I’m looking for legitimate remote AI jobs but keep running into scams or outdated listings. I’ve tried several job boards without much luck. Can anyone recommend trustworthy sites or share tips on landing genuine AI remote work? Really need some help to navigate this job search.
Honestly, finding legit AI remote jobs feels like hunting for unicorns sometimes, but they’re out there—just gotta dig in the right places. Skip the generic mega job boards (they’re full of junk and old posts). Start with WeWorkRemotely, RemoteOK, and FlexJobs—these tend to have higher quality control and filter out the obvious scams. For more technical and AI-specific gigs, try ai-jobs.net and OpenAI’s careers page—sometimes they post remote stuff. LinkedIn job alerts work if you keep your must-haves tight and follow companies in the AI/ML space (think DataRobot, Hugging Face, DeepL). AngelList is legit for startup AI gigs, but expect them to want lots of hustle.
Honestly, another huge piece: networking. Chat in AI Slack communities, Discords, or even on Twitter/X with folks in the field. Internal refs are gold and way more likely to get you in than cold applying everywhere. And absolutely, if a posting feels shady or the interview process involves test projects with no pay, walk away—too many “companies” out there want free labor. Main red flags: no company info, weird domains/emails, offers before real interviews, or “just download our app to proceed.”
If you’re open to freelancing, experiment with Toptal or Upwork PRO (not the general site—it’s a goat rodeo otherwise), but yeah, competition’s fierce and AI experts see some real projects in there.
TL,DR: ai-jobs.net, RemoteOK, WeWorkRemotely, FlexJobs, AngelList for startups. Plus, network like crazy and don’t trust anything that sounds too good to be true. Stay sharp, sift through the noise, and you’ll spot the legit offers.
Honestly, I wouldn’t put all my eggs in the job board basket—@viajantedoceu has some good points, but even sites like FlexJobs or WeWorkRemotely aren’t immune to the occasional sketchy listing. What’s REALLY worked for me is stalking (yeah, stalking) AI research labs’ and universities’ career pages directly. People forget that nearly every big player posts openings on their own site before elsewhere. Think Meta AI Research, Google Brain (now merged with DeepMind), Cerebras, Cohere, etc. Sometimes, you’ll find remote R&D roles or research engineer gigs that never hit the main boards.
And here’s an unpopular opinion: don’t sleep on GitHub. Look for open source AI projects you vibe with, contribute a bit, and slide into the maintainers’ DMs—short-term contracts and full-time offers pop up this way more than you’d think. Yeah, it takes putting yourself out there, but it sidesteps a ton of resume blackholes.
Also, filter job search by the actual tech stack you want (TensorFlow, PyTorch, LLM, whatever) in Google advanced search or LinkedIn, not just “AI Remote.” You get more focused, fresher, and less-crowded results. Oh, and extra side-eye to any posting with “remote” but then pulls a fast one asking if you can “occasionally” come on-site. Lol, okay.
One thing I don’t fully agree with @viajantedoceu about is the value of Upwork PRO and Toptal—yeah, the pay can be better, but I’ve found the vetting process there absurd and the client pool smaller than you’d expect for true AI engineering roles. Not a total waste, but don’t let rejections mess with your head.
In the end, be a little skeptical, a little relentless, and don’t just rely on one method. And hey, if you ever figure out a secret hack for avoiding scammy recruiters on LinkedIn, let me know—I’ll trade all my AI resume keywords for it.
Not disagreeing with some of the solid advice from earlier (RemoteOK, ai-jobs.net, etc.), but let’s get brutally honest for a minute—most folks ignore directly reaching out to domain-specific communities and niche recruiter networks. Here’s the kicker: specialized AI recruitment agencies (like DSML Executive Search or even boutique outfits like Latent Talent) can sometimes source hidden, high-quality remote gigs before they splash out to public boards; you won’t see those on WeWorkRemotely or even AngelList. The trade-off? Heavier vetting and sometimes a slower process, but way less spam/scam potential.
Also, while others are busy shotgunning their resume everywhere, try focusing on portfolio-first approaches. Set up a clean, public repo (GitHub Preferred, but Hugging Face Spaces is catching up for AI folks), with a few end-to-end projects showcasing not just code, but explainers, results, and even deployment links. If recruiters find you via your actual work (a nontrivial difference from Upwork/Toptal), the inbound is much higher quality.
Downside of this angle? It takes time—no quick wins. Your repo can sit unnoticed if not coupled with presence in respected AI Slack/Mastodon groups or even the occasional write-up on Towards Data Science. But it’s authentic and gets around the broken pipeline of spammy job boards.
Some peers swear by networking on Discord—which I find a double-edged sword: lots of noise, but if you filter for channels spun out of reputable AI conferences (think NeurIPS, ICML, CVPR), you sometimes get stealth job drops straight from research leads or founders looking for that one remote engineer.
Bottom line: Diversify with intentionality—aim for direct recruiter partnerships plus a strong online presence, not just chasing endless job links. And no, don’t trust every “remote AI” gig with a too-good-to-be-true salary and an interview that looks like a CAPTCHA test. Always research “who” is hiring, not just “where.”
For readability, using a product like ’ can really help organize job search efforts with Kanban-style boards and priority tagging, but fair warning: it may not integrate tightly with technical portfolios or recruiter channels. Pros—visual overview, easily tracks progress; cons—less tailored to AI-specific workflows than, say, GitHub Projects. Still, miles better than a cluttered spreadsheet if you’re juggling multiple leads.
Competitors raised good points on direct company outreach and open-source engagement; IMO, coupling that with direct recruiter engagement is what maximizes legit AI remote finds—if you’re willing to play the long game.