Tech Lead

About the Role

This is a CTO-level leadership role embedded within the engineering team of a fast-growing YC-backed voice AI startup. You'll own day-to-day engineering operations — managing a team of four engineers, setting the technical direction, and contributing hands-on to the codebase — while partnering closely with executive leadership to accelerate growth.

What You'll Do

• Manage and lead a team of four engineers, owning roadmaps, 1:1s, and task prioritization.

• Review code and architectural decisions, holding the bar on quality across speed, performance, and design.

• Establish engineering best practices, project management cadences, and team processes.

• Act as a technical sparring partner to the CEO, CTO, and cross-functional leaders in Sales and Customer Success.

• Contribute directly to the codebase, spending roughly 20–30% of your time as an individual contributor.

What We're Looking For

• 4–12 years of experience, with a meaningful portion as an individual contributor before moving into leadership.

• Formal people management experience leading teams of 4–10 engineers.

• Strong backend development skills in Python and hands-on experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure), including deploying ML models to production.

• Experience designing and scaling AI/ML systems, ideally in cloud-based SaaS or startup environments.

• Hands-on background with conversational AI, voice technology, or NLP/LLM applications.

• Sharp technical judgment — able to evaluate architecture, performance, and engineering tradeoffs.

• Highly structured and proactive, with excellent prioritization and project management instincts.

• Strong communication skills and executive presence; comfortable advocating technical decisions to non-technical stakeholders.

• Fluent English required.

• Background in management consulting is a plus.

• Must have the right to work in the US — no visa sponsorship available.

Compensation & Benefits

Salary range: $240,000 – $260,000 USD annually. No visa sponsorship is available for this role.

Location

On-site, five days per week in San Francisco, CA.