Senior AI Engineer

Posted 25 Days Ago
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Hybrid
Senior level
Artificial Intelligence • Information Technology • Software
The Role
As a Senior AI Engineer at Blank Metal, you'll lead the architecture and strategy for AI projects, ensuring system reliability and scalability while mentoring other engineers and translating business needs into technical solutions.
Summary Generated by Built In
About Blank Metal

Blank Metal is an AI-native engineering company that partners with enterprises to deliver production AI fast. We blend strategic insight with hands-on execution, shipping high-impact systems that turn AI initiatives into measurable business results.

We're builders, not theorists. Our team of seasoned engineers, designers, and strategists work across industries to create AI applications that actually get used and make a difference.

The Role

You're a technical leader who shapes how Blank Metal approaches AI engineering. With experience designing, building, and shipping AI features that hold up under real‑world use, you combine deep technical expertise with mentorship and vision. You architect complex AI systems, make critical technical decisions, and elevate the entire team's capabilities.

What You'll Do
  • Lead the technical architecture and strategy for AI‑powered projects

  • Design scalable, production‑grade systems that handle real‑world complexity

  • Make critical decisions about tooling, frameworks, and architectural patterns

  • Own the quality and reliability of systems in production

  • Mentor and develop other engineers

  • Drive technical discussions and shape team standards

  • Keep up with emerging tools and techniques

  • Build observability and evaluation frameworks

  • Partner with product and client teams to translate business needs into technical solutions

  • Contribute to longer‑term technical vision and innovation

What We're Looking For
  • AI Architecture Expertise: Deep understanding of production AI systems design, scalability, and reliability

  • Production AI Leadership: Extensive hands-on experience building, deploying, and operating AI systems

  • System Design Mastery: Can architect complex AI integrations that scale, handle edge cases, and provide excellent observability

  • AI Tooling Depth: Expert knowledge of LLM APIs, vector databases, prompt engineering, agents, and emerging AI tools

  • Full-Stack Fluency: Advanced development skills across frontend, backend, and infrastructure

  • AI Observability & Evals: Experience building evaluation frameworks and monitoring for AI systems

  • Technical Leadership: You mentor others, set technical standards, and drive architectural decisions

  • Strategic Thinking: You connect technical decisions to business outcomes

  • Learning Mindset: You stay current with the rapidly evolving AI landscape

Required Experience
  • At least 5 years of professional software engineering experience, with a demonstrated ability to deliver production‑ready AI features that real users depend on

  • Proven record of shipping complex, mission‑critical software

  • Strong full‑stack and/or backend development skills applied to real projects

  • Experience designing and leading technically challenging work from concept through delivery

  • Shown ability to guide others, share knowledge, and influence technical direction

Nice to Have
  • Experience building RAG systems at scale

  • Deep experience with vector databases and semantic search

  • Background in AI observability, evaluation frameworks, or monitoring

  • Experience with agent-based architectures and agentic AI systems

  • Understanding of inference optimization and model serving

  • Previous mentorship or technical leadership roles

  • Contribution to AI-focused open source projects

Why You'll Love It Here
  • Build AI that ships: every project ends in a live deployment, not a slide deck

  • Craft meets velocity: we obsess over quality while delivering at startup speed

  • Outcome-driven model: our projects align with client success, not billable hours

  • AI-native culture: you'll work with peers who deeply understand modern AI's potential and limits

  • Real collaboration: open conversations, shared ownership, and space to bring your voice and creativity

What Success Looks Like

In your role, you'll:

  • Establish technical standards and best practices for AI engineering across the team

  • Lead the design of complex, large-scale AI systems that others will follow

  • Mentor engineers and accelerate their growth as AI builders

  • Ship high-impact AI projects that showcase innovation and quality

  • Become a thought leader on production AI within the organization

  • Build a culture of technical excellence and continuous learning

  • Help the company scale AI capabilities as it grows

Equal Opportunity

Blank Metal is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We welcome all backgrounds and perspectives. Diversity makes our work better and our team stronger.

Skills Required

  • At least 5 years of professional software engineering experience
  • Proven record of shipping complex, mission‐critical software
  • Strong full‐stack and/or backend development skills applied to real projects
  • Experience designing and leading technically challenging work from concept through delivery
  • Shown ability to guide others, share knowledge, and influence technical direction
Am I A Good Fit?
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The Company
HQ: Minneapolis, Minnesota
23 Employees

What We Do

🤘 What We Do PLAN What You Get: Board‑ready AI roadmap & ROI model Why It Matters: Align execs; secure funding BUILD What You Get: Production‑ready MVP in less than 90 days Why It Matters: Working software beats pilot purgatory OWN What You Get: Training, boot‑camps, governance Why It Matters: Your team scales the win 🤘 Proof, Not Promises. Insurance: We built a real‑time underwriting AI that drove +20 % revenue lift. Enterprise: Designed, built, and deployed an enterprise wide workforce platform that delivered 30% productivity uplift for thousands of employees. Healthcare: Led their C‑suite 2030 AI roadmap that was adopted at the board level. 🤘 Why leaders pick Blank Metal instead of big consulting: Lean, senior teams (<5 % overhead). Your budget builds instead just burning. Outcomes, not hour factories. We measure success in ROI, not utilization. AI-native from day one. Everything (workflows, processes, internal software/tools, incentives, etc) is built for velocity and iteration. Partners by design. Deep expertise and partnerships in the best models, APIs, and ecosystems. Ship in weeks, not quarters. Time‑boxed MVPs land with KPIs wired in day one. 🚀 Blank Metal is fueled by a $3M seed round from Rally Ventures, Traction Capital, and Pure Play Partners. 🤘 For 15 years our core crew has shipped market‑defining digital and AI products (from napkin sketch to exit) and now helps enterprises turn AI ideas into production software quickly, safely, and at a fraction of big‑consulting overhead. 🤘 Life at Blank Metal Small, autonomous squads vs. sprawling org charts. We hire builders who want to move fast, obsess over craft, and change what’s possible for our clients (and their own careers). AI powered, impact‑obsessed. **Let’s build something that actually ships.**

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