Staff Engineer: AI & ML at Pylon

Menlo Park, California, United States

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Not SpecifiedCompensation

Senior (5 to 8 years), Expert & Leadership (9+ years)Experience Level

Full TimeJob Type

UnknownVisa

Mortgage, FinTechIndustries

Requirements

Strong systems engineering foundation, including building large-scale production systems at high-caliber technology companies
Write code that others can maintain and build on
Understand distributed systems, APIs, data consistency, and operational excellence
Have made consequential architectural decisions and lived with the results
Recent AI/ML product experience in the past 1-2 years, working on a product using LLMs or ML in production
Understand when AI is the right tool and when it's not; dealt with prompt engineering, model evaluation, or integrating third-party AI services
Technical judgment across problem spaces: know whether a problem needs an LLM, optimization algorithm, rules engine, or solid code
Comfortable evaluating build vs. buy decisions and vetting third-party tools
Worked on problems where the right solution wasn't obvious from the start
Comfort with regulated domains (ideally fintech, healthtech, or similar); understand moving fast without breaking things
Can absorb complex domain knowledge and apply it to technical decisions
Hands-on execution: build systems yourself (writing ~50% of the time), take ambiguous goals and turn them into working systems
Have strong opinions that you're willing to defend in a culture of vigorous discussion and debate

Responsibilities

Founding member of the AI team, working directly with the CTO to automate mortgage underwriting
Take complex, open-ended problems and figure out how to solve them using LLMs, rules engines, vendor APIs, or good code
Tackle hundreds of discrete verification, compliance, and validation steps in mortgage underwriting, one by one
Define the approach, architect the solution, write a significant portion of the code, and ship it to production
As the team grows, determine how to split up the work and set technical direction
Build production systems that work in a regulated environment, integrating with the existing mortgage engine codebase
Hands-on from day one, including taking an underwriter certification course in week one to understand the domain

Skills

Key technologies and capabilities for this role

LLMsRules EngineAPI IntegrationSystems EngineeringProduction SystemsSoftware ArchitectureMortgage Underwriting

Questions & Answers

Common questions about this position

Is this role remote or onsite?

This is an onsite position.

What salary or compensation does this role offer?

This information is not specified in the job description.

What are the key skills required for this Staff Engineer role?

Candidates need a strong systems engineering foundation with experience building large-scale production systems, recent AI/ML product experience using LLMs or ML in production, technical judgment to select the right tools for problems, and comfort with regulated domains.

What is the company culture like at Pylon?

Pylon is a small team building an ambitious product, seeking engineers who thrive on difficult problems and fit into a high-performing team built on mutual respect and reliance.

What makes a strong candidate for this position?

Strong candidates have built large-scale production systems at high-caliber companies, shipped recent AI/ML products to users, demonstrate technical judgment across tools like LLMs and rules engines, and are comfortable in regulated environments like mortgage underwriting.

Pylon

Digital mortgage integration platform for businesses

About Pylon

Pylon Lending provides a digital mortgage infrastructure that allows businesses to integrate mortgage services into their products efficiently. Their platform offers APIs and pre-built UI components, enabling clients, mainly in the financial and real estate sectors, to embed a complete digital mortgage experience with minimal coding. Unlike traditional mortgage services that require extensive infrastructure, Pylon offers a customizable Software Development Kit (SDK) that covers the entire mortgage origination process, from application to closing. This approach helps clients save time and reduce costs. Pylon's goal is to simplify the mortgage process for businesses, allowing them to launch new mortgage products quickly while enhancing customer satisfaction.

New York City, New YorkHeadquarters

2022Year Founded

$8.3MTotal Funding

SEEDCompany Stage

Fintech, Financial ServicesIndustries

11-50Employees

Benefits

Medical, vision & dental

Unlimited PTO

Hardware allowance

Annual off-sites

Risks

Increased competition from fintech companies could erode Pylon's market share.

Potential regulatory changes may require costly adjustments to Pylon's platform.

Reliance on Citi's trading desk for liquidity poses partnership risk.

Differentiation

Pylon offers a fully digital mortgage experience via APIs and pre-built UI components.

Freddie Mac approval enhances Pylon's credibility in the mortgage industry.

Pylon's platform allows quick integration of mortgage services, reducing time and cost.

Upsides

Citi's investment provides Pylon access to institutional-grade products and rates.

Pylon raised $8.5M in seed funding, boosting its growth potential.

Increased AI adoption in mortgage underwriting can enhance Pylon's platform efficiency.

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