Founding Engineer (AI & Product, US)

ThinkingData

Founding Engineer (AI & Product, US)

Sunnyvale, CA
Full Time
Paid
  • Responsibilities

    About the Role

    We're seeking a Founding Engineer (AI & Product) as our first dedicated technical leader on the ground in the US. This role acts as the primary technical bridge between our Shanghai core R&D team and fast-growing US enterprise customers.You will focus on three core pillars :

    1. Drive the global AI product roadmap
    2. Deliver high-impact US‑specific features and solutions
    3. Translate US customer insights into actionable product requirements

    This is not a pure backend role, nor a pure presales role. It's a customer‑facing AI engineer with strong product sense , building real features while owning the US market technical feedback loop.

    Core Responsibilities

    1. Global AI Product Engineering 60–70%

    • Contribute to the shared global engineering roadmap alongside the Shanghai team.
    • Build, test, and ship production‑grade AI features (LLM workflows, agent pipelines, integrations).
    • Maintain high engineering standards: code quality, observability, security, and scalability.

    2. US Market Feature Delivery 20–30%

    • For strategic US enterprise deals only : scope, prototype, and ship small, high‑impact features or workarounds to unblock key customers.
    • Fast‑turnaround execution: days, not weeks; lightweight but production‑safe.
    • Clear boundary : No endless customization; only support high‑value, repeatable use cases.

    3. US Customer Technical Voice & Feedback Loop

    • Regularly engage US enterprise customers to understand real usage, pain points, and willingness‑to‑pay features.
    • Translate insights into clear PRDs/technical proposals , with build‑cost awareness (not just wishlists).
    • Filter US AI ecosystem noise: track frameworks, models, and patterns from OpenAI/Anthropic/open‑source; surface only relevant, actionable signals for our roadmap.

    4. Strategic GTM & Collaboration

    • Lead high‑level product demos, solution architecture reviews, and complex integration scoping for top US deals.
    • Partner closely with Shanghai R&D: align specs, acceptance criteria, release plans, and post‑launch feedback.
    • Document and reuse: demo templates, integration patterns, solution playbooks for US enterprise scenarios.

    Qualifications & Requirements

    • 5+ years building and shipping production‑grade software; strong full‑stack or backend engineering skills.
    • Proven AI/LLM experience : hands‑on building with LLMs, vector databases, and agent frameworks; track record from prototype to production.
    • Product‑minded engineer : comfortable talking to enterprise customers, framing problems, and proposing technical solutions.
    • Extreme ownership & speed: thrive in ambiguity; bias for shipping working code over process.
    • Cross‑border collaboration : work overlapping hours with Shanghai; comfortable with async specs, written reviews, and clear communication.
    • English fluent; Mandarin fluent

    What We Offer

    • Early founding impact: shape a product with proven PMF and scale directly into the US market.
    • High autonomy, minimal bureaucracy, and direct influence on roadmap and US growth.
    • Competitive salary, meaningful equity, and comprehensive benefits.