---
title: 'Founding ML Engineer, Post-Training at Aghanim'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/founding-ml-engineer-post-training-aghanim-belgrade-sp0gx69xatbw'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-06'
---

# Founding ML Engineer, Post-Training at Aghanim

- **Company:** Aghanim
- **Location:** Belgrade, Serbia
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-10-21
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-06
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/aghanim/49418a32-baf4-4176-9540-9cb6962d3936

## Job description

Aghanim is an integrated commerce, liveops automation, community engagement, and payments platform for video games.

Mobile games have traditionally depended on app stores for distribution, payments, and player relationships. We believe there is a better way. Aghanim helps game studios build direct relationships with players, sell directly, and build their future on their own terms. Today, more than 100 games worldwide are already building this future with Aghanim.

Our team brings together people across Los Angeles, New York, Seoul, Beijing, London, Lisbon, Belgrade and other locations around the globe, with deep expertise in gaming, fintech and technology. We move quickly, keep communication direct, and focus on getting things done. We believe the best people thrive when they have autonomy, ownership, and a stake in the company's success.

We’re looking for a Founding ML Engineer at Senior or Principal level to lead the transition of Newton, Aghanim’s AI product for partners, from proprietary model APIs to models we control. Newton already runs in production on frontier models. You’ll own the model layer end to end: data collection, evaluation, post-training, serving, and rollout. The goal is to preserve the quality partners rely on while reducing cost, improving speed, and keeping partner data within our infrastructure. You’ll work closely with the product to understand its behavior and partner expectations, then independently define the technical approach and priorities. Decisions about training, routing, and model replacement should be backed by production data and evaluations.

## Key Responsibilities

- Build production data pipelines that capture versioned instructions, tool calls, outputs, costs, and outcomes, with anonymization, partner-level deletion, and expert corrections.
- Develop benchmarks, regression tests, and code-based and LLM-judge evaluators using real Newton runs to measure factual accuracy, tool use, answer quality, cost, and latency.
- Compare frontier and open-weight models, route tasks to suitable models, and identify where prompting, distillation, or post-training delivers the best results.
- Train and adapt models using distillation, SFT, LoRA/QLoRA, and DPO on accepted trajectories and expert feedback; use RL where simpler approaches fall short.
- Deploy models behind Newton’s existing interface, validate them through shadow runs, and manage rollout based on quality benchmarks and serving economics.

Tech stack: Python, TypeScript, SQL, self-hosted Langfuse, TRL / Unsloth / Axolotl or managed training platforms, vLLM, serverless GPUs, GCP / Modal; open-weight models including Qwen, Gemma, DeepSeek, and GLM.

Required Qualifications

- Hands-on experience post-training LLMs and shipping them to production using SFT, LoRA/QLoRA, DPO, and distillation.
- Experience building evaluation systems from production data, including offline benchmarks, regression and behavior tests, and code-based and LLM-judge evaluators.
- Understanding of agentic systems, including tool calling, multi-step trajectories, structured outputs, and the impact of changing the underlying model.
- Practical experience serving models with vLLM or similar tools, quantization, and GPU deployment, including latency, cold-start, and cost tradeoffs.
- Strong production Python and SQL skills, with enough TypeScript proficiency to modify product code and instrumentation independently.
- Ability to understand product behavior and user expectations, translate them into measurable quality requirements, and decide when training is justified.
- Experience independently owning a technical area, setting priorities, and working across an unfamiliar codebase and its design documents.
- Regular use of AI coding agents, with a clear approach to verifying their output.

## Preferred Qualifications

- Experience migrating a production product from proprietary model APIs to self-hosted or open-weight models.
- Experience with RL for LLMs, particularly GRPO with automatic verifiers.
- Familiarity with Langfuse, Braintrust, or similar tracing and evaluation tools.
- Experience with GCP, including Vertex AI, Cloud Run GPU, and BigQuery.
- Interest in game monetization and analytics.

## Why Join Us

- World-class team – work alongside experienced professionals from around the globe who have built products used by millions of players
- High growth, high impact – be part of a fast-growing company where ideas turn into products and reach customers in days, not months
- Autonomy and ownership – we trust people to make decisions, take initiative, and drive results
- Modern tools and technology – use AI, automation, and modern tools as part of your everyday work
- Equity – participate in the company's growth and long-term success

## About Aghanim

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Aghanim provides an integrated direct-to-consumer commerce, payments, community engagement, and liveops automation platform for mobile game developers.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage)
- **Headquarters**: Los Angeles, California, United States (also registered in Newark, Delaware)
- **Founded**: 2023
- **Founders**: Constantin Andry, Konstantin Golubitsky, Albert Tugushev (former CEO, CTO, and engineer of Xsolla Labs respectively)

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Mobile gaming (fintech & commerce enablement)
- Target customers: B2B — mobile game developers and publishers
- Mission: “We help game developers achieve financial and creative independence by providing the solutions they need to launch, run, and grow their businesses.”

## Products & Services
- **Commerce Engine**: Monetization tools for virtual goods, currency packs, lootboxes, passes, subscriptions — all hosted on the web outside the app store.
- **Merchant of Record (MoR)**: Handles payment processing, global taxation, fraud/chargeback management, and compliance (sales, delivery, returns).
- **Marketing & Retention Suite**: Email, browser, and in-app push notifications; segmentation & LiveOps automation; predictive analytics; affiliate/referral programs.
- **Community Engagement**: Web-based metagame experiences – news, events, leaderboards, guides, chat, giveaways, and incentives.
- **Payouts**: Revenue share and instant payouts for developers.
- **Fraud Detection**: Integrated with Sift for best-in-class protection.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed (last reported funding is Seed)
- **Key Metric**: Total funding raised – **$1.52M** (Seed VC, announced February 2024 with additional round in August 2024)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Bessemer Venture Partners, QED Investors, Point72 Ventures, a16z Speedrun, Andreessen Horowitz, J.P. Morgan (primary operating bank), Adyen (payment processing partner), Sift (fraud prevention)
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - Launched public platform access in August 2024.
  - Hired Conor McLaughlin as CRO and Valentina Sevodina as COO in early 2026.
  - Monthly web traffic ~2.2M visits with +1785% yearly growth (as of mid-2025).
  - Partnerships with Adyen, J.P. Morgan, and Sift indicate strong enterprise traction.
  - Advisory board includes former gaming/payments leaders.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Founding team pedigree**: Ex-Xsolla leadership (the company that scaled to $200M+ in revenue) – deep domain expertise in gaming payments.
- **All-in-one platform**: Combines commerce, payments, community, retention, and fraud – reducing the need for multiple vendors.
- **Web-first DTC model**: Enables mobile game developers to bypass app store commissions (15–30%) and own the player relationship directly.
- **Global compliance built-in**: Handles tax, fraud, and chargebacks across 200+ territories.

## Strategic Focus
- Expand developer adoption of direct-to-consumer monetization.
- Deepen integrations with mobile game engines and analytics tools.
- Build out the liveops and community engagement features to increase player LTV.
- Grow the partner ecosystem (payments, fraud, analytics) to offer a turnkey solution.
- Scale team from its current ~8 employees to support rapid customer growth.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Fast-moving, lean startup with flat structure; founders are hands-on and previously built a global company (Xsolla).
- **Remote/Hybrid**: Headquarters in Los Angeles (Woodland Hills area) with additional offices in New York City and Lisbon. Roles likely hybrid/remote-friendly depending on function.
- **Engineering Culture**: Heavy focus on payments infrastructure, data engineering, and platform scalability. Team includes engineers from Xsolla, Microsoft, and Liftoff.
- **Growth Trajectory**: Joining at very early stage (Seed) with significant funding from top VCs – high potential for ownership and impact.
- **Notable Perks**: Not explicitly stated, but typical for seed-stage fintech/gaming startups – equity, flexible hours, and direct exposure to founders.

## Sources
1. [aghanim.com](https://aghanim.com/)
2. [LinkedIn – Aghanim](https://www.linkedin.com/company/aghanim)
3. [CB Insights – Aghanim](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/aghanim)
4. [Workable – Aghanim Jobs](https://jobs.workable.com/company/oBzAUUmh7cHTznbEVoWucT/jobs-at-aghanim-inc.) (no current openings)
5. [PR Newswire – Aghanim Opens Public Access (Aug 2024)](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aghanim-opens-public-access-to-mobile-dtc-enablement-platform-reveals-advisory-board-and-a-new-funding-round-302231430.html)
6. [PocketGamer.biz – Aghanim appoints CRO and COO (Jan 2026)](https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/82260/aghanim-appoints-new-cro-and-coo/)
7. [PR Newswire – Aghanim Partners with Adyen](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aghanim-and-adyen-form-strategic-partnership-to-power-direct-to-consumer-payments-for-mobile-games-302228888.html)
8. [PR Newswire – Aghanim Partners with Sift](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aghanim-and-sift-partner-to-prevent-fraud-in-direct-to-consumer-mobile-gaming-e-commerce-302311125.html)

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