Founding AI Engineer at Reach

Company details

Description of the offer

Join Reach as our Founding AI Engineer! This isn’t just an ML role; you’ll be the architect of our product’s core intelligence. You will build the “brain” of the Reach AI agents, designing the autonomous systems that will execute complex growth strategies for thousands (or more) of companies.

This is a ground-floor opportunity to join a scrappy, ambitious, and lean founding team with exceptionally high standards. You will define our technical trajectory and shape the very fabric of our company.

About Reach

At Reach, we’re building the growth engine of the AI era.

We’re not just building another analytics tool; we’re building the first AI agent that actually does the work of SEO and AI Search Optimization. From technical optimization and content creation to securing backlinks, Reach acts as a 24/7 AI-powered growth team.

Reach helps companies rank higher on Google and AI platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity, helping them significantly drive more traffic to their website and increase the number of qualified leads they are getting from organic channels to fill up their pipeline!

Product Announcement

Location

This role is in-person in Lisbon or San Francisco.

Our goal is to build a high-collaboration, in-person culture. We are building our foundational team in two key hubs: Lisbon and San Francisco.

• For candidates in Lisbon: This role will operate on a hybrid model (3 anchor days in the office per week). You will have the opportunity to relocate to our San Francisco hub in the future, or you can choose to remain a core part of the Lisbon team.
• For candidates in San Francisco: This role is in-person. We believe the speed and creative energy of being in the same room is a massive competitive advantage for a founding team.

The team

We are the team behind Rely.io — an internal developer portal used by top engineering orgs like ESPN Bet and Feedzai, and have launched AI products that reached #1 Product of the Day on Product Hunt.

We are a group of world class engineers who share a passion to create leading AI products.

We’re committed to creating a workplace culture that’s diverse, inclusive, and fosters collaboration and innovation.

At Rely.io we have raised $3.5M+ from top-tier firms like J12 Ventures, Shilling Capital Partners, TechstarsNYC, and TheVentureCity, as well as from notable angels.

The Opportunity: Why This Role?

• You’ll be solving one of the most important problems in the market right now → Building the growth engine of the AI era for companies, starting with the hottest need in the market right now: helping brands show up in search engines and AI platforms
• This isn’t just another SEO or AI Search analytics tool; it’s the core growth engine for the next generation of companies.
• This is a chance to build a category-defining product from the ground up, with a clear signal from the market that they want this now → Launched last week and about to hit $50k revenue, 100+ product sign ups for early access, 400+ Linkedin DMs of people asking for access to the product.
• Build a small, elite, product-obsessed team. No bureaucracy, no middle management. Just shipping product.
• Partner with a 2nd-time founder who is technical, understands the customer’s pain intimately, and is relentlessly focused on execution.
• This is not a feature-building role. You will be building the core “brain” of the company.
• Work on unsolved, cutting-edge problems in autonomous AI agents and complex workflows.
• Your work will be the single biggest driver of the magic and value our customers experience.

What You’ll Be Doing

As our Founding AI Engineer, you will own the entire AI/ML stack, from model evaluation to the deployment of our autonomous agents. You will:

• Own the intelligence of our product. Your job isn’t just to build models, but to understand the user’s goal and translate that complexity into a magical, effective experience.
• Design, build, and constantly improve the AI agents that perform SEO/AISO tasks.
• Own the full AI pipeline, including model evaluation, RAG systems, vector stores, and LLM orchestration.
• Be obsessed with the quality of the AI’s output, creating tests and feedback loops to make the agents smarter.
• Work directly with our in-house expert to translate their deep domain knowledge into scalable, automated workflows.
• Talk to users every week. You need to feel their pain firsthand to build the right solutions.

This Role Is For You If You…

• Are a builder at heart, with a portfolio of impressive products you have personally built and shipped.
• Have personally built and shipped non-trivial AI products or features to production.
• Have deep, hands-on expertise in Python and modern AI frameworks (LangChain, LlamaIndex, etc.).
• Have strong experience with RAG, fine-tuning, and vector databases.
• Have a strong product sense — you don’t just build models; you understand how they solve a user’s problem.
• Thrive in a fast-paced environment where you are responsible for the end-to-end lifecycle of an AI system.
• Are a “spike,” not a “smear” — exceptionally deep in at least one area of the stack, with a broad understanding of the rest.
• Have an insane learning velocity and a genuine curiosity to become a world expert in SEO and AI Search Optimization.

Our tech stack

We build our products using top-grade cloud-native technologies and services available on the market.

Frontend: React, TypeScript, Redux, Tailwind CSS, Storybook, LaunchDarkly, Auth0

Backend: Python (FastAPI), Supabase (PostgreSQL, Auth, Edge Functions, API layer)

AI Agents: Agno (framework for building Multi-Agent Systems), LiteLLM

‍Infrastructure and CI/CD: AWS, Terraform, Kubernetes, ArgoCD, Helm Charts, Github Actions

‍Observability & Analytics: Grafana, PostHog

This Isn’t For Everyone (Our Culture is Demanding)

We’re building something extraordinary, and that requires extraordinary commitment. We’re not the right place for everyone. Before applying, ensure you’re ready for:

• High-Performance Environment: We move fast and expect exceptional results. If you prefer comfort over challenge, this isn’t your place.
• Passion-Driven Work: We’re deeply passionate about our mission, which sometimes means flexible hours to deliver on our commitments.
• Constant Evolution: Our technology, strategies, and processes will change frequently as we learn and grow. If you’re not highly adaptable or don’t enjoy constant learning, you’ll struggle.
• Direct & Honest Communication: We value candid, straightforward feedback. If you prefer politeness over absolute clarity, our culture might feel uncomfortable.

Our Commitment to the Founding Team

We’re not looking for employees; we’re looking for partners. Our compensation and benefits are designed to align with that philosophy. We want you to have a massive stake in the outcome, the best environment to do your work, and the support you need to focus on the mission.

Founding Team Ownership & Compensation

This is a key role on our founding team, with compensation structured for immense upside.

• Significant Stock Option package: corresponding to 0.5% – 2.5% of the company on a standard 4-year vest with a 1-year cliff.
• Early-Stage Salary: A competitive early-stage salary, designed to scale significantly with future funding and revenue.
• Competitive Post-Milestone Salary: Once we hit our first major milestone, your salary will scale to a competitive SF/Lisbon market rate, with significant increases tied to future funding and revenue.

The Perks of Being Here

We are unapologetically an in-person company because we believe speed, collaboration, and serendipity are our greatest competitive advantages. We’ve designed our environment to make being here an undeniable benefit.

• A Dedicated Space for Deep Work: A beautiful, well-equipped office in your hub (SF or Lisbon) that is your sanctuary for building. No distractions, just focus.
• Seamless Commutes: We cover your commuting costs (e.g., Caltrain pass, Clipper card if you’re in SF, Fertagus train pass or paid parking spot if you’re in Lisbon) to make getting to the office effortless.
• Team Lunches & A Stocked Kitchen: We eat lunch together every day. It’s a time to connect, solve problems, and build the camaraderie that defines a founding team. The kitchen is always stocked with the snacks and drinks you need to stay energized.
• Unmatched Speed & Serendipity: The best ideas happen at the whiteboard, not in a scheduled Zoom call. Our in-person culture is built for the rapid iteration and creative problem-solving that can only happen when a brilliant team is in the same room.

Growth & Connection

• Stay on the Cutting Edge: We’ll pay for your travel to the most important conferences in our space. You’ll be the face of Reach in the community.
• Meet Our Customers: Travel to meet our key customers and users. We believe that firsthand empathy is critical to building a great product.
• Build a Global Bond: We come together to build in SF/Lisbon, but we also celebrate our wins together. Expect incredible yearly team retreats to amazing locations overseas.

The Essentials, Covered

These aren’t perks; they’re the essentials you need to do your best work without worry.

• Premium Health Insurance: Top-tier medical, dental, and vision benefits for you and your dependents.
• The Best Tools for the Job: A brand-new, fully-loaded MacBook of your choice and any other software or hardware you need to be productive.
• Flexible Time Off & Parental Leave: We trust you to manage your time. Take the vacation you need to recharge. We also offer comprehensive parental leave for new parents.

Noteworthy

*Our job titles may encompass various career levels, and the actual base pay for this position will be determined based on multiple factors including training, transferable skills, work experience, business requirements, and market conditions. Additionally, this role is eligible for equity and comprehensive benefits.”

Location of employment

How to apply?