Applied AI Engineer

Kaizen builds AI-powered systems that help teams move faster and make better decisions. In this hybrid role based in New York, you will own internal tools end to end and use applied AI to automate research and routing, drive AI enablement across the company, and support an external analytics layer for customers. Salary range: $150,000 - $200,000 per year.

Hybrid location details: Candidates must reside in New York or be able to commute to New York City to work from the office at least four times per week (Monday to Thursday).

What you’ll do

• Own internal tools end to end, from the initial problem surfaced through “hallway conversations” to architecture, build, rollout, and follow-up week-two fixes.
• Build AI-powered internal systems including document parsing and analysis, agentic workflows, and automated research and routing that turn hours of manual work into minutes.
• Partner with leads across Proposals, Customer Ops, Sales, Design, and Engineering to identify where time is going and convert half-formed requests into buildable, scoped deliverables.
• Drive AI enablement across Kaizen so every person can get meaningful value from the tools.
• Support the external analytics layer inside Kaizen’s platform so customers have clear, actionable data.
• Back up the deployment team during implementations.

What you bring

• 2 to 5 years of engineering, data, or applied AI experience (or equivalent work where the number of years is less important than demonstrated slope).
• Evidence of something you built end to end that a team still uses today, not a prototype or demo.
• Genuine fluency with AI tools, including experience shipping with them, plus an ability to explain where they failed and how you identified the issues.
• Strong SQL and sufficient data modeling to work within an existing warehouse and ship a model when needed.
• The ability to take a vague problem from a non-technical stakeholder and return with the right scope, not the originally requested one.
• Low ego, high output, with comfort doing the rollout work that makes the build last.

Tools you’ll likely use

• SQL
• N8N
• Zapier

Benefits and support

• 100% coverage for medical (Oxford/United Gold and Platinum PPO), dental (Guardian PPO), and vision (Beam) for employees, with 100% coverage for dependents as well.
• $100,000 fully paid life insurance; FSA and Dependent Care FSA.
• One Medical membership included, with same-day primary care, 24/7 virtual visits, and offices across the city.
• Fertility and family-building support through Carrot.
• 401(k) via Guideline with a 2% company match.
• Parental leave: 16 weeks fully paid for birthing parents; 10 weeks fully paid for non-birthing parents.
• Unlimited PTO with a two-week minimum.
• Closed for all federal holidays and a company winter break the week of Christmas.
• Company offsites throughout the year.
• NYC home office/desk setup: up to $750 one-time stipend (remote: $500).
• $50/month commuter benefit (company contribution).
• Expensed lunch while in the office, plus dinner and Uber rides home if working in-office past 7pm.
• Company-provided laptop of your choice.
• Gym support: fully covered membership at Grindhouse for NYC employees, or $100/month reimbursement for non-NYC employees.
• $100/month utility stipend, $250/quarter home cleaning stipend, and $300/quarter pet care stipend.
• $500/year professional development and $250/year recreation.

Strong candidates may also have

• Experience building internal tooling where the hard part was driving behavior change across hundreds of people.
• Background from forward deployed or solutions engineering at an AI or developer tools company.
• Deep familiarity with N8N, Zapier, or similar automation tools, including when not to use them.
• Experience working in government, healthcare, or another domain where getting it wrong has real consequences.