AI Engineer

Foundational Industries · SF Bay Area · Full-Time

About Foundational

Foundational is building a network of AI-native, autonomous factories for modern contract manufacturing — reshoring critical supply chains so companies can produce high-quality products domestically, quickly, and at competitive cost. Recent breakthroughs in robotics and physical AI have shifted autonomous manufacturing from theoretical to deployable, and we're focused on operationalizing these capabilities at scale during a decisive decade for American industrial leadership.

WHO — Who Thrives Here

At Foundational, we're building with people who want to own something — to do work that matters, in an environment where what you ship is what counts.

The people who thrive here:

• Take ownership before they're asked. They see the gap and close it.

• Operate with a high degree of judgment. We move fast, and good judgment travels farther than a playbook.

• Communicate directly — concise, clear, and candid, especially when stakes are high.

• Hold a high bar for themselves first, then for everyone around them.

• Are genuinely energized by hard problems in physical, real-world environments. Energized — not just interested.

• Stay effective when things are ambiguous, changing, or under pressure. That's the job.

This is a place for people who want to build something that has never existed before and leave a clear mark on it.

MISSION

The person is who makes the technology thesis real by turning contract manufacturing into a technology company. Without it, “AI - Native” stays a dream.

OUTCOMES — What Success Looks Like in 6–12 Months

We track results. Here's what we expect this person to own and deliver:

• Build MVP components of the overall technology stack

• Evaluate AI integration points across the enterprise stack

• Design the data architecture so that its AI ready

• First intelligent systems prototyped and validated against real world inputs

• Production ready systems that deliver measurable and operational advantages

SKILLS

• Multimodal AI

• Time series and graph modeling for complex relationships

• Rapid prototyping and edge inference design

• Python plus lower level languages for embedded systems

• Industrial protocols, graph databases and AI pipeline tooling

COMPETENCIES

These are the behavioral patterns that predict success here — in practice, under pressure.

• Accountability — You own outcomes. If something's off track, you say so and fix it.

• Bias for action — You ship. You iterate. You move toward the hard thing.

• Clarity of communication — Direct and concise, especially when it counts.

• Learning agility — You get up to speed fast in unfamiliar territory.

• Resilience — You stay sharp when things are hard, ambiguous, or moving fast.

• High standards — You raise the bar rather than match it — and hold yourself to it first.

• Shipping alone - You need to go from a raw problem to a deployed system end to end and be comfortable owning the entire stack while doing it.

Why Foundational

This is a filter as much as it is an invitation.

We're turning reindustrialization from a talking point into an operating reality. The work is hard, the environment is demanding, and the stakes are real. We compensate with base, bonus, and equity to reflect impact, responsibility, and results, with meaningful upside for the people who help build and scale this company.

For those aligned with the mission and motivated by execution at scale, Foundational offers the opportunity to help define one of the most consequential industrial transformations of the next decade.

Foundational Industries is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and applicants. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), age, disability, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Foundational complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment. We evaluate every candidate on what they can do and who they are.