Founding Applied AI Engineer – Early Career

About United

United is dedicated to eliminating tedious tasks, focusing initially on small and medium-sized business accounting. The company aims to revolutionize traditional service sectors by integrating AI, transforming services into software solutions. They are developing AI agents and workflows that manage over 90% of accounting tasks, while professional accountants oversee these processes and maintain client relations.

Role Overview

They seek a founding, hands-on AI engineer to design and implement production AI agents and workflows tailored to work with real financial data and documents. Emphasizing accuracy, auditability, explainability, and recovery, this role involves full ownership from prototype to deployment and continuous iteration alongside users.

Key Responsibilities

• Designing and building AI systems, determining context, toolsets, structural design, interaction with semi-deterministic workflows, and output at each stage.
• Establishing the division between deterministic and AI-driven logic, deciding how logic is implemented among pure code, hybrid approaches, or full AI agents.
• Monitoring AI system performance and engaging directly with users to identify and resolve shortcomings in context, pipelines, tools, or architecture.
• Integrating AI workflows seamlessly into the product to ensure an enjoyable user experience, beyond mere metric improvement.
• Driving meaningful productivity gains through automation of significant workflow portions.
• Influencing product evolution by applying insights gained from hands-on impact assessments in AI agent development.

Qualifications and Desired Attributes

• Genuine interest in accounting and financial technology to effectively impact vertical AI solutions.
• Analytical approach rooted in first-principles thinking and sound judgement on distributing workloads between AI agents and deterministic systems.
• Strong software engineering or mathematical/physics background demonstrating analytical judgment.
• Proven success in advancing ambiguous challenges from concept to measurable results.
• Self-motivation, excellent communication skills, and comfort collaborating with subject matter experts.
• Experience as a founder, founding engineer, or early-stage startup participant is highly advantageous.

Experience in regulated, document-intensive sectors like accounting or finance is beneficial but not mandatory. The company values diverse educational backgrounds and welcomes all qualified individuals.

Why Join United

• Work closely with a founding team experienced in AI product building and large-scale operations.
• Enjoy full product and technical ownership with direct interaction with founders and user base.
• Influence core aspects of product design, engineering standards, and organizational culture from inception.
• Experiment freely with AI-engineering methods and flexible token allocations.
• Receive competitive salary and meaningful equity participation.
• Address a large, $1 trillion+ market with lasting mission-oriented goals beyond current verticals.

Location and Compensation Details

This position is based full-time onsite in New York City with a five-day workweek, promoting close collaboration for rapid product advancements.

Salary ranges from $150,000 to $210,000 annually, supplemented by meaningful equity; remuneration is aligned with experience, capabilities, and production agent achievements.

Diversity and Inclusion Commitment

United is an equal opportunity employer that considers applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics.