Director / Head of Engineering (On-Site, San Francisco – 4-Day Workweek)
US Citizen Required.
Must have experience working for Series-backed startups and ideally stints within "big tech".
Series A company needing a highly technical leader who can dive into technology with a small but expanding engineering team in San Francisco.
About the Opportunity
We’re partnering with a fast-growing Series A startup that’s using Generative AI to reinvent how complex organizations operate. They’re looking for a hands‑on technical leader who can shape engineering direction, scale a growing team, and help define how modern AI integrates directly into real‑world product experiences.
What You’ll Do
- Own architecture across backend, frontend, infrastructure, and AI systems.
- Define and deliver scalable, secure, and performant foundations for 10x growth.
- Make critical technical decisions with strong trade‑off analysis and execution clarity.
- Partner with product and design to bring Generative AI capabilities to life.
- Operationalize LLMs and data pipelines to deliver intelligent, reliable, high‑impact user experiences.
- Translate emerging research into differentiated, durable product features.
- Lead and mentor a team of 8+ engineers, with plans to nearly double in the next year.
- Cultivate an engineering culture built around speed, ownership, and continuous learning.
- Model technical excellence while creating an environment people love to build in.
Delivery & Quality
- Implement modern CI/CD pipelines, observability tools, and pragmatic workflows.
- Balance fast shipping with long‑term scalability, maintainability, and security.
What Great Looks Like
- 3–5+ years leading engineering teams (Director/VP/Head level) in startup environments.
- Proven ability to manage full‑stack development — ideally in React / Python or similar open‑source stacks.
- Hands‑on leader who still codes, reviews pull requests, and guides architectural design.
- Experience delivering AI‑driven or high‑growth SaaS products.
- Strong partnership mindset with Product and Design; outcome‑driven thinker.
- Deep understanding of scalable architecture, system design, and performance trade‑offs.
Nice‑to‑Have
- Exposure to LLM integration, AI/ML pipelines, or Gen AI features.
- Familiarity with modern DevOps, observability, and secure infrastructure practices.
- Experience across both startup and larger‑brand environments.
Why This Role
- 4-day on‑site workweek (San Francisco)
- High‑growth Series A company with strong funding and momentum.
- Opportunity to lead end‑to‑end architecture, grow a world‑class team, and ship transformative AI‑driven software.