About the role

About the company
A Kiwi–American start-up with strong funding and open-source traction is rethinking how teams work with AI. The mission: stop teams from spinning the wheel faster in the wrong direction by solving the context and alignment problem when shipping product at speed. 

Why this role matters
This is a founding engineer role. You’ll design and deploy the ML systems that power the platform - turning messy human input into clear, actionable output. Joining this early means your choices will shape the approach, the standards, and the way ML is used across the product. For specialists who want influence, ownership, and a chance to set the pace, this is that rare moment.

What you’ll do

• Design and fine-tune large language models for production use
• Build and optimise RAG pipelines with embeddings and vector DBs
• Deploy ML systems with retraining and monitoring
• Research, test, and apply new ML techniques
• Establish best practice and mentor others as the team grows

What you’ll bring

• MSc/PhD or equivalent experience in machine learning
• 5+ years designing and deploying models into production
• Strong Python and PyTorch/TensorFlow expertise
• Hands-on with LLMs, embeddings, and fine-tuning
• Hunger to solve complex problems and thrive in early-stage speed

Why join

• Up to NZD $250k + equity
• Choice of Auckland or US based
• Culture built for builders: ownership, freedom, and a team that has your back
• The chance to build systems from scratch with proven global traction

For ML specialists who want their work to drive real products - this is the opportunity.