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
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Manage the engineering team day-to-day, removing blockers and keeping delivery on track.
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Own architectural decisions and guide the team on system design tradeoffs.
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Have final say on task prioritization and delivery tradeoffs.
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Review code and RFCs to maintain quality, consistency, and engineering standards.
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Establish and enforce engineering best practices, processes, and tooling.
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Act as a technical liaison and thought partner to the CEO, CTO, Director of Sales, and Head of Customer Success.
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Contribute actively to the codebase (~20–30% of your time).
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Raise the overall productivity and maturity of the engineering organization.
What We're Looking For
Required
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6+ years of professional software engineering experience, with most recent roles as a Staff Engineer or Tech Lead.
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Proven leadership: you've managed engineering teams, mentored engineers, and driven engineering strategy.
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Strong background in software architecture, cloud platforms (ideally Microsoft Azure), and full-stack development.
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Hands-on experience with LLMs and conversational AI systems — this is a hard requirement.
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Experience designing and leading AI/ML systems at scale in cloud-based SaaS or startup environments.
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Track record of shipping under pressure in fast-growing startups or scale-ups.
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Excellent project management and prioritization skills with strong business acumen.
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Strong cross-functional communication — you can advocate technical decisions clearly to non-technical stakeholders.
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Ability and willingness to work on-site in San Francisco, CA.
Nice to Have
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Prior leadership experience in conversational AI or voice technology specifically.
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Experience with NLP pipelines and production deployment of ML/LLM models.
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Familiarity with telephony, call center automation, or home services industry workflows.
Compensation & Benefits
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Salary: $220,000 – $250,000 USD per year
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Competitive early-stage equity package
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Opportunity to shape the technical foundation and culture of a high-growth AI company
Location
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On-site — San Francisco, CA
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Remote work is not available for this role
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No visa sponsorship available; candidates must have the right to work in the United States
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