{"id":743818,"url":"https://alion.io/job/mercura-senior-aillm-engineer","title":"(Senior) AI/LLM Engineer","company":{"id":678899,"name":"Mercura Technologies Inc.","domain":"mercura.ai","url":"https://alion.io/company/mercura","size_band":"11-50","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Ashby","truth_index":{"grade":"C","score":58,"open_postings":10,"ghost_share":0.7,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":null,"computed_at":"2026-10-14T06:34:16Z"}},"role":"AI/ML","role_family":"AI/ML","seniority":"senior","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Munich, Germany"],"countries":["DE"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":83000,"max_usd":175000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":13},"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"AI Agents","optional":false},{"name":"FastAPI","optional":false},{"name":"Hybrid Search","optional":false},{"name":"LLM","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"RAG","optional":false},{"name":"TypeScript","optional":false},{"name":"Machine Learning","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-06-13T14:15:31Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-06-13","last_verified_at":"2026-10-14T08:15:48Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":122,"trust":{"level":"ghost","repost_count":0,"flags":["stale","company_stale"],"days_open":122},"description":"Mercura (YC W25) helps the companies that build the real world move at software speed, automating the back-office work that runs the $12 trillion industry behind every hospital, school, and power plant. We started with one of their biggest bottlenecks - turning messy technical requests into accurate quotes - and eightfolded our revenue in 12 months. With a team of 16, we're now targeting $10M by the end of 2026 as well as our expansion into the US.\nAbout the role\nAs an AI/LLM Engineer, you will play a key role in building agentic AI systems end-to-end. This is a fast-paced, hands-on role for engineers with high agency, strong technical depth and founder mindset. You’ll work on building reliable AI systems in production - from retrieval and LLM orchestration to tool-using agents and product integration.\nIf you’re a passionate builder who excels at the intersection of LLMs, data systems, AI, data engineering, and full-stack development, this is your opportunity to shape how users interact with AI in real-world workflows.\nWhat you will be working on\nAgentic Systems: Design and build LLM-powered agentic systems end-to-end, from experimentation to production deployment\n\nRetrieval & Context: Build retrieval and context pipelines (RAG, hybrid search, structured retrieval) to enable reliable reasoning over large volumes of technical and commercial data\n\nAI Evals: Develop evaluation and monitoring systems to measure and improve AI performance in production\n\nData Pipelines: Build scalable pipelines to process and structure large volumes of unstructured documents and data\n\nFeedback Loops: Implement automated feedback pipelines that allow AI systems to learn from usage data and human feedback\n\nAI Infra: Own the architecture and reliability of AI systems in production, ensuring they are fast, scalable, and robust\n\nProduct Integration: Collaborate with other stellar engineers to deeply integrate AI capabilities into the product experience\n\nWhat we offer\nSteepest possible learning curve: There's no faster way to grow than building a company from scratch. You'll be thrown into the cold water, do things no one has done before, and have founder-like freedom in your domain. Over five Mercura alumni have gone on to found their own companies and raise millions after their time with us.\n\nBuild something with real-world impact: We ship code that directly helps a massive, yet overlooked manual industry run more efficiently and sustainably. With us, you can work on AI that contributes to economic growth and stability on a huge scale.\n\nOwnership over comfort: You own a real area end to end. No one stands between you and your problem. It's uncomfortable at times, and that's exactly why you'll grow faster here than in any normal job.\n\nExceptional colleagues: You'll work alongside experienced operators, ex-founders, Science Olympiad medallists, and top graduates from Google, Bain, MIT, TUM, Harvard, CDTM, Oxford, and Cambridge. The bar stays high because the people next to you are the biggest lever for your growth.\n\nRadical clarity: You'll always know where the company stands and why we decide what we decide - the real numbers, the wins and the setbacks, and the thinking behind them. Your input is genuinely wanted, and the best argument wins.\n\nTools, no questions: Your own company card and any AI or productivity tools you need to do your best work, without approval theater.\n\nReal shares: Real equity in Mercura with the most favorable tax treatment. No VSOP, no ESOP.\n\nThe everyday: Free team dinners up to 4x/week, UrbanSportsClub membership, a company bike, and team workouts 3x/week. Easy relocation to Munich - our office sits in the WERK1 startup incubator, with an apartment next door for around €800/month.\n\nWhat we're looking for\nTechnical Skills & Experience:\nProven track record of architecting and building complex, AI/LLM-powered systems or agents in production, including model serving, orchestration of agent workflows, monitoring, and scaling AI workloads\n\nDesigning systems that process and structure large volumes of unstructured data\n\nDeveloping evaluation and feedback loops to measure and improve AI system performance\n\nExperience with Python is required\n\nExperience in full-stack development (React / Typescript / FastAPI) is a plus\n\nMindset & Commitment:\nHigh agency & ownership: You develop new ideas and drive them in execution under minimal guidance\n\nMission-driven: Your job is part of how you define yourself. You are fully committed to your work and achieving ambitious goals amid uncertainty.\n\nProduct mindset: You demonstrate product thinking on a deep level and solve problems end-to-end\n\nYou’re excited to iterate quickly and build software in a fast-paced startup environment\n\nYou want to work in-person in Munich with a higher intensity than in a 9-5 job\n\nYour team & mentors\nYou will work with\nSean (Co-Founder & CTO; Silver Medallist at the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO))\n\nKolya (prev. SWE at SF-based startup Etleap)\n\nAdmir (Bronze Medallist at the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI))\n\nNico (prev. Engineering at SaaS startups Luminovo & Fides)\n\nSaad (prev. SWE at Deepmind & startups)\n\nChristian (prev. SWE at startup Houm)\n\nYour mentors will be\nRohan Ramanath (General Manager AI Product at Nubank, prev. co-founder Hyperplane)\n\nDaniel Ribeiro Silva (Senior Director of ML at Nubank, prev. co-founder Hyperplane)\n\nWhy Mercura\nJoin an ambitious and caring team: Your future colleagues are experienced operators, ex-founders, Science Olympiad medallists, and top graduates from places such as Google, Bain, MIT, TUM, Harvard, CDTM, and Cambridge. We bring extraordinary people together and deeply invest in your growth as your mentors, teammates and friends. We care, trust, and support one another, and we make sure that fun is at the heart of everything we do.\n\nWork with the latest tech: AI is at the core of our product, and use the latest tech across our product and processes to tackle meaningful challenges and shape how users interact with AI.\n\nThrive in a high-growth, high-commitment environment: We’re growing extremely fast because we always put our work and our customers first. If you excel in fast-paced settings and want to grow as part of something big from day one, Mercura is for you.\n\nBuild something with real-world impact: We ship code that directly helps a massive, yet overlooked manual industry run more efficiently and sustainably. With us, you can work on AI that contributes to economic growth and stability on a huge scale.\n\nBuild a company: As an early team member, you will have a direct, lasting impact on our culture, processes, technology, and product. Joining us offers immense rewards: ownership, financial upside, and hands-on experience building a company from the ground up. Our track record speaks for itself - over five Mercura alumni have gone on to found their own companies and raise millions after their time with us.\n\nAbout the interview\nIntro Call - Casual chat with one of our founders to get to know each other and learn about Mercura.\n\nTechnical Take-Home - A 3-hour exercise based on a real problem from our work\n\nTechnical Interview - Present your results in a 45-minute session and discuss your approach.\n\nOn-Site - Get to know the team at our Munich office.\n\nOffer - If we see a great fit, we'll make you an offer. Once you accept, we'll do 2-3 reference checks.\n\nAbout the Founders\nWe are Lukas, Stefan & Sean, the co-founders of Mercura.\nWe share a deep commitment to excellence and the discipline to pursue what others might consider impossible.\nTwo of us come from non-academic families, and we all know what it means to create our own paths and overcome barriers. This experience shapes our belief in equal opportunity and fuels our dedication to social mobility.\nLukas (left) is responsible for business development at Mercura. With his background as a Data Scientist at Allianz and at Google in Silicon Valley, he brings extensive expertise in data and AI. \nLukas’ family has been active in the construction industry for over 100 years, giving him a deep understanding and passion for the sector's specific needs.\nSean (middle) is responsible for technical development at Mercura. As a top 0.01% physicist, Sean earned a Silver medal for Germany at the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO), began researching with the Max Planck Institute at the age of 16, and has since published at leading machine learning conferences.\nStefan (right) leads product development at Mercura. Previously, he worked in management consulting at Bain & Company, where he helped manufacturers improve their operations. \nStefan leverages his research experience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard Business School to develop innovative solutions for the industry.\nAt Mercura, we believe that the best ideas emerge when people from different backgrounds collaborate together. We hire based on ability, mindset, and values, and we live by one simple rule: the best idea wins.\nBeyond Mercura, we actively support initiatives that promote diversity and gender equity and commit a portion of our personal income each year to organizations expanding opportunity for others.\nOur operating principles:\nhttps://www.mercura.ai/careers","description_format":"text","description_chars":9278,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":true,"industries":["Sales Enablement","Marketing & Sales AI"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-11T13:29:32Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":5,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.175,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":122,"expected_fill_days":31,"reasons":["conf:3","stale_co","ghost","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-10-14T06:34:16Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/mercura-senior-aillm-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/mercura-senior-aillm-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-14T11:52:20Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":14287,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-15T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":678899},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=678899"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fmercura-senior-aillm-engineer"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fmercura-senior-aillm-engineer"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fmercura-senior-aillm-engineer"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/mercura-senior-aillm-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fmercura-senior-aillm-engineer"}]}