Artificial Intelligence (AI), Communication Skills, Customer/Client Research, Ecosystems, Engineering, English Language, Mandarin Chinese Language, Open Source, Pre-Sales, Product Demonstration, Product Engineering, Product Planning, Product Requirements Document (PRD), Prototyping, Research & Development (R&D), Technical Leadership, Testing, Use Cases
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 :
- Drive the global AI product roadmap
- Deliver high-impact US‑specific features and solutions
- 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.