Emotion Machine - Founding Engineer (AI/ML)— Remote / Permanent / Full-time

https://www.emotionmachine.ai/

VC-backed, USA-Based

Co-Founders

  • Ege Ozgirin

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ege-ozgirin/

  • Emre Sarbak

https://www.linkedin.com/in/emresarbak/

Build the operating system for intelligent, empathetic AI companions.

We are making it easy for developers and enterprise to build and deploy AI characters.

People thrive in relationships. We believe that AI companions will meaningfully complement the relationships people have with others. AI companions already serve 100M+ people, and soon many of us will have several - friends, coaches, partners, mentors. Nearly half of American teens already speak with them regularly.

Meaningful companionship needs more than clever prompts: it requires a relationship layer - personality, long-term memory, emotion, safety, and proactive experiences - backed by relationship-oriented conversation infrastructure that manages context, tone, and continuity.

We’re building that foundation.

As our Founding Engineer, you’ll co-own architecture and ship v1s that become the backbone of the product.

What you’ll do

  • Design and build Python backend services and APIs powering real-time AI companion behavior.

  • Define core system architecture: process boundaries, state management, storage, orchestration, and reliability.

  • Move fast on 0→1 features; prototype, test with users, iterate.

  • Own the full lifecycle: design docs, implementation, deployment, monitoring, and incident response.

  • Set engineering culture and best practices as an early pillar of the team.

You’ll thrive here if you…

  • Have startup experience or have built and shipped your own startup/product.

  • Love building things end-to-end, cherish problem-solving, and are comfortable being hacky/scrappy when it’s the fastest path to learning.

  • Maintain and can share independent projects—please include your GitHub and links to things you’ve shipped.

Must-haves

  • Strong Python backend experience.

  • Solid system design and API design fundamentals (latency, scalability, data modeling, versioning, observability).

Nice-to-haves (not required)

  • Experience with PyTorch or JAX.

  • Familiarity with operating systems and runtimes or ROS/ROS2-like systems.

  • Background in real-time systems, streaming, or agent architectures.

What do we offer?

  • USD-based compensation and equity/stock options

  • Work with a globally curious and fast-paced team

  • Collaborate with a talented, fast-moving, and supportive international team.

APPLICATION FORM