As a Senior AI Engineer working at Unblocked, you will be at the intersection of backend engineering and machine learning, responsible for designing and building scalable data pipelines and ML services optimized for AI workflows.
About Unblocked
Unblocked is a high-growth, well-funded SaaS company that helps answer questions software development teams have about their applications. This allows them to spend less time in meetings/dealing with interruptions and more time writing code.
We are a small team with a track record of building developer tools that solve real problems. We encourage participation in the entire product development process, and you will have the opportunity to help define Unblocked and shape its roadmap, implement the solutions that deliver the experience customers love, and get firsthand feedback from the teams who use what we have built.
About You
You’ve gained extensive experience as a software engineer with a track record of building and shipping products that customers love. You’ve built pipelines and/or services that solve real customer problems, and have been eagerly researching, experimenting and ideally using emergent ML technologies.
What You’ll Do
As a Senior AI Engineer at Unblocked, you’ll play a critical role in designing, building, and scaling the core AI systems that power Unblocked. You’ll work closely with other experienced engineers to:
- Build and optimize scalable data pipelines and machine learning services that ingest and process large volumes of structured and unstructured data.
- Design and implement end-to-end AI workflows, applying techniques like Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), tool calling, agentic reasoning, and other novel AI techniques to solve complex user problems.
- Integrate the latest advancements from leading LLM providers like OpenAI and Anthropic into our platform, experimenting withs emergent model capabilities to deliver cutting-edge experiences to customers.
- Actively contribute ideas to product discussions and roadmap planning, influencing not just the "how" but also the "what" we build - with a relentless focus on the customer.
- Share knowledge openly — mentoring teammates, leading design discussions, and continuously learning from others to raise the technical bar for the whole team.
- Stay at the forefront of AI/ML innovation, turning new insights and techniques into advantages for Unblocked customers.
Requirements
- Based in Vancouver, British Columbia (and be in the office 4 days a week).
- Deep curiosity and practical experience with LLM applications, such as text classification, semantic search, summarization, or agent-based reasoning.
- Expert-level software development skills in a modern typesafe development language.
- Demonstrated leadership of fellow team members in the delivery of a project.
- Experience architecting and shipping complex backend systems, ideally in AI/ML or data-heavy domains.
- Experience working with large-scale structured and unstructured data.
Desirable Skills
- Hands on experience with the latest OpenAI, Anthropic, or open source LLM models.
- Understanding of common LLM patterns, such as RAG, routing, chaining and tool calling.
- Experience optimizing ML services using evals and fine-tuning.
- Continual awareness of the latest AI developments, trends, and best practices.
Culturally, we’re looking for people who are:
- Driven to get things done: Anxious to design, build, and ship solutions on aggressive timelines; Willing to take pen to paper and write/sketch ideas, concepts, interactions; We are looking for makers, doers, creators!
- Able to play well with others: Comfortable in collaborative work environments; Solid communication skills; Great presenter, but even a better listener; Humble enough to actively solicit and incorporate feedback.
- A passionate, tireless, selfless advocate for the end-user: Unwavering in your desire to provide the best experience; Must be an effective champion for the interests of the customer.
- Different: Unique skill sets, methodologies, working styles, and ideas; Able to up-level an already strong team; Inspire the broader team with your expertise; Willingness to work outside your comfort zone and learn from others.
- An ambitious malcontent: Dissatisfied with the status quo in the world around you; Constantly aware of the potential for improvement with a keen desire to help technology play a more meaningful role in people’s lives.
What’s in it for you?
- A competitive base salary.
- Equity in the company for eligible candidates, offering the opportunity to share in our long-term success and growth.
- Generous medical and dental benefits.
- A very flexible vacation policy.
- Your choice of Apple hardware to get you started.
- Personal growth. We’re a small company where there’s no shortage of different projects to work on.