Founding Data & AI Engineer – Python/Django/LLMs

About the role

The hiring partner, a performance creative agency, is building a "Creative Engine" that turns creative strategy into a data‑driven process. They need a founding engineer who will own the data and intelligence layer of this product, designing pipelines, LLM workflows, and a searchable knowledge base for strategists.

Key responsibilities

• Design and implement data pipelines that ingest, store, and structure performance, sales, and engagement data from TikTok, Meta, and other platforms.
• Build LLM analysis layers using Google Gemini for video tagging and Anthropic Claude for content generation, ensuring scalable and cost‑controlled output.
• Develop semantic search capabilities with pgvector to answer strategic queries such as “top hooks for beauty this week.”
• Create the “brain” that connects viral references, top‑performing ads, and creator histories into a queryable intelligence system accessible via web, Slack, and internal tools.
• Own the full‑stack delivery of dashboards, tag browsers, and export tools using Django, HTMX, and Tailwind, leveraging AI‑assisted coding tools.
• Integrate third‑party APIs (TikTok, Meta, MagicBrief, Cruva, PayPal, DocuSign, Twilio, Slack) and manage async pipelines with Celery and Redis.

Required profile

• 5+ years building production, data‑heavy applications with Python/Django and PostgreSQL at a senior/lead level.
• Deep SQL expertise (aggregations, joins, window functions) and strong schema design skills.
• Hands‑on experience with LLM APIs, prompt engineering, structured output, and cost management.
• Proficiency with agentic coding tools such as Claude Code and Cowork.
• Experience designing and debugging async pipelines (Celery + Redis or equivalents).
• Ability to integrate messy third‑party APIs and own end‑to‑end feature delivery, including lightweight frontend work.
• Excellent written communication and high ownership in a small, async remote team.

Required skills

• Python
• Django
• PostgreSQL
• SQL
• Celery
• Redis
• HTMX
• Tailwind CSS
• Google Gemini
• Anthropic Claude
• pgvector
• Docker
• AWS ECS/Fargate
• Backblaze B2
• GitHub Actions
• TikTok API
• Meta API
• MagicBrief
• Cruva
• PayPal
• DocuSign
• Twilio
• Slack