{"schemaVersion":"jobsearcher.job.v1","id":"2f049f98e182b0c36a06d74e","url":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/2f049f98e182b0c36a06d74e","canonicalUrl":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/2f049f98e182b0c36a06d74e","title":"Founding AI QE Engineer | Automation-First | Agentic / LLM Testing | Python / TypeScript | GitHub CI/CD | Must have startup exp","description":"Founding AI QE Engineer | Automation-First | Agentic / LLM Testing | Python / TypeScript | GitHub🚨 Only candidates with hands-on AI-native quality engineering experience - testing or evaluating agentic / LLM-based systems within the last 12 months - along with startup experience will be considered. If you've spent the last year running manual test cases, this isn't for you 🚨Location: Fully Remote (US or Canada) - optional office space for those who want it Package: $160,000 - $200,000 + meaningful equity - can go to $220,000 if you tick every boxEligibility: Must have full work authorisation in the US or Canada - no visa sponsorship or transfer support available🚨 Please only apply if you have commercial experience with ALL of the following 🚨7+ years as a quality, release, or platform engineerHands-on AI-native quality engineering (testing or evaluating agentic / LLM-based systems) within the last 12 monthsAutomation-first mindset - you write code daily, you don't run manual test casesStrong GitHub Actions and GitHub-based CI/CD (container builds, pipeline automation)Python and/or TypeScriptStartup / scale-up experienceHappy as a pure hands-on IC who writes code most daysJoin an early-stage, investor-backed AI company building agentic systems that are changing how technical teams work. This is their first dedicated quality-infrastructure hire - a true founding role where you own the entire verification and release system end to end.This isn't traditional QA. You'll write code most days: test harnesses, CI pipelines, release gates, and the LLM-agent systems that execute and evaluate the tests. You won't spend your time manually running test cases - the agents do that here. Your job is to build the systems that verify every build, gate releases automatically, and make shipping safe and predictable from merge to customer.What You'll OwnAI-powered verification - the trustworthiness of the test signal: agent-run harnesses, LLM graders, regression coverage, and automated release gates. Closing the gaps that let bugs escape to customers.Release and environment engineering - the mechanics of shipping: release pipelines, CI health, artifact publication, and the reliability of demo and staging environments.What This Role Is NOTIt is not manual test execution - you fix the underlying system, not staff the symptomIt is not a release gatekeeper approving builds on intuition - you build systems that make readiness visible and stop unsafe releases automatically, with evidenceIt is not a hidden 24/7 on-call role - business-hours escalations only, with production on-call staffed separately as it maturesRequired Background7 - 15 years across quality, release, or platform engineeringProven experience building, testing, or evaluating systems where AI agents do the actual workDeep GitHub Actions / GitHub CI/CD (container builds, pipeline automation)Python and/or TypeScript (flexible on language for the right person)Experience with containerised infrastructure and modern CI/CD practicesTrack record of taking full ownership of a process or system - deciding and executing independentlyMust-HavesStartup mindset with the autonomy to make and implement decisions without close guidanceComfortable owning the trustworthiness of test signal in an AI-native environmentStrong software engineering depth - this is an engineering role, not traditional QABonus ExperienceFamiliarity with a major cloud or data platform (AWS, Azure, Snowflake, Databricks)Modernising legacy QA / DevOps practices inside a larger orgBuilding internal AI-assisted tooling (test generation, log analysis, agent workflows)This is a rare shot to define quality and release from day one at a company moving fast. If you tick every box above and want to own the system that makes shipping safe, get in touch for a fast response.","company":"Optimal","rawCompany":"optimal","city":"Denver","state":"CO","isRemote":false,"isActive":false,"createdAt":"2026-09-19T08:52:44.315Z","occupations":[{"code":"15-1253.00","title":"Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers","slug":"software-quality-assurance-analysts-and-testers"},{"code":"15-1252.00","title":"Software Developers","slug":"software-developers"},{"code":"17-2112.02","title":"Validation Engineers","slug":"validation-engineers"}],"industries":[{"code":"541511","title":"Custom Computer Programming Services","slug":"custom-computer-programming-services"},{"code":"513210","title":"Software Publishers","slug":"software-publishers"},{"code":"541512","title":"Computer Systems Design Services","slug":"computer-systems-design-services"}],"jobPosting":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"JobPosting","title":"Founding AI QE Engineer | Automation-First | Agentic / LLM Testing | Python / TypeScript | GitHub CI/CD | Must have startup exp","description":"Founding AI QE Engineer | Automation-First | Agentic / LLM Testing | Python / TypeScript | GitHub🚨 Only candidates with hands-on AI-native quality engineering experience - testing or evaluating agentic / LLM-based systems within the last 12 months - along with startup experience will be considered. If you've spent the last year running manual test cases, this isn't for you 🚨Location: Fully Remote (US or Canada) - optional office space for those who want it Package: $160,000 - $200,000 + meaningful equity - can go to $220,000 if you tick every boxEligibility: Must have full work authorisation in the US or Canada - no visa sponsorship or transfer support available🚨 Please only apply if you have commercial experience with ALL of the following 🚨7+ years as a quality, release, or platform engineerHands-on AI-native quality engineering (testing or evaluating agentic / LLM-based systems) within the last 12 monthsAutomation-first mindset - you write code daily, you don't run manual test casesStrong GitHub Actions and GitHub-based CI/CD (container builds, pipeline automation)Python and/or TypeScriptStartup / scale-up experienceHappy as a pure hands-on IC who writes code most daysJoin an early-stage, investor-backed AI company building agentic systems that are changing how technical teams work. This is their first dedicated quality-infrastructure hire - a true founding role where you own the entire verification and release system end to end.This isn't traditional QA. You'll write code most days: test harnesses, CI pipelines, release gates, and the LLM-agent systems that execute and evaluate the tests. You won't spend your time manually running test cases - the agents do that here. Your job is to build the systems that verify every build, gate releases automatically, and make shipping safe and predictable from merge to customer.What You'll OwnAI-powered verification - the trustworthiness of the test signal: agent-run harnesses, LLM graders, regression coverage, and automated release gates. Closing the gaps that let bugs escape to customers.Release and environment engineering - the mechanics of shipping: release pipelines, CI health, artifact publication, and the reliability of demo and staging environments.What This Role Is NOTIt is not manual test execution - you fix the underlying system, not staff the symptomIt is not a release gatekeeper approving builds on intuition - you build systems that make readiness visible and stop unsafe releases automatically, with evidenceIt is not a hidden 24/7 on-call role - business-hours escalations only, with production on-call staffed separately as it maturesRequired Background7 - 15 years across quality, release, or platform engineeringProven experience building, testing, or evaluating systems where AI agents do the actual workDeep GitHub Actions / GitHub CI/CD (container builds, pipeline automation)Python and/or TypeScript (flexible on language for the right person)Experience with containerised infrastructure and modern CI/CD practicesTrack record of taking full ownership of a process or system - deciding and executing independentlyMust-HavesStartup mindset with the autonomy to make and implement decisions without close guidanceComfortable owning the trustworthiness of test signal in an AI-native environmentStrong software engineering depth - this is an engineering role, not traditional QABonus ExperienceFamiliarity with a major cloud or data platform (AWS, Azure, Snowflake, Databricks)Modernising legacy QA / DevOps practices inside a larger orgBuilding internal AI-assisted tooling (test generation, log analysis, agent workflows)This is a rare shot to define quality and release from day one at a company moving fast. If you tick every box above and want to own the system that makes shipping safe, get in touch for a fast response.","datePosted":"2026-09-19T08:52:44.315Z","dateModified":"2026-09-19T08:52:44.315Z","hiringOrganization":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Optimal","sameAs":"https://jobsearcher.com"},"jobLocation":{"@type":"Place","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","addressLocality":"Denver","addressRegion":"CO","addressCountry":"US"}},"identifier":{"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"JobSearcher","value":"2f049f98e182b0c36a06d74e"},"url":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/2f049f98e182b0c36a06d74e"}}