About this role.
This is a senior, customer-facing applied AI engineering role focused on productionizing frontier multimodal models for practical business problems. The Member of Technical Staff will collaborate with research peers, integrate models into customer technology stacks, and retain substantial product ownership. The role seeks hands-on machine learning engineering experience, particularly with transformers and LLMs, plus comfort operating amid startup ambiguity. It is positioned as a founding-team opportunity in a globally distributed, remote-first foundation-model company.
Role DNA
A quick view of the complexity, pace, ownership and collaboration implied by the job description.
Job Complexity
5/5Pace & Pressure
5/5Autonomy Level
5/5Communication Load
5/5Salary analysis
Estimated compensation compared with the broader US market for similar roles.
Core skills
Skills and capabilities most closely associated with this opportunity.
Sample interview questions
I would explain the problem, model-selection rationale, data and evaluation strategy, serving architecture, monitoring, and rollout plan. I would emphasize measurable outcomes, reliability safeguards, and how production feedback informed iterative model improvements.
I would begin with the customer's workflow, risk tolerance, success metrics, and data constraints. I would create representative evaluation sets, compare quality, latency, cost, safety, and robustness across candidate approaches, then recommend a staged pilot with clear acceptance criteria.
I turn ambiguity into explicit hypotheses, identify the highest-risk assumptions, and run small experiments to reduce uncertainty quickly. I communicate trade-offs early, align stakeholders on decision criteria, and maintain momentum through short, measurable milestones.
Common issues include data quality, authentication, latency expectations, deployment constraints, observability, and differing interpretations of model behavior. I address these through early architecture discovery, well-defined interfaces, secure integration patterns, instrumentation, and joint testing with the customer team.
I translate product and customer needs into measurable technical requirements while preserving a tight feedback loop with researchers. I share production findings such as failure modes, evaluation results, and operational constraints so research priorities and engineering implementation improve each other.
As a Member of Technical Staff on Applied AI, you will:
Productionize frontier AI models to solve complex real-world problems.
Collaborate closely with researchers and other teammates on the latest advancements in AI and ML.
Work closely with our customers to integrate our models into their technology stack.
Make direct business impact with a high level of product ownership.
Be a founding member of a fast-growing team and wear many hats.
You may be a good fit, if you have:
An obsession with customers and a passion for solving practical (but sometimes ambiguous) real-world problems.
Experience as a machine learning engineer, ideally working on AI products for external customers.
Background as a technical founder or in a similar capacity.
Practical experience working with transformer models and LLMs.
An exceptional ability to communicate and work effectively with cross-functional teams.
Track records of owning problems end-to-end, and can learn fast and pick up new knowledge to get the job done.
A kind and collaborative nature and work style.
Reka’s Mission
Reka’s mission is to build useful multimodal artificial intelligence and use it to empower organisations and businesses. We are a globally distributed foundation model startup, headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Embracing a remote-first approach, our team brings together top talent from around the world. Our founding team, along with many of our team members, has contributed to many of the breakthroughs in AI over the past decade.
Why Reka?
An Elite Team: Collaborate with top-tier engineers, researchers, operators from renowned organizations like Google DeepMind and Facebook AI Research (FAIR) and successful startups, driving innovation in cutting-edge AI technology.
Massive Market Opportunity: Be part of a rapidly growing industry poised to transform multiple sectors globally, offering the chance to make a significant impact.
Mission-Driven Environment: Work alongside a collaborative, mission-focused team dedicated to advancing AI for meaningful applications.
Inclusive and Open Culture: Thrive in an open and inclusive work environment that values diverse perspectives and fosters creativity.
Generous Benefits: Enjoy 5 weeks of paid leave to recharge, comprehensive healthcare benefits including vision and dental, and additional perks that support your well-being.
Visa Support: We provide visa assistance, including H1B and OPT transfers, for US employees to ensure a smooth transition and support your career with us.
Annual salary information is not provided for this position. Explore salary ranges for similar roles in our Salary Directory ›
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