Founding Engineer
ultralytics · New York · hybrid
About Ultralytics:
At Ultralytics https://ultralytics.com/, we commit to relentless innovation in the AI space and seek team members https://www.ultralytics.com/about who resonate with our ambition to produce the world's best YOLO AI models https://ultralytics.com/yolo. If you're obsessed with AI, eager to make an impact on the world, and thrive in dynamic, high-intensity environments, we invite you to apply for a position on our team.
🌍 Join the team powering the future of vision AI
Hello, hola, 你好, こんにちは, नमस्ते, hallo, bonjour! Thanks for stopping by — we know your time is valuable, so here's what makes Ultralytics special.
⚡ Who we are
At Ultralytics https://www.ultralytics.com/, we're on a mission to simplify AI for everyone. As the creators of the world's leading Ultralytics YOLO models https://github.com/ultralytics/ultralytics, we empower millions of developers, researchers, and companies worldwide to build state-of-the-art computer vision applications.
Following our $30M Series A round https://www.ultralytics.com/news/ultralytics-raises-30m-series-a, we're expanding rapidly across our global hubs in New York London, Madrid, and Shenzhen. This is an opportunity to join a fast-scaling, high-performance team that's redefining the future of vision AI — where ambition meets impact, and ideas become reality.
We move fast. We build boldly. We execute with purpose. And we do it together.
💼 About the role
As Founding Engineer, you'll help establish our New York engineering team, shipping features across the YOLO https://docs.ultralytics.com/models ML/computer vision surface and the platform around it. You'll connect model capabilities with usable interfaces, reliable APIs, and production infrastructure.
“Founding” means end-to-end ownership, not a queue of assigned tickets. You'll define scope, make architectural decisions, write and review code, deploy changes, and own production outcomes.
This is a hands-on senior engineer with tech-lead responsibility, not a people-management requirement. You'll use AI coding tools daily and coordinate with colleagues in the UK, Spain, and China through clear plans, async communication, and accountable delivery.
🚀 What you'll do
Strategy & execution
- Own a feature area from requirements and architecture through implementation, testing, deployment, and iteration.
- Ship ML/CV capabilities alongside full-stack interfaces, backend services, and infrastructure, using our documentation https://docs.ultralytics.com/ and guides https://docs.ultralytics.com/guides.
- Use Copilot https://github.com/features/copilot or Codex https://openai.com/codex/ routinely, validating generated code for correctness, security, and maintainability.
Cross-functional collaboration
- Break ambiguous work into milestones, align dependencies across locations, and communicate decisions and blockers asynchronously.
- Balance customer needs, technical trade-offs, and commercial deadlines with Product and Engineering.
Representation & leadership
- Lead design and code reviews, unblock engineers, and set standards for testing, observability, and production reliability.
- Strengthen our open-source ecosystem https://github.com/ultralytics through maintainable contributions, technical documentation, and engineering knowledge-sharing.
🧠 Skills and experience
Core requirements
- Senior-to-principal/distinguished-level industry delivery, with sustained ownership of feature areas and tech-lead-level accountability.
- Shipped ML/AI and computer vision work, with practical Python https://www.python.org/ and PyTorch https://pytorch.org/ proficiency beyond coursework or research.
- Full-stack capability spanning user interfaces, APIs, databases, cloud infrastructure, deployment, and production operations.
- Current AI-assisted development experience, sound review judgment, and a preference for mainstream, well-documented tools.
- Strong async communication, work breakdown, and deadline delivery within structured teams; no degree required, but industry experience is essential.
Nice to have
- Production experience with TypeScript https://www.typescriptlang.org/, React, and Python API frameworks such as FastAPI.
- Experience with PostgreSQL, Docker https://www.docker.com/, CI/CD, infrastructure as code, and cloud platforms.
- Hands-on model serving, GPU optimization, inference monitoring, or edge deployment experience.
- Contributions to Ultralytics or other open-source projects and engagement with our developer community https://community.ultralytics.com/.
- Early engineering experience building products and establishing technical practices across international teams.
🌟 Cultural fit
At Ultralytics, we set bold goals and execute with speed, precision, and teamwork. We're driven by hard work, ambition, and resilience — building fast, learning constantly, and delivering measurable impact.
You'll thrive here if you:
- Take ownership and deliver results with focus and accountability.
- Combine strategic thinking with hands-on execution.
- Value excellence, grit, and creativity in equal measure.
- See collaboration as the foundation for meaningful progress.
Our culture is built around our core values:
- Relentless progress: Constant evolution and improvement.
- Strive for excellence: Perseverance and attention to detail.
- Actions, not words: Focus on delivering meaningful results.
- Act with urgency: Seize fleeting opportunities.
- Open access to all: Transparent communication and collaboration.
Learn more in our Ultralytics Handbook https://handbook.ultralytics.com/mission-vision-values/#values.
💰 Compensation and benefits
We reward excellence and impact — not just tenure or title.
- Competitive salary: Reflecting your experience and contribution.
- Equity packages: We want our success to be yours too.
- On-site collaboration: Work with passionate builders in one of our global hubs.
- Flexible working hours: We value results over routines.
- Generous time off: 24 vacation days, your birthday off, plus local holidays.
- Tech & tools: Work on cutting-edge AI projects that power millions of devices.
- Gear: Brand-new Apple MacBook Air/Pro, Apple Studio Display, and AirPods Pro 3.
- Learning & development: Dedicated budget for personal and professional growth.
- High impact: Your work will shape the future of vision AI.
👉 Check out ultralytics.com/careers http://ultralytics.com/careers for more about our culture, values, and teams.
🌎 Where and how you can work
We believe great work happens where passion meets purpose.
- This role is hybrid in New York office, working with our new NYC engineering team.
- Applicants must have legal authorization to work in the country of application.
We're an in-office team that values daily collaboration, energy, and connection. Being together helps us move faster, learn from one another, and celebrate wins as they happen.
🚀 Why join us
We're not just building models — we're building the ecosystem powering the future of vision AI. If you're ready to build, move fast, and make an impact — this is your moment.
⚡ Ready to build the ecosystem powering the future of vision AI? Apply now. https://www.ultralytics.com/careers
What we offer:
Cutting-Edge, Next-Generation AI Computer Vision Technology: Contribute to building cutting-edge computer vision AI models based on the YOLO framework.
Impactful Work: Shape the future of AI-powered solutions that transform industries.
Collaborative Culture: Join a talented and passionate team that values open communication and innovation.
Ultralytics Handbook
Comprehensive guide to our company's mission, vision, values, and operational practices. This handbook is designed to provide key insights and resources for our (future) team members, collaborators, and community to align with Ultralytics' core principles.
Link: https://handbook.ultralytics.com/
Ultralytics is an equal opportunity emplo