Applied AI Engineer — Contrario

Contrario is a high-growth YC-backed AI startup seeking an Applied AI Engineer to work directly with the CTO on production AI systems. The role involves designing intelligent systems for marketplace matching, building ML-driven ranking systems, and owning core infrastructure while collaborating closely with leadership for product evolution.

Responsibilities:

• Design and implement intelligent search, retrieval, and recommendation systems powering marketplace matching
• Build ML-driven ranking and retrieval systems using embeddings, structured signals, behavioral marketplace data, and AI workflows
• Ship full-stack production features end to end across backend systems, APIs, databases, and user-facing product surfaces
• Develop AI-native automation workflows that accelerate sourcing, candidate evaluation, and marketplace coordination
• Own core infrastructure including recruiter routing, candidate evaluation pipelines, and marketplace orchestration systems
• Launch rapidly, collect production user feedback, and iterate quickly
• Partner directly with CTO on architecture, technical prioritization, and core product evolution