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LLM Engineer - Job Opportunity at SLAY

Berlin, Germany
Full-time
Senior
Posted: June 7, 2025
On-site
EUR 200,000-500,000 per year

Benefits

Competitive total compensation package ranging from €200k-€500k annually, positioning significantly above market rate for LLM engineering roles
Premium Berlin Mitte office featuring state-of-the-art amenities including Apple Studio Displays and Herman Miller ergonomic furniture, demonstrating company investment in employee productivity and comfort
Complete commute cost coverage at 100%, eliminating transportation expenses and supporting work-life balance
Full gym membership sponsorship promoting employee health and wellness as part of comprehensive benefits package
Complete visa sponsorship and immigration assistance, providing valuable support for international talent relocation
Competitive stock option program offering equity participation in a rapidly growing AI company backed by tier-1 investors
Comprehensive bureaucratic support including German social security and tax form assistance, reducing administrative burden for international employees

Key Responsibilities

Lead the design and architecture of critical data pipelines that will directly impact millions of users across SLAY's AI character applications, establishing the foundational infrastructure for the company's core AI products
Drive fine-tuning architecture decisions for large language models that power virtual characters, making strategic technical choices that balance innovation with practical implementation constraints
Develop and implement comprehensive evaluation systems to measure model performance and user engagement, creating metrics that directly correlate to business success and user satisfaction
Execute rapid iteration cycles between fine-tuning, evaluation, and deployment phases, maintaining high velocity development essential for competitive advantage in the fast-moving AI market
Make critical technical tradeoffs between ambitious AI capabilities and feasible implementation timelines, requiring deep understanding of both technical limitations and business priorities
Shape core product features through direct technical contribution, influencing the user experience for millions of users across the company's flagship AI character applications

Requirements

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, or equivalent experience building software

Experience

Experience writing code to integrate models into production environments, implementing and deploying systems for data collection, cloud model training and inference, translating current relevant AI research into production systems

Required Skills

Experience writing code to integrate models into production environments Experience implementing and deploying systems for data collection, cloud model training and inference Experience translating current, relevant AI research into production systems Having product sense is great
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Sauge AI Market Intelligence

Industry Trends

The AI character and virtual companion market is experiencing explosive growth, with companies like Character.AI reaching billion-dollar valuations and massive user bases, indicating strong market validation for SLAY's core business model. The integration of large language models with character-driven applications represents a significant shift from traditional chatbots to more engaging, personality-driven AI interactions that can maintain long-term user relationships. Large language model engineering is becoming increasingly specialized, with companies moving beyond general-purpose models toward domain-specific fine-tuning and character consistency. The ability to maintain character coherence across extended conversations while incorporating real-time learning represents a critical technical challenge that separates market leaders from followers in the AI companion space. Mobile-first AI applications are driving new requirements for model optimization, edge deployment, and real-time inference capabilities. The need to deliver high-quality AI interactions on mobile devices while managing computational costs and battery life creates unique engineering challenges that require specialized expertise in model compression and efficient inference architectures.

Salary Evaluation

The offered compensation range of €200k-€500k significantly exceeds typical European LLM engineer salaries, which generally range from €80k-€150k for senior roles. This premium positioning reflects both the company's well-funded status and the critical nature of the role in a rapidly scaling AI company. The wide range suggests performance-based compensation with significant upside potential tied to company growth and individual impact.

Role Significance

Likely working within a small, elite technical team of 5-15 engineers given the company's startup stage and 'A-player only' philosophy. The role suggests significant individual ownership and responsibility rather than traditional management hierarchy, with direct impact on core product functionality and user experience.
This role operates at a senior individual contributor level with significant technical leadership responsibilities and direct product impact. The position requires making architectural decisions that affect millions of users and involves close collaboration with founders and executive team members, indicating high organizational visibility and influence over technical strategy.

Key Projects

Development of character consistency algorithms that maintain personality traits across extended user interactions Implementation of real-time model fine-tuning systems that adapt to user preferences and conversation patterns Architecture of scalable inference systems capable of handling millions of concurrent AI character interactions Integration of multimodal capabilities combining text, voice, and potentially visual elements for enhanced character experiences

Success Factors

Deep understanding of transformer architectures and attention mechanisms, particularly as they relate to maintaining long-term conversation coherence and character consistency across extended interactions with users Proven ability to translate academic AI research into production-ready systems that can scale to millions of users while maintaining low latency and high availability standards Strong product intuition combined with technical depth, enabling effective collaboration with product and design teams to create engaging user experiences that drive retention and engagement Experience with rapid iteration and deployment cycles, essential for maintaining competitive advantage in the fast-moving AI companion market where user preferences and technical capabilities evolve quickly Ability to work effectively in high-pressure, high-velocity startup environments where technical decisions have immediate business impact and individual contributions directly affect company success

Market Demand

Extremely high demand exists for LLM engineers with production deployment experience, particularly those who can bridge research and practical implementation. The combination of mobile AI optimization, character consistency, and large-scale deployment experience represents a rare skill set that commands premium compensation across the industry.

Important Skills

Critical Skills

Production-scale LLM deployment experience is absolutely essential as the role involves managing systems serving millions of users with real-time performance requirements. Understanding of model serving architectures, load balancing, and inference optimization directly impacts user experience and operational costs. Fine-tuning and model customization expertise enables creation of distinctive AI characters that maintain consistency and personality across interactions. This skill differentiates SLAY's product from generic chatbots and drives user engagement and retention. Data pipeline architecture knowledge ensures efficient training data collection, processing, and model iteration cycles. The ability to design systems that continuously improve model performance through user interactions is critical for competitive advantage.

Beneficial Skills

Mobile optimization and edge deployment capabilities become increasingly valuable as AI applications move toward on-device processing for privacy and latency benefits Multimodal AI experience with voice, image, and text integration will be important as AI characters evolve beyond text-only interactions Gaming industry knowledge and understanding of user engagement mechanics can provide valuable insights for creating addictive AI character experiences European AI regulation (GDPR, AI Act) familiarity becomes important for compliant AI system design in key markets

Unique Aspects

Opportunity to shape the technical foundation of AI characters that interact with millions of users daily, providing rare experience in large-scale conversational AI deployment
Direct involvement in creating IP-driven AI characters that transcend typical chatbot interactions, combining entertainment, technology, and character development in novel ways
Access to significant computational resources and cutting-edge AI infrastructure backed by substantial venture funding, enabling experimentation with advanced techniques typically available only at major technology companies
Collaboration with experienced gaming and entertainment industry veterans, providing unique perspective on user engagement and character development beyond traditional AI applications
Ground-floor opportunity at a rapidly scaling AI company with proven market traction and strong investor backing, offering significant equity upside potential

Career Growth

Career advancement typically occurs within 2-4 years given the rapid evolution of the AI field and the high-impact nature of production LLM experience. The startup environment and direct product impact can accelerate career growth compared to traditional corporate environments.

Potential Next Roles

Principal AI Engineer or Staff Engineer roles focusing on advanced AI research and architecture at larger technology companies Technical co-founder or CTO positions at AI-focused startups, leveraging deep expertise in LLM production systems AI Research Director positions at established companies building consumer AI products Head of AI Engineering roles at gaming or entertainment companies integrating AI characters into interactive experiences

Company Overview

SLAY

SLAY represents a well-funded AI startup with demonstrated market traction, having achieved #1 App Store rankings across multiple continents and secured backing from tier-1 investors including Accel and notable individual investors from the gaming and technology industries. The company's focus on AI characters with Pengu as their flagship product positions them in the rapidly growing virtual companion market.

Strong competitive position in the AI character space with proven user acquisition and retention capabilities, backed by investors with successful track records in scaling consumer technology companies. The company's rapid growth from founding in December 2022 to millions of users indicates strong product-market fit and execution capability.
Berlin-based with European market focus while maintaining significant presence in US markets, providing exposure to both European AI regulations and American consumer preferences. The location offers access to strong European technical talent while maintaining proximity to key investors and partners.
Extremely high-performance, demanding work environment emphasizing rapid execution, long hours, and immediate results. The culture prioritizes exceptional talent over work-life balance, with explicit expectations for weekend work and constant availability. This environment suits individuals who thrive under pressure and view work as central to their identity.
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Job Listings Data

The job listings displayed on this platform are sourced through BrightData's comprehensive API, ensuring up-to-date and accurate job market information.

Sauge AI Market Intelligence

Our advanced AI system analyzes each job listing to provide valuable insights including:

  • Industry trends and market dynamics
  • Salary estimates and market demand analysis
  • Role significance and career growth potential
  • Critical success factors and key skills
  • Unique aspects of each position

This integration of reliable job data with AI-powered analysis helps provide you with comprehensive insights for making informed career decisions.