This company builds autonomous AI software for industrial enterprises, combining reinforcement learning, machine learning, optimization and modern cloud software engineering to move customers from AI pilots to production at enterprise scale.
About the role
This is a genuinely hands-on Director role, not a traditional VP or Head of Engineering position sitting above the work. The company already has a clear founder-led product vision and an AI-native development methodology producing strong results, so this hire won't be redefining strategy or building out a large org. We're recruiting an engineering leader who still writes and reviews Python code daily, stays close to architecture and technical decisions, and wants to turn an ambitious technical vision into production-grade software used by the world's largest industrial companies. You'll execute an established product roadmap in partnership with the Founder/CPO and CEO, remain deeply embedded in the codebase, and maximize engineering leverage through AI before adding headcount.
Key responsibilities
- Stay hands-on in the codebase, writing and reviewing Python daily alongside the team
- Lead a small, elite engineering team focused on exceptional execution and customer outcomes
- Own software architecture, engineering quality, scalability and operational excellence
- Translate product vision into high-quality production software with speed and discipline
- Drive engineering best practices across CI/CD, testing, observability, cloud infrastructure and security
- Partner closely with Product, R&D and Customer Success to deliver enterprise-ready capabilities
- Coach engineers while fostering a low-ego, high-accountability culture of continuous learning
- Embrace, improve and extend the company's AI-first software development workflow
Ideal profile
- 8+ years building production software, with a strong preference for hands-on coding throughout your career
- 3+ years leading engineering teams (preferred), without stepping away from technical execution
- Deep experience with enterprise SaaS, distributed systems and cloud-native architectures
- Strong background delivering AI/ML applications into production
- Deep expertise designing, reviewing and shipping production Python systems (FastAPI, Flask or similar)
- Experience with REST APIs, microservices and distributed systems
- Experience with Docker, Kubernetes and AWS/Azure/GCP
- Experience with PostgreSQL and modern data infrastructure
- Experience with CI/CD, GitHub and Infrastructure as Code
Preferred qualifications
- Experience working in fast-moving Seed or Series A environments
- PyTorch, TensorFlow, reinforcement learning and modern AI frameworks
- LLMs, agentic AI and AI-assisted software development
- Commercially minded, with a passion for building category-defining Industrial AI software
Director of Engineering in walnut creek at Unknown Company
This position is listed as full time and onsite.