Transformer_TalentSYSTEM LIVE

Top engineers. The best-backed
start-ups.

Transformer Talent specialises in placing top AI/ML and software engineers at venture-backed start-ups, from first engineering hire to Chief Science Officer.

Placements at companies backed by Sequoia · 8VC · Felicis · Y Combinator · a16z

Hiring managers

Upload your JD. See who we'd put in front of you.

Anonymized profiles from our network, and an honest read on whether your band clears the market, from 123 live searches. No call required.

Upload your JD →How it works
Engineers

One profile, every role we work on.

Most of what we place is never posted publicly. Apply once and we'll consider you for all of it, now and as new searches open.

See 96 open roles →Send a resume

Recently closed

ML infrastructure through Chief Science Officer
Fleet AI ↗ML Infrastructure EngineerThe engineer now running ML infrastructure end to end.ML_INFRAIronsite ↗Chief Science OfficerAn executive search at the applied-AI frontier.EXECVirtualitics ↗ML EngineerMachine learning for AI-driven analytics.MLAdaptive ↗Product EngineerThe full-stack generalist a design-led team wanted.PRODUCTPalantir ↗Forward Deployed EngineerHigh-bar FDE hiring from a live, pre-qualified pipeline.FDE
How it works
1
You send a JD, or a profile.

Paste it or upload a PDF.

2
We come back within 48 hours.

Anonymized profiles of engineers we'd put in front of you, each with a plain-English reason, plus whether the band clears the market.

3
You decide if it's worth a conversation.

Every engineer we send has been screened and reviewed. If none of them are right, we say so.

Market index

What engineers actually cost.

Median authorized base bands from 123 live searches, not scraped posts, not survey self-reports.

San FranciscoNew York$100k$150k$200k$250k$300kForward DeployedForward Deployed Engineering — San Francisco: median band $140k–$180k (from 11 searches)Forward Deployed Engineering — New York: median band $150k–$220k (from 9 searches)Infra / BackendInfrastructure / Backend — San Francisco: median band $192k–$252k (from 8 searches)Infrastructure / Backend — New York: median band $160k–$240k (from 4 searches)ML / AIML / AI Engineering & Research — San Francisco: median band $160k–$300k (from 7 searches)ML / AI Engineering & Research — New York: median band $150k–$250k (from 9 searches)Product / Full-StackProduct / Full-Stack — San Francisco: median band $170k–$255k (from 34 searches)Product / Full-Stack — New York: median band $150k–$225k (from 15 searches)
MEDIAN AUTHORIZED BASE BANDS, $K/YEAR — FROM OUR LIVE SEARCHES, 2026
See the full index →

Upload your JD. We'll share potential matches.

Paste a job description and see anonymized profiles of engineers we'd put in front of you — before you ever take a call.

SEE POTENTIAL MATCHES →