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AI Engineer

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About Fora

Fora is the modern travel agency, redefining what it means to be a travel advisor in today’s world. We’re a next-generation platform that provides a comprehensive, business-in-a-box solution—combining cutting-edge technology, personalized training, a vibrant community, and exclusive industry partnerships—all designed to empower anyone with a passion for travel to turn that passion into a thriving business. Whether you're a travel enthusiast or an experienced professional, Fora equips you with everything needed to launch and scale a successful travel advisory business, making it the ultimate way to align work with your lifestyle.

At the heart of Fora is our mission: to enable 100,000 entrepreneurs to transform their love for travel into a fulfilling full-time or part-time career, offering unparalleled flexibility, autonomy, and support. We believe that everyone, from seasoned travel professionals to first-time entrepreneurs, can build a career that’s both profitable and aligned with their passions.

Our platform combines innovative technology with the human touch, offering:

Best-in-class training programs to help agents develop expert knowledge, no matter their starting point.
A powerful suite of tools for booking, client management, and marketing, ensuring agents can focus on delivering exceptional travel experiences.
Access to an engaged community of fellow advisors, fostering collaboration, support, and shared learning.
Exclusive partnerships with top travel brands, providing access to competitive rates, perks, and experiences that elevate advisors’ offerings.

Since our founding in 2021 by experienced travel entrepreneurs Henley Vazquez, Jake Peters, and Evan Frank, Fora has experienced rapid growth, expanding to a team of 100+ full-time employees based in downtown New York City. We are proud to be backed by an incredible group of investors, including Forerunner Ventures, Insight Partners, and Heartcore Capital, whose support underscores our commitment to building a platform that not only revolutionizes the travel industry but also creates meaningful opportunities for individuals everywhere.

Fora is a mission-driven company that believes in the power of entrepreneurship, community, and passion. As we continue to grow, we are looking for more talented and like-minded individuals to join our team - people who are excited about transforming the travel space and helping us scale our vision globally.

About the Role

We’re looking for a seasoned AI Engineer to join us as we continue to build Fora’s products and infrastructure. Our ideal candidate is someone who understands our mission & brand, is excited about what we’re creating, and is passionate about supercharging our advisors and our HQ team with AI! The work for this role will touch all aspects of our technology stack including our advisor portal, external-facing website, content and supplier systems, internal admin tools, and external integrations.

Key Responsibilities

Collaborate with AI Leadership, Product Managers, Engineers and Designers to brainstorm and build new features for our travel advisor platform
Rapidly build prototypes to test product hypotheses in days
Continuously improve existing AI products leverage new models, tools, and prompting techniques
Stay up-to-date on the latest developments and advancements in AI research and industry
Research and evaluate third-party vendors to guide build vs buy decisions
Create clear AI Engineering specifications based on product requirements
Communicate and explain your work to peers and stakeholders on a daily basis
Navigate and make decisions in situations of ambiguity or uncertainty

Requirements

Masters degree or PhD in computer science, AI/ML, computational linguistics, engineering, data science, mathematics, or related fields
5+ years of proven experience in AI/ML engineering, building AI systems and services, applying machine learning models to solving real-world business problems.
Experience implementing LLM-based generative AI systems in producwith a range commercial and open foundation models (e.g. OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta)
Demonstrated ability to optimize generative AI applications for latency and cost efficiency
Proven experience building and applying machine learning models to real-world business applications.
Strong proficiency in NLP, machine learning models and prompt engineering techniques
Demonstrated experience building production-grade RAG systems utilizing structured, unstructured, and graph data.
Experience evaluating a range of AI, NLP and ML systems (LLMs, RAG, search, classical models), including training data collection, human labeling and model-based techniques
Experience designing, building and supporting APIs to be used by other engineering teams
Familiarity with information retrieval systems, search algorithms, vector databases and embeddings
Proven track record to innovate and deliver results at scale.
The ability to write understandable, testable code with an eye towards maintainability.
Excellent communication skills and you are capable of explaining sophisticated technical concepts to cross-functional collaborators with a wide range of technical and non-technical backgrounds, including product managers, engineers, and executive stakeholders
Strong computer science fundamentals including data structures, algorithms, data engineering, programming languages, and information retrieval.
Solid background in a wide range of classical ML approaches
Experience developing conversational AI systems
Exceptional problem-solving skills and enthusiasm for tackling complex, unsolved problems
Demonstrated track record of cultivating strong working relationships and driving collaboration across multiple technical and business teams.
Excited about developing domain expertise in the travel industry through work with subject matter experts, travel advisors and product experts

Nice to Have

Experience building agentic systems
Knowledge of fine-tuning and leveraging small language models to optimize latency in complex LLM-driven architectures

Compensation

Salary Range: $150-200k + equity. Other benefits include:

Unlimited vacation
Ability to book travel for yourself, friends and family and earn the commission like an advisor
Hybrid work environment, with two fully remote weeks encouraged
Regular travel-related team events
Health Insurance (including an option completely covered by Fora HQ)
Dental & Vision Insurance
ClassPass Memberships
401k plan
Commuter Benefits
Stock Options

This role is based in New York City with a hybrid WFH & office schedule (Monday, Tuesday and Thursday are our Tribeca in-office days, with flexibility for Wednesday and Friday at your preference).

Our Values

We’re forging our own path

Fora has always been about driving change within the industry. We’re not interested in maintaining the status quo.

We’re stronger together

Community is our cornerstone and collective power is our strength. We believe we can all go further when we operate together, using our combined leverage to unlock better opportunities and outcomes for our advisors, partners, and travelers.

We believe in technology

We believe technology is an answer to some of the most fundamental challenges the travel industry faces. We believe advancements in AI, bold investments in our platforms, and a world-class data infrastructure will transform the work of our advisors and our partners, while creating better travel experiences for travelers.

We’re here to serve

We operate in service of our community and believe that when they’re empowered to focus on what they do best, we all win. It’s why we relentlessly advocate for our advisors and prioritize their best interest every step of the way.

We mean business

Fora is equal parts fun, meaningful work and serious travel business. We’re unlocking opportunities for thousands of travel entrepreneurs, delivering a stream of high-quality guests at scale for our partners, and providing a superior travel experience for our travelers. It’s a better equation for the future of our industry.

WORK AUTHORIZATION

You must have authorization to work in the United States. Fora is unable to assist applicants with obtaining work authorization.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

Fora is committed to an equitable hiring process and an inclusive work environment. BIPOC and traditionally underrepresented candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. We will not discriminate and will take action to ensure against discrimination in employment, recruitment, advertisements for employment, compensation, termination, upgrading, promotions, and other conditions of employment against any employee or job applicant on the bases of race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran's status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or any other characteristic protected by law.

Average salary estimate

$175000 / YEARLY (est.)

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$200000K

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What You Should Know About AI Engineer, Fora Travel

Fora, an innovative travel agency based in New York City, is on the lookout for a talented AI Engineer to join our dynamic team. In this role, you'll be at the forefront of integrating cutting-edge AI technology with our travel advisor platform, enhancing the experiences of our advisors and supporting our mission of empowering entrepreneurs passionate about travel. As an AI Engineer at Fora, you'll collaborate with cross-functional teams including Product Managers, Designers, and Engineers to brainstorm and implement exciting new features. You will get hands-on with our technology stack, developing prototypes and leveraging advanced AI models to solve real-world business challenges. With a commitment to continuous learning, you'll stay ahead of the curve by keeping updated with the latest AI advancements while creating clear specifications for your projects. This role not only encourages innovative thinking but also offers the chance to make a real impact in the travel industry by supercharging our advisory services. If you're someone who is not just technically proficient but also excited about using AI to transform the travel space, then this position is perfect for you. Come be a part of our mission-driven team at Fora, where we believe that combining technology with the human touch is key to redefining travel experiences!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for AI Engineer Role at Fora Travel

What are the primary responsibilities of an AI Engineer at Fora?

As an AI Engineer at Fora, your main responsibilities include collaborating with AI leadership and cross-functional teams to build and enhance features for our travel advisor platform, rapidly prototyping ideas to validate product hypotheses, and continuously improving existing AI products. You'll engage with the latest developments in AI while researching third-party solutions to inform build vs. buy strategies.