AI Engineer

AI Engineer Who we are Makai Labs builds software that automates entire companies. We work across a diversified portfolio, which means our systems touch a wide range of domains, processes, and operational constraints. Our engineering team is small, senior, and high-output. We move fast, hold high standards, and trust each other to take ownership without being managed. What we're looking for Makai Labs is hiring a AI Engineer to help build AI systems for enterprise automation. This is a hands-on builder role where you’ll work closely with our engineering and design teams to prototype, ship, and improve AI-powered products and internal tools. You’ll have the opportunity to own smaller projects end to end while contributing to larger client and platform initiatives. Responsibilities will include Build and improve AI-powered applications and internal tools

Rapidly prototype, experiment, and iterate across client and internal projects

Implement workflows that use LLMs, retrieval systems, agents, and structured outputs

Contribute to shared platform work and reusable tooling

Turn prototypes into reliable, client-ready systems

Conduct research, benchmarking, testing, and evaluation of new approaches

Own smaller projects or sub-projects with guidance from the team

Take ownership of deliverables and help deliver work that meets client needs

Write and maintain clear internal documentation

Ideal Experience Senior in college, recent graduate, or early-career engineer

Background in computer science (bonus if you also have business exposure)

Experience building AI applications through internships, coursework, research, or personal projects

Experience running AI experiments and iterating quickly

Strong Python skills

What we value

• Initiative and willingness to learn quickly on the job

• Bias toward action and comfort with fast iteration

• Interest in staying current with AI advancements and applying them in practical systems

• Wants to solve hard problems

• Nice To Haves Experience with APIs, backend services, or workflow automation

• Familiarity with FastAPI, Flask, or similar backend frameworks

• Familiarity with React and TypeScript

• Familiarity with Docker and local development environments

• Familiarity with testing in Python or TypeScript

• Experience working with retrieval systems, embeddings, or search

• Experience working with OCR, document processing, or PDF workflows

• Experience with fine-tuning, benchmarking, or serving LLMs

• Experience in fast-paced, high-accountability team settings

• Core values for Makai employees Have a strong work ethic

• Be self-sufficient and self-driven with an ownership mentality, no matter your role

• Be a flexible thinker

• Be congenial and a team player

• Always be of service to each other and our clients, partners, and neighbors

Benefits

• Fully remote role, Eastern time zone

• Opportunities to work in-person with local colleagues

• Generous PTO

• Full health insurance premium reimbursement

• 401(k) matching

• Career growth & development opportunities