AI Native Engineer
cookunity
AI Native Engineer
legalist· Product/Engineering
About this role
Intro description:
Legalist is a tech-enabled alternative asset manager that uses proprietary data-driven origination to invest in uncorrelated legal and government-payment assets. Founded out of Y Combinator in 2016, Legalist manages over $1.7 billion for endowments, foundations, and family offices.
Summary
Legalist is looking for an AI Native Engineer to join our team and work directly with our Co-founder to build AI-powered products and workflows. This is a hands-on, execution-focused role for someone who has a track record of building across a variety of projects and is already using AI as a core part of how they develop software. Our ideal candidate operates in a fast-paced environment and can take a business problem or idea, figure out the technical approach, build a solution, and iterate quickly.
Responsibilities
- Design and build new AI products, tools, and features
- Build applications using LLMs and foundation model APIs
- Develop AI agents and multi-step workflows that connect models with internal and external systems
- Build integrations with third-party APIs, internal data sources, and existing software
- Design and implement RAG pipelines, including retrieval, embeddings, vector search, and context management
- Build backend services and APIs to support AI applications
- Prototype new ideas quickly, thoroughly test them, and turn successful prototypes into production-ready tools
- Evaluate models and approaches based on accuracy, latency, cost, and reliability
- Build evaluations and testing processes to measure and improve model outputs
- Stay current on new models, developer tools, frameworks, and AI capabilities
Qualifications
- 3+ years of professional software development experience
- Hands-on experience building applications with LLM APIs such as OpenAI, Anthropic, or similar
- Experience building AI agents, tool-calling workflows, or other agentic systems
- Strong understanding of APIs, backend development, databases, and cloud infrastructure
- Experience taking software from prototype through production
- Experience working with financial, legal, or other complex datasets
- Familiarity with prompt design, context management, model evaluation, and techniques for improving LLM reliability
- Experience working across a variety of technical projects, ideally for multiple companies or clients
- Comfortable working independently and figuring things out without a detailed set of requirements
- Local to New York City and excited about the opportunity to have regular in-person working sessions
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the salary disclosed for the AI Native Engineer position at legalist?
The salary for this AI Native Engineer role at legalist is not publicly listed. Click "Apply Now" to learn more about the compensation package on their official careers page.
Where is the AI Native Engineer position at legalist located?
This AI Native Engineer role at legalist is based in New York, NY. The position is listed as on-site or hybrid. Check the full job description or apply directly to confirm the work arrangement.
Which team or department does the AI Native Engineer at legalist belong to?
This AI Native Engineer position is part of the Product/Engineering department at legalist. See the full job description for more information about the team structure and responsibilities.
How do I apply for the AI Native Engineer position at legalist?
Click the "Apply Now" button on this page. You will be redirected to legalist's official application portal hosted on greenhouse where you can submit your application directly.
When was the AI Native Engineer job at legalist posted?
This AI Native Engineer position at legalist was posted on Aug 11, 2026. Apply as soon as possible — early applications are often reviewed first.
AI Native Engineer
legalist
You'll be redirected to legalist's official application page on Greenhouse.