Principal AI/ML Systems Lead

Principal AI / ML Systems Lead Location: San Francisco Bay Area (Hybrid/Onsite Preferred) Employment Type: Full-Time Stage: Seed-Stage Venture-Backed Startup About the Company A venture-backed, seed-stage technology company is building AI-native workforce infrastructure for tens of millions of hourly workers across the United States and globally. Labor remains one of the last fragmented supply chains. Forecasting, allocation, and professional identity systems are still dependent on static tools and manual processes. The company is rebuilding workforce intelligence from first principles. The platform begins with highly accurate AI-driven demand forecasting, evolves into allocation-first labor optimization, and compounds value through a persistent labor graph capturing skills, reliability, availability, and performance across time and employers. Over time, this becomes a professional identity and intelligent coordination layer serving both enterprises and frontline workers. The company is live with customers and entering a phase where architectural clarity, production-grade AI systems, and continuous learning loops are foundational to long-term success. The Role We are hiring a Principal AI / ML Systems Lead to serve as the company's senior AI authority and technical leader. This is a founding-level position. You will partner directly with the CEO, define long-term AI architecture, represent the company's AI strategy externally, and build intelligence systems that become the company's long-term moat. This role blends: Deep hands-on technical leadership

Systems-level architectural thinking

Executive presence with customers, candidates, and investors

If you are motivated to build category-defining intelligence systems - not just optimize isolated models - this role is designed for you. Key Responsibilities AI & Systems Leadership Own the company's core intelligence layer end-to-end Predictive demand forecasting

Market-level labor allocation and optimization

Continuous learning systems across workers and enterprises

Design, build, and evolve production ML systems operating under real-world uncertainty

Define standards for model evaluation, accuracy, robustness, and learning velocity

Make architectural decisions that compound strategically over time

Senior Leadership & External Representation Serve on the senior leadership team alongside the CEO

Represent the AI strategy in: Enterprise customer conversations

Senior-level hiring discussions

Investor and advisor engagements

Broader AI and systems ecosystems

Translate complex technical systems into clear, credible narratives for non-technical stakeholders

Team Building & Culture Recruit, mentor, and lead a high-caliber AI/ML and systems team

Maintain a hands-on technical role while setting engineering standards

Build a culture grounded in accuracy, accountability, and systems thinking

Act as a magnet for senior technical talent

Required Qualifications 8-12+ years of experience building production-grade ML, forecasting, or decision systems

Strong expertise in one or more of: Time-series forecasting

Optimization systems

Applied machine learning

Experience with production data infrastructure and software engineering

Proven ability to lead or mentor senior engineers while remaining hands-on

Systems-level thinking beyond individual model optimization

Ability to explain AI tradeoffs clearly to executive stakeholders

Strong structured communication and sound technical judgment

Preferred (Nice to Have) Experience in workforce, logistics, marketplaces, or supply-chain systems

Startup or founding-team background

Multi-objective optimization or allocation system exposure

Public speaking, technical writing, or ecosystem engagement

Compensation & Equity

This is a senior leadership opportunity designed for candidates seeking meaningful ownership and long-term influence. Compensation includes: Competitive base salary

Significant founding-level equity

Alignment with long-term value creation

The company prioritizes ownership, impact, and strategic authorship over short-term cash maximization. This role is ideal for a leader motivated by responsibility and long-term technical imprint. Why This Role Stands Out Foundational influence on a category-defining AI platform

True executive-table authority from day one

Opportunity to architect compounding intelligence systems

Direct impact on one of the largest labor markets globally

Culture The organization operates with high trust, high accountability, and thoughtful collaboration. Core values include: Ownership mindset

Clear communication

Respect for diverse perspectives

Comfort operating in ambiguity

Empathy for enterprises and frontline workers

Professionals aligned with these principles tend to thrive in this environment. Equal Opportunity Statement The company is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, veteran status, or other protected characteristics. Applicant information will be processed solely for recruiting purposes in accordance with applicable data protection laws.