AI Engineer
$130k - $250k USD
About Distyl AI
Distyl AI develops production-grade AI systems to power core operational workflows for Fortune 500 companies. Powered by a strategic partnership with OpenAI, in-house software accelerators, and deep enterprise AI expertise, we deliver working AI systems with rapid time to value – within a quarter.
Our products have helped Fortune 500 customers across diverse industries, from insurance and CPG to non-profits. As part of our team, you will help companies identify, build, and realize value from their GenAI investments, often for the first time. We are customer-centric, working backward from the customer’s problem and holding ourselves accountable for creating both financial impact and improving the lives of end-users.
Distyl is led by proven leaders from top companies like Palantir and Apple and is backed by Lightspeed, Khosla, Coatue, Dell Technologies Capital, Nat Friedman (Former CEO of GitHub), Brad Gerstner (Founder and CEO of Altimeter), and board members of over a dozen Fortune 500 companies.
What We’re Looking For
We’re hiring AI Engineers at all levels of experience, from early-career builders to senior engineers who can lead large-scale deployments and shape our customers' technical roadmap. Regardless of seniority, every AI Engineer at Distyl is a hands-on contributor responsible for designing, implementing, and deploying production-grade AI systems using Large Language Models (LLMs).
At the most senior levels, our engineers operate as the technical owners of F500 engagements, defining architecture, engaging with enterprise leaders, and leading technical teams to transform mission-critical workflows.
Key Responsibilities
All AI Engineers at Distyl are expected to:
Design and Deploy LLM-Powered Systems: Build and deploy robust GenAI systems that deliver measurable business value. Includes model evaluation, prompt design, agent/agentic logic, and full-stack application development
Engage Deeply with Customers: Work directly with customer stakeholders to understand their most pressing business and technical needs, and turn those into tailored, high-impact AI solutions
Build and Improve Our Platform: Contribute to the development of Distillery, our internal LLM application platform, by developing reusable tools, infrastructure, and workflows that scale across customers
Deliver Production Quality: Ensure systems are observable, maintainable, and meet rigorous reliability, performance, and security standards
Evaluate AI Systems Scientifically: Lead evaluation efforts balancing accuracy, latency, explainability, cost, and robustness
Continuously Improve: Refine development workflows, platform architecture, and deployment practices to raise the engineering bar
At higher levels of experience, you will also:
Set technical direction and architecture for multi-million-dollar customer engagements
Earn executive trust and guide enterprise engineers through rollout and long-term operations
Mentor and up-level Distyl engineers via design reviews, architectural design reviews, leading by doing, and targeted coaching
Who You Are
We believe great AI Engineers come from diverse backgrounds and are unified by deep curiosity, pragmatism, and engineering excellence. We’re excited to meet candidates with:
Proficiency in Python or Typescript (experience with a diverse set of languages is a plus), with hands-on experience using LLM tooling such as LangChain, LlamaIndex, Guardrails, MCP and Agents SDK
Experience building and deploying LLM-powered AI agents in production, including tool use, prompt orchestration, RAG, and long-horizon task execution
Deep understanding of agent design patterns, with practical experience in observability, debugging, and human-in-the-loop feedback systems
Skilled at solving complex, ambiguous problems using cutting-edge AI techniques to deliver meaningful business outcomes
Familiar with responsible AI practices (e.g., auditability, interpretability), and experienced in aligning AI systems with enterprise-grade requirements
Comfortable working across cloud environments (AWS, GCP, Azure) with modern DevOps tools (Docker, CI/CD), and collaborating closely with cross-functional teams
For senior roles: strong architectural and systems design, experience leading projects, navigating and deploying into enterprise hybrid cloud environments and mentor others
Travel: Ability to travel 25-50%
What We Offer
The base salary range for this role is $130K – $250K, depending on experience, location, and level. In addition to base compensation, this role is eligible for meaningful equity, along with a comprehensive benefits package
100% covered medical, dental, and vision for employees and dependents
401(k) with additional perks (e.g., commuter benefits, in‑office lunch)
Access to state‑of‑the‑art models, generous usage of modern AI tools, and real‑world business problems
Ownership of high‑impact projects across top enterprises
A mission‑driven, fast‑moving culture that prizes curiosity, pragmatism, and excellence
Distyl has offices in San Francisco and New York. This role follows a hybrid collaboration model with 3+ days per week (Tuesday–Thursday) in‑office..
We’re grateful for the strong interest in this role. The best way to get your profile in front of our team is to apply directly through our careers page, where all applications are reviewed. Due to the high volume of interest, we’re not able to review or respond to all direct emails or LinkedIn messages. We will be in touch with every applicant once we’ve completed our review, regardless of the decision.