Who We Are
Pillar VC is a seed-stage venture capital firm based in Boston co-founded by 41 leading CEOs, including the founders of DraftKings, Iora Health, Ginkgo Bioworks and Constant Contact. We’re the first-capital-in for scientists and engineers building in deep tech and bio. We make big bets on big ideas at inception.
Over half of our investments emerge out of universities. We work with founders months to years in advance of commercialization, collaborating with PhD students, postdocs and faculty. Our team helps by validating customer demand for a founder’s research, recruiting key team members, developing business plans, navigating licensing agreements, and building syndicates with strong co-investors. We’ve made over 50 investments in academic spinouts, including Algorand, Asimov, PathAI, Neural Magic, and Verve Motion.
Our investments span enterprise/infrastructure, vertical SaaS, fintech, crypto, manufacturing, logistics, robotics, healthtech, SynBio, genomics, longevity and precision medicine, among other categories. We’re proud investors in companies including Jellyfish, Abridge, Higharc, Hometap, Kula Bio, and VideaHealth.
We started Pillar VC with the belief that there has to be a better way for founders and investors to align. We began with a simple hypothesis — that if we treat founders the way we would want to be treated, good things will happen. That if we align every incentive, every action and decision to realize mutual benefit, we will engender trust, and from that, achieve profound results. It’s that simple.
Who You Are
You are a tech-optimist, passionately believing in the transformative power of technology to solve complex problems and drive progress. Interested in the intersection of founding and launching companies through a VC lens, you excel at integrating advanced technologies to enhance business operations.
You thrive in a fast-paced environment that demands agility and the ability to quickly pivot. Energized by new technologies and challenging problems, you flourish in a culture that fosters creativity and continuous learning. Your adaptability and eagerness to dive into new challenges make you a perfect fit for our dynamic team. Excellent communication skills are essential as you will be collaborating closely with team members across various disciplines.
Skills and proficiencies:
Experience in building applications with a focus on AI and machine learning, or a recent graduate with a strong background in AI engineering.
Strong experience with Node.js, Python, Next.js, and React.
Expertise in integrating various APIs into workflows and systems, especially OpenAI, Airtable, Wistia, Proxycurl, and People Data Labs.
Experience with Generative AI, transformers, and LLM projects.
Familiarity with frameworks like Huggingface, LangChain, or GPT.
Strong understanding of analytics and data tracking systems.
Active interest in AI, with a keen focus on applying it to business operations to enhance development pipelines and solve complex problems.
Passion for delivering products end-to-end: from ideation through planning and scoping to implementation and experimental A/B testing.
Your Responsibilities
As our AI Engineer, you will:
- Develop and maintain AI tooling for internal operations, focusing on creative solutions to business challenges.
- Create scripts and tools that streamline and enhance business processes through automation and advanced data analysis.
- Lead the planning and execution of the firm’s AI strategy, staying abreast of new technological developments in AI and machine learning.
- Implement automation and custom scripts across various business segments to optimize operations.
- Contribute to a team culture that values innovation, efficiency, and continuous learning.
Optionally, this position can be a two-year development role. Expand your knowledge in VC operations and emerging technologies, improve, maintain, and optimize our systems, while growing your professional network and accelerating your career growth. This is an excellent opportunity for someone who may want to learn about VC before starting their own company.
This role is based in Boston. You will work 4 days per week out of our Back Bay office, with flexibility to work remotely on Fridays.
Benefits
- Highly competitive salary
- We cover 100% of health and dental insurance (plus some of your deductible)
- Unlimited vacation policy
- Free snacks, coffee, lunch, and espresso when you’re in the office
- You get to come to the Portfolio Summit