AI Engineer

Department: Engineering

Location: New York, California, Massachusetts, Texas, New Jersey

Compensation: $115K – $130K

Employment Type: Contract

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