Senior AI/ML Engineer (Equity-Only)

Project Overview We are building a Live AI Business Knowledge platform powered by ethically sourced, structured, and continuously evolving data. You will work with a stealth-stage startup where your architectural decisions directly shape core AI infrastructure, agent design, and long-term system scalability. We are seeking a Senior AI/ML Engineer for an independent contractor engagement to design and implement AI agents, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) infrastructure, and supporting knowledge systems. Engagement Structure & Compensation • Engagement Type: Independent Contractor • Duration: ~10 months (starting March 2026) • Time Commitment: ~25–30 hours/week (milestone-based, self-scheduled) • Compensation: Equity-only (0.25%–1.0% Non-Qualified Stock Options), milestone-based and vesting over the engagement period Equity allocation will be aligned to scope, experience, and milestone ownership. All grants are subject to Board approval. This engagement is structured for senior engineers motivated by long-term ownership and platform impact rather than short-term cash compensation. This role is not structured for candidates seeking near-term cash compensation. Applicants must be authorized to work as independent contractors in the United States. What You'll Work On You will architect and ship: • Production-grade AI/ML systems for knowledge extraction, reasoning, and structured inference • Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines with embedding workflows and vector database integration • Data ingestion, normalization, and transformation pipelines for large-scale knowledge systems • AI agent orchestration frameworks and multi-agent coordination workflows • Model evaluation, observability, and governance systems • Scalable inference infrastructure integrated with backend product APIs • Latency- and cost-optimized production deployment strategies Deliverables are milestone-defined and executed in structured architectural phases. Required Experience: Must Have • 7+ years of professional experience in applied AI/ML or production machine learning systems • Demonstrated experience shipping and operating AI systems in production environments • Strong expertise in: LLM-powered systems and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) Embeddings and vector database architectures Python-based ML tooling and API integration • Ability to evaluate architectural tradeoffs across latency, reliability, cost, and scalability Preferred • Knowledge graphs or graph databases • Multi-agent systems or orchestration frameworks • AI safety, compliance, or sensitive-data handling • Early-stage startup or platform-build experience Ideal Engagement Fit This engagement is a strong fit for senior practitioners who prefer milestone-based delivery, are comfortable owning AI architecture decisions end-to-end, and enjoy building foundational systems with long-term impact. You are comfortable making architecture decisions without heavy supervision and can articulate system design tradeoffs clearly. This is not a salaried W-2 role and is not structured for hourly optimization. How We Work This is a contractor engagement. You determine how the work is performed, use your own tools and equipment, manage your own schedule to meet agreed milestones, and handle your own taxes and expenses. Collaboration is async-friendly with structured architecture reviews and integration discussions as needed. We are seeking senior engineers comfortable operating with ownership, ambiguity, and high accountability.