Founding AI Engineer
Airbyte
Opportunity
Airbyte is at the forefront of data integration, empowering developers and data practitioners worldwide. We have been embarking on our most ambitious venture yet: building the next generation of AI-powering products that will redefine how businesses leverage their own data. To achieve this, we're assembling a lean, high-impact Tiger Team – a specialized unit of elite engineers dedicated to rapid innovation and groundbreaking development.
This is not just another engineering role; it's an opportunity to be a foundational member of a team that will shape the future of bringing more data to intelligent systems. If you thrive in fast-paced environments, possess an insatiable drive to build, and are ready to tackle complex challenges with a relentless pursuit of excellence, this is your chance to make an indelible mark.
What You'll Do
- Pioneer new frameworks and patterns for extracting from Airbyte’s myriad sources and incrementally delivering them to operators.
- Build core technologies to manage a fleet of high-volume data connectors on behalf of our customers.
- Co-develop the operations for this new product (with the help of Airbyte’s existing experts), including support and sales.
- Drive step function improvements in performance & reliability at scale.
- Experiment rapidly with new AI technologies, frameworks, and methodologies to identify and integrate the most effective solutions.
- Build leverage: a week-long task this year should take ten minutes next year.
- Collaborate closely with product, sales, and other engineering teams to translate ambitious product visions into tangible AI-driven solutions.
- Write high-leverage code & build high-leverage systems.
What You'll Need
- Proven experience as a founder or early-stage startup contributor: You understand the grit, resourcefulness, and relentless drive required to build something from nothing. You've navigated ambiguity, worn multiple hats, and consistently operate at high velocity.
- Insatiable desire to ship.
- Familiarity with AI/LLM tools and the pipelines that power them (RAG, embedding, agents).
- Exceptional problem-solving skills: Ability to break down complex, ill-defined problems into actionable steps and deliver innovative solutions.
- Strong engineering fundamentals: Solid understanding of data structures, algorithms, software design principles, and distributed systems.
- Bias for action and ownership: You are a self-starter who takes initiative, thrives in an autonomous environment, and takes full responsibility for outcomes.
- Adaptability and resilience: You embrace change, learn quickly from failures, and maintain a positive attitude in the face of challenges.
- Deep knowledge of existing parts of data infrastructure (e.g. Postgres, Data Warehouses, Iceberg, Kafka, Spark).
- Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) and containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes).
- User-centric approach to building products and developer tools.
- A passion for continuous learning and improvement (both at a personal and team level).
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Belief in our values.
Bonus Points
- Contributions to open-source projects, particularly in the AI/ML domain.
- Experience with MLOps tools and platforms.
- A track record of building and shipping successful AI-powered products.
Location
- San Francisco. Onsite at least 4x/week (Monday through Thursday).
Salary
- $200,000 - $300,000 base salary + a generous equity package, and benefits listed below for the U.S. market.
We Provide
The benefits listed below are for U.S. employees.
- Relocation - should you apply to a San Francisco based role, Airbyte will assist with U.S. relocation to make this a seamless transition and compensate you well.
- Unlimited paid time off - we need you at your best at all times. Our expected minimum time off of 25 PTO days per year lets you schedule your work around your life.
- Parental leave (for new parents) - we offer 16 weeks of paid parental leave for all new parents so you have time to adjust to the new life (and work) schedule introduced by your new bundle of joy.
- Open book policy - we will pay for books you purchase for your professional and career development.
- Continuous learning/training policy - we sponsor you for the conferences and training programs you feel would add to your development in the company.
- Competitive benefits package for employees - including:
- Blue Shield or Kaiser Medical Insurance
- Airbyte covers 100% for both employees and dependents
- Dental (including child & adult ortho) & Vision Insurance
- Airbyte covers 100% for both employees and dependents
- Life and AD&D Insurance
- Airbyte covers 100% for employees
- Short-term Disability Insurance
- Airbyte covers 100% for employees
- Long-term Disability Insurance
- Airbyte covers 100% for employees
- Blue Shield or Kaiser Medical Insurance
- Healthcare insurance stipend - for those outside the U.S. whose countries do not provide it for free.
- 401k - for U.S. based employees.
- FSA - flexible spending account for U.S. based employees.
- Work visas - all visa requests will be discussed on a case by case basis to determine if we can sponsor.
Airbyte is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate on the basis of actual or perceived race, creed, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, genetic information, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, familial status, domestic violence victim status, veteran or military status, or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state or local laws. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
Airbyte is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities in our job application procedures. Please let us know if you need assistance or accommodation due to a disability.