Job description
ABOUT THE ROLE
A fast-growing, Y Combinator–backed startup building AI-powered voice and text agents for the home improvement industry is looking for a Tech Lead to scale engineering impact and organizational maturity. You'll work hand-in-hand with the CTO and senior leadership to set technical direction, drive architectural decisions, and keep a talented team shipping high-quality software at pace.
This is an on-site role based in San Francisco, CA. The company is at the seed stage with strong investor backing and a lean, highly capable team. No visa sponsorship is available — candidates must have existing authorization to work in the United States.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
- Manage the engineering team day-to-day, removing blockers and keeping delivery on track.
- Own architectural decisions and guide the team on system design tradeoffs.
- Have final say on task prioritization and delivery tradeoffs.
- Review code and RFCs to maintain quality, consistency, and engineering standards.
- Establish and enforce engineering best practices, processes, and tooling.
- Act as a technical liaison and thought partner to the CEO, CTO, Director of Sales, and Head of Customer Success.
- Contribute actively to the codebase (~20–30% of your time).
- Raise the overall productivity and maturity of the engineering organization.
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR
Required - 6+ years of professional software engineering experience, with most recent roles as a Staff Engineer or Tech Lead.
- Proven leadership: you've managed engineering teams, mentored engineers, and driven engineering strategy.
- Strong background in software architecture, cloud platforms (ideally Microsoft Azure), and full-stack development.
- Hands-on experience with LLMs and conversational AI systems — this is a hard requirement.
- Experience designing and leading AI/ML systems at scale in cloud-based SaaS or startup environments.
- Track record of shipping under pressure in fast-growing startups or scale-ups.
- Excellent project management and prioritization skills with strong business acumen.
- Strong cross-functional communication — you can advocate technical decisions clearly to non-technical stakeholders.
- Ability and willingness to work on-site in San Francisco, CA.
Nice to Have
- Prior leadership experience in conversational AI or voice technology specifically.
- Experience with NLP pipelines and production deployment of ML/LLM models.
- Familiarity with telephony, call center automation, or home services industry workflows.
COMPENSATION
& BENEFITS
- Salary: $220,000 – $250,000 USD per year
- Competitive early-stage equity package
- Opportunity to shape the technical foundation and culture of a high-growth AI company LOCATION
- On-site — San Francisco, CA
- Remote work is not available for this role
- No visa sponsorship available; candidates must have the right to work in the United States