AI Engineer
k1 investment managementManhattan Beach (CA)
About the role
AI Engineer
Founding AI Team Reporting Directly to Partner
If you want to move fast, ship real things, and haveoutsizedimpactata leading PE firm—keep reading.
Position Summary:
K1 is seeking an AI Engineer to join our founding AI team in Manhattan Beach, CA. This is not a typical role. You will be one of the founding members of K1's internal AI function, reporting directly to a Founding Partnerwith no middle management, nobusywork, and real ownership from day one. You will work at the intersection of artificial intelligence, enterprise software, and private equity operations — shipping real automations, building real tools, and driving real impact across a portfolio of 275+ companies. The right candidate will embody the values of K1 – Passion, Persistence, Humility, and Excellence.
Key Responsibilities:
Designing, building, and deploying AI-powered automations using Claude, Microsoft 365 (Power Automate, Copilot, SharePoint), and custom integrations toeliminatemanual processes across the firm and portfoliocompanies;
Rapidly prototyping AI tools and agents — from competitive intelligence scrapers to board-report generators — and iterating quickly based on real userfeedback;
Evaluating emerging AI models, tools, and frameworks and synthesizing findings into actionable recommendations for the investmentteam;
Building internal dashboards, data pipelines, and agentic workflows that give K1's investment professionals an unfairadvantage;
Performing other duties as assigned.
Requirements:
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Business + CS, or a related field;
At least one prior internship/role or substantive project experience in AI/ML, software engineering, or datascience;
Proficiencywith Claude (Anthropic) as a daily working tool — prompt engineering, multi-step workflows, and integration into realtasks;
Working knowledge of Microsoft 365 (Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Teams); familiarity with Power Automate or Copilot Studio is aplus;
Proficiencyin Python and/or JavaScript — youdon'tneed to be a systems engineer, but you need to be able to ship workingcode;
Bias toward action, comfort with ambiguity, and a genuine obsession with where AI isheaded;
Ability to work in-office in Manhattan Beach 5 days per week.
About K1
K1 Investment Management is one of the largest investors in small-cap AI-powered software. Dedicated to transforming lives and industries by building category leaders in technology, K1 has invested in over 275 companies sinceinception. Headquartered in Manhattan Beach, California, the firm partners early with founders and management teams to build AI-powered, mission-critical systems of record for enterprise clients globally.
For more information, visit k1.com and follow K1 Investment Management on LinkedIn.
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