Transparent Search Group
Founding AI/ML Engineer
San Francisco, California, US
Role snapshot
Transparent Search Group is hiring a Founding AI/ML Engineer on a full-time basis. This is a role based in San Francisco, California, US.
- Company
- Transparent Search Group
- Location
- San Francisco, California, US
- Job type
- Full-time
- Experience
- 3+ years
- Posted
- Sep 24, 2026
Who this role suits
Practitioners with a few years behind them who can work independently, make trade-offs and help newer teammates.
How to prepare your application
- Prepare examples of decisions you drove, how you measured the result, and how you worked with other teams.
- Be ready to discuss trade-offs and scope, not only the tools you have used.
- Read what Transparent Search Group publishes about its product or team, so you can say clearly why this role and this company.
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About the role
Founding AI/ML Engineer
Company: Confidential — venture-backed technology company
Location: San Francisco, CA or New York, NY
Compensation: $165,000 - $250,000 + 0.3% - 1% equity
Employment Type: Full-time
Visa Sponsorship: Not available
About the Company
The client helps law enforcement search evidence and solve crime. Police and prosecutors across the US use it to accelerate investigations into homicides, cold cases and other major offenses by reducing digital evidence overload, with about 10 live agency deployments and paying customers.
The client was founded in 2025 by ex-Palantir and ex-IDF engineers who have built national-scale systems, and is backed by Y Combinator (W25), CRV, Hawktail, Liquid2 and Adverb.
The Role
As an early engineer you will shape the client's AI backbone, processing massive video, audio and text datasets to surface investigative leads. The work spans backend infrastructure and applied ML: building retrieval pipelines, integrating LLMs and VLMs, and deploying secure, distributed systems in sensitive environments, end to end from data-flow design to production.
What You Will Do
- Build retrieval pipelines over large video, audio and text datasets.
- Integrate LLMs and VLMs into investigative workflows.
- Deploy secure, distributed systems in sensitive environments.
- Ship end to end, from data-flow design to production deployment.
What You Bring
- 3+ years of engineering experience across backend infrastructure and applied ML
- Experience shipping end to end in production
- Comfort in fast-paced, high-impact settings
- Eligibility for FBI/CJIS clearance (sponsored by the company)
Benefits
Free lunches and dinners, 3% 401(k) contribution, unlimited PTO, full health and dental, gym reimbursement, and FBI/CJIS clearance sponsorship.
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