Founding AI Engineer

About the Role

Join a Y Combinator-backed generative AI startup in Berlin as a Founding AI Engineer. The company is building an AI-powered motion design platform that enables designers and marketers to produce professional-quality animations in a fraction of the traditional time. This is an early-stage, high-impact role where you will shape the core AI systems from the ground up alongside a small, collaborative founding team.

What You'll Do

• Build and optimize AI systems to generate high-quality, style-consistent animations
• Develop comprehensive evaluation frameworks to quantify animation quality and user-perceived motion fidelity
• Partner with motion designers and marketers to translate professional design knowledge into AI training data
• Design and implement fine-tuning pipelines for generative AI models
• Create feedback loops between user preferences and model performance
• Research and prototype state-of-the-art approaches for controllable motion graphics generation

What We're Looking For

Required

• Strong experience with TypeScript, React.js, and Next.js for frontend and interactive tooling (dealbreaker)
• Experience with PostgreSQL and cloud platforms (GCP and/or AWS)
• 1+ years of engineering experience
• Hands-on LLM experience — building with, fine-tuning, or deploying large language models

Nice to Have

• Experience developing and deploying generative AI models for motion graphics or related visual content
• Proficiency designing, implementing, and evaluating fine-tuning pipelines for AI models
• Ability to design and curate training data from domain-expert inputs
• Experience building evaluation frameworks for animation quality
• Strong cross-functional communication skills with designers and marketers
• Willingness to work on-site in Berlin or ability to relocate

Compensation & Details

• Salary: €80,000 – €160,000 per year (depending on experience)
• Employment type: Full-time, on-site in Berlin
• Visa sponsorship: Not available

Location

This role is based on-site in Berlin, Germany. Candidates must be willing to work in Berlin or relocate.