Applied AI Engineer | San Francisco

About Tako

Tako is an AI-first startup reinventing how companies manage people and payroll. We build products that eliminate bureaucracy, automate repetitive tasks, and give HR teams the autonomy to focus on what truly matters.

We're backed by top-tier investors (a16z and Ribbit Capital) and growing quickly. We’re building a collaborative onsite team at our new San Francisco office, and this role is one of our foundational AI hires in the U.S.

About the Role

As an Applied AI Engineer at Tako, you'll be responsible for designing and deploying AI solutions that directly power our core HR platform. You’ll collaborate closely with design, engineering, and product teams to develop fast, reliable, and deeply impactful models and infrastructure.

This is a high-ownership, high-impact role where your work will shape the future of work itself.

What You'll Do

• Use AI to automate real-world use cases, connected to our core HR product.

• Design, build, and deploy machine learning models and automations.

• Own the AI infrastructure stack — including data pipelines, and MLOps tooling

• Contribute to key architectural decisions as we scale our AI capabilities

• Collaborate with product and design to develop delightful, AI-powered user experiences

• Stay current with advancements in AI and identify ways to apply them meaningfully

• Share knowledge with the team and with the community.

Qualifications

Required:

• 1+ years of experience delivering AI solutions to production, with paying users

• Strong Python or TS/Node skills and expertise with ML libraries like PyTorch or TensorFlow

• Familiarity with cloud services (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)

• Solid understanding of model deployment, monitoring, and retraining in production environments

• Strong communication skills and a collaborative mindset

Nice to have:

• Experience with LLMs, RAG pipelines, or vector databases

• Experience building AI products in fast-paced startup environments

• Contributions to open-source ML/AI tools or research

Compensation & Benefits

• Base salary: USD 150,000 – USD 250,000/year (depending on level and interview performance)

• Equity: stock options package

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage

• Paid parental leave

• Flexible monthly benefits

• On-site work at our brand new SF office

• U.S. visa sponsorship available

Why Join Tako?

We're a team of builders with big-tech experience and startup speed. We move fast, avoid red tape, and care deeply about product quality. At Tako, you’ll have autonomy, ownership, and the chance to build AI that genuinely improves people's work lives.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Tako is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We welcome and encourage applicants from all backgrounds, regardless of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, veteran status, national origin, or any other legally protected characteristic. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team.