AI/ML Engineer at CitizenShipper

AI/ML Engineer: Build the Future, Not Just the Model

Stop scrolling.

This is not a safe job. This is not “AI at a bigco” where you tweak models and polish decks.

This is raw. Fast. Mission-critical. Foundational.

We’re looking for a machine learning savage — someone who codes like a builder, thinks like a founder, and trains like they’ve got something to prove. If you live and breathe AI, and you’ve been waiting for your shot to own something real, this is it.

The Mission

We’re CitizenShipper, a remote-first, US-based two-sided marketplace revolutionizing pet transportation (and other hard-to-move things). Think Uber meets Airbnb, but for moving animals across America.

People aren’t just shipping boxes. They’re shipping family — puppies, rescues, pets that mean everything. Our tech connects them with a national network of vetted, mission-driven drivers who make the journey safely.

It’s emotional. It’s logistical chaos. And it’s a $10 B+ market no one is attacking like we are.

We’re profitable. Lean. Growing fast. And now we’re ready to weaponize AI — to outlearn, outmatch, and outscale every competitor.

The Role

We’re hiring an AI/ML Engineer to build the brains of the system. Not a “lab project.” Not a side feature. The core intelligence of our marketplace. You’ll get to design, deploy, and own the models that drive:

• Driver and customer matching
• Route optimization and price prediction
• Fraud detection, risk scoring, and ops automation
• LLM-based support, feedback triage, and messaging tools
• Personalization, trust-building, and churn prediction
• Whatever else your brilliant brain comes up with
  

You’ll be our founding ML hire. You won’t be handed a perfect dataset — you’ll help design the data pipelines, wrangle chaos into signal, and ship to production fast. You’ll work side-by-side with product and engineering, reporting directly to the CEO.

You’ll move with full autonomy, maximum urgency, and zero corporate BS.

What You’ll Do

• Build and ship models that solve real, high-leverage business problems
• Own the entire ML lifecycle: framing → data → modeling → deployment → iteration
• Architect data infrastructure and design pipelines that scale
• Prototype fast, validate faster, deploy in the wild, and learn even faster
• Explore LLM and agent-based systems for internal tooling and CX optimization
• Push boundaries with real-time, production-grade AI — not sandbox toys

You’ll work in the real world. Live data, real impact, high stakes.

Compensation

Top-of-market pay. No fluff, no cap, no red tape. If you’re the one, we will make it work.

The Dare

If you’ve been waiting to go all-in — to stop playing it safe and start building something that matters — this is your green light.

Don’t just apply. Prove it. Send us something that screams I build. A code repo. A teardown. A project you’re proud of. A Notion doc that blows our minds.

We’re not looking for another cog in the machine.

We’re looking for the machine.

Requirements

Who You Are

You’re not a resume. You’re a machine-learning builder who:

• Has 5+ years of experience in ML/AI (industry, startup, or serious research)
• Has built and deployed ML systems at scale (not just notebooks)
• Understands LLMs, embeddings, transformers, and how to bend them to your will
• Is dangerously good with Python, vector DBs, and modern ML tooling
• Has an instinct for product, not just precision
• Can run without a spec, sprint without a PM, and lead without a title
• Lives to ship, learns by fire, and thrives under pressure
• Doesn’t want “balance” — wants ownership and upside
  

Bonus: You’ve worked in marketplaces. You’ve built something end-to-end. You’ve shipped an LLM product. Or maybe you’ve been the weird genius at a company that never quite deserved you.

Benefits

At CitizenShipper, we’re committed to supporting our team’s growth, well-being, and work-life balance. Here’s what you can expect as part of our remote-first culture:

• Book Club – Get reimbursed (up to $50/month) for professional development books of your choice.
• Professional Development – $2,000 annual budget + 3 paid days off to attend courses, conferences, or trainings.
• Flexible Paid Leave – Generous vacation time, 5 national holidays per calendar year, and 5 additional bereavement days.
• Light Work Week – Once per quarter, reduce your workload to 15-20 hours/week to recharge and prevent burnout.
• Parental Leave – Up to 14 weeks of paid maternity/paternity leave with flexible options.
• Sick Leave – 7 days of paid sick leave annually, plus extended paid leave options in serious cases.
• Referral Bonus

Are you in?