AI Engineer at Toptal - Remote Work Anywhere — Columbus
Traveler-Friendly Insight
This role is listed as "Anywhere in the World" via Toptal, making it one of the more genuinely location-independent positions available for senior AI engineers. Toptal contracts are typically fully async-compatible, with engineers coordinating across time zones through written communication and milestone-based deliverables rather than fixed office hours.
Timezone flexibility: No specific timezone is required in the posting. However, occasional overlap with a startup's core team hours (likely US-based, given the e-commerce context) may be expected. Budget for 2–4 hours of overlap availability during US Eastern or Pacific business hours.
Visa considerations: As a Toptal contractor, you invoice independently, meaning you can work from virtually any country on a tourist visa for short stays or a digital nomad visa for longer residence. Strong options include:
- Portugal (Lisbon): Digital nomad visa available; mid-tier cost of living (~$2,000–$2,800/month) well within senior AI engineer compensation.
- Thailand (Bangkok/Chiang Mai): LTR visa or tourist entries; very low cost of living (~$1,200–$1,800/month) maximizes savings significantly.
- Colombia (Medellín): Digital nomad visa; ~$1,500–$2,000/month cost of living with a thriving tech community.
No travel-specific perks (coworking stipend, equipment budget) are mentioned, which is typical for Toptal contracts — factor this into your rate negotiation.
Headquarters: Remote (Anywhere in the World)
We are seeking an AI Engineer to develop AI-first applications and integrate custom models and infrastructure into an existing e-commerce platform. The role focuses on building agent-led product experiences, including internal automation, dynamic site customization, and customer-facing conversational commerce workflows.
General Information
This engagement supports an e-commerce startup building a platform around conversational design and intelligent automation. The current objective is to extend the existing product with AI-native capabilities while building on top of the current backend and application stack.
The work includes three core initiative areas: an internal AI employee for operational tasks, a fluid site customizer, and a customer-facing commerce agent designed to support one-prompt checkout experiences. The role will involve model integration, infrastructure setup, and product-facing implementation across both backend and UI surfaces.
Tasks and Deliverables
- Develop AI-first applications for an existing e-commerce platform.
- Architect and implement autonomous e-commerce AI agents using open-source and proprietary foundation models.
- Establish GPU infrastructure and data pipelines for model fine-tuning and deployment.
- Integrate AI workflows with the existing stack, including MongoDB, Node.js, Express, React, and third-party APIs.
- Build conversational UI components and backend logic for one-prompt checkouts and dynamic site customization.
Required Experience
- Strong expertise in AI/ML engineering and LLM integration.
- Hands-on experience fine-tuning open-source models such as Llama or Mistral.
- Experience building autonomous agents and conversational AI workflows.
- Solid background in GPU infrastructure setup and optimization for training or inference.
- Full-stack proficiency with MongoDB, Express, React, and Node.js.
- Experience integrating REST APIs into production applications.
Nice to Have
- Familiarity with Stripe, Twilio, or OpenAI API integrations.
To apply: https://weworkremotely.com/remote-jobs/toptal-ai-ml-engineer-for-an-ai-driven-e-commerce-platform
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this role fully remote and can I work from any country?
What AI models and frameworks will I be working with?
Is this a full-time engagement or part-time contract?
What is the salary or hourly rate for this position?
What is the existing tech stack I'll be integrating with?
