and build from scratch

Nice to have:

• Experience with multimodal data (video, robotics, sensor data)
• Exposure to robotics or real-world ML deployment challenges
• Experience managing large-scale GPU training workloads

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Why join

• Founding-level role with high ownership and direct impact
• Work on one of the hardest problems in robotics: manipulation of soft materials in real-world environments
• Real deployments already in place, not just research
• Backed by leading investors, with strong early traction and clear market application

Logistics

• Onsite in San Mateo, 5 days/week (some flexibility for strong candidates)
• Visa sponsorship available (TN, H1B transfer, O1)