Tech Director, AI Products (New York)

About R/GA

R/GA is a globally renowned design and innovation network that has been reinventing industry standards for over four decades. From pioneering computer-assisted film production to defining digital platforms of the connected age — such as the original Nike+ ecosystem and the launch of Beats by Dre — R/GA helps brands adapt and thrive in the face of disruptive technology. Now independent, we are investing heavily in AI to lead the Intelligence Age.

About AI Products (AIP)

AI Products (AIP) is the team building R/GA's next chapter. Our mandate is to shift the business from service‑as‑labor to service‑as‑software — turning innovation already taking shape across the network into reusable AI products R/GA can take to market. We build with agents: a substantial share of our code is agent‑generated, and every team member is an expert at directing agents to produce production‑quality work. We are engineering‑led, small by design, and just getting started.

About The Role

As the Tech Director of AI Products, you will be the founding technical leader of our team — a hands‑on, full‑stack player‑coach who sets the architecture and ships production code. You will lead the engineering work on our first product bets, shape the patterns R/GA will inherit as it ships AI to the market, and partner directly with our Head of AI Products and the R/GA Global CTO.

You will work within a small, senior team — alongside an AI Engineer and a Senior PM — with an explicit mandate to ship reusable products rather than bespoke client work.

This is an engineer‑first role requiring the judgment of an architect and the instincts of a founder. You will write production code daily across the stack, directing agents fluently and writing by hand where it matters most. We hire for one specific shape: technically minded, T‑shaped individuals with a track record of building long‑term AI products that have shipped, sold, and lasted — not just demos.

Key Responsibilities

• Hands‑on Full‑Stack Engineering: Ship production code across the stack — frontend, backend, AI/ML, and infrastructure. As a player‑coach, you will contribute daily, not just review code.
• Agent‑Driven Development: Lead how AIP builds with agents. Set the standards, patterns, and tooling that ensure agent‑generated code is production‑quality.
• Architecture & Platform: Define the reference architecture, runtime, and tooling underlying AIP's products, ensuring each is genuinely reusable across clients.
• Engineering Leadership: Lead the technical build of our first product bets. Set patterns, mentor the team, and raise the bar.
• Productization Discipline: Ensure every product ships as a working demo, a marketing deck, and a reusable codebase. Hold the line against one‑off custom work.
• Cross‑Network Partnership: Coordinate with R/GA's CTO and engineering teams to harvest patterns and ensure architectural coherence.
• Talent: Hire, develop, and retain a high‑bar engineering team.
• Pitch Support: Act as the authoritative technical voice in the room during high‑stakes pitches.
• Roadmap & Bet Selection: Partner with Paul and Nick to evaluate productization opportunities and decide what scales versus what retires.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, with 3+ years leading AI‑powered products in production.
• Full‑stack engineering capability: strong in at least three of the following — modern frontend (React/TypeScript), backend (Python/Node/Go), AI/ML systems and pipelines, or infrastructure. You are comfortable picking up tickets across the stack.
• Expertise in agent-driven development. You know when to drive an agent and when to write code yourself, as well as how to review and harden agent output before it ships.
• Deep fluency in generative AI: LLMs, agent frameworks, retrieval architectures, evaluation methods, and deployment patterns.
• A proven track record of shipping reusable software products (not just custom client builds).
• Founding‑team or early‑engineering‑leader experience at a startup, studio, or product organization.
• Comfortable presenting to the C‑suite and senior client technologists while keeping technical credibility intact.
• A strong bias for shipping. A tight v0 in two weeks beats a perfect roadmap in two months.

Bonus Points for

• Prior experience at an agency, studio, or consulting firm — you understand pitch‑driven rhythms.
• Open‑source contributions or published technical writing on AI systems, agent design, or generative interfaces.
• A background in design tooling, brand systems, content infrastructure, or generative interfaces.
• Experience designing platform/SDK abstractions that other engineers happily adopt.

Why Join AIP?

• Build the technical foundation for AI productization at R/GA — one of the world's most respected creative innovation networks.
• Enjoy an independent mandate to invest in AI with direct executive sponsorship from the CEO and CTO.
• Have a direct line to the Head of AI Products and the Global CTO. Your work will show up in pitches, press, and awards.
• Work within a senior, intentionally small team. No politics, no process tax, no committees.

The hiring range for this position is $200,000 to $240,000. Where an employee or prospective employee is paid within this range will depend on, among other factors, actual ranges for current/former employees in the subject position; budgetary considerations; tenure and standing with the company (applicable to current employees); as well as the employee's/applicant's applicable skills, pertinent experience, and qualifications.

Key Responsibilities

• Hands‑on Full‑Stack Engineering: Ship production code across the stack — frontend, backend, AI/ML, and infrastructure. As a player‑coach, you will contribute daily, not just review code.
• Agent‑Driven Development: Lead how AIP builds with agents. Set the standards, patterns, and tooling that ensure agent‑generated code is production‑quality.
• Architecture & Platform: Define the reference architecture, runtime, and tooling underlying AIP's products, ensuring each is genuinely reusable across clients.
• Engineering Leadership: Lead the technical build of our first product bets. Set patterns, mentor the team, and raise the bar.
• Productization Discipline: Ensure every product ships as a working demo, a marketing deck, and a reusable codebase. Hold the line against one‑off custom work.
• Cross‑Network Partnership: Coordinate with R/GA's CTO and engineering teams to harvest patterns and ensure architectural coherence.
• Talent: Hire, develop, and retain a high‑bar engineering team.
• Pitch Support: Act as the authoritative technical voice in the room during high‑stakes pitches.
• Roadmap & Bet Selection: Partner with Paul and Nick to evaluate productization opportunities and decide what scales versus what retires.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, with 3+ years leading AI‑powered products in production.
• Full‑stack engineering capability: strong in at least three of the following — modern frontend (React/TypeScript), backend (Python/Node/Go), AI/ML systems and pipelines, or infrastructure. You are comfortable picking up tickets across the stack.
• Expertise in agent-driven development. You know when to drive an agent and when to write code yourself, as well as how to review and harden agent output before it ships.
• Deep fluency in generative AI: LLMs, agent frameworks, retrieval architectures, evaluation methods, and deployment patterns.
• A proven track record of shipping reusable software products (not just custom client builds).
• Founding‑team or early‑engineering‑leader experience at a startup, studio, or product organization.
• Comfortable presenting to the C‑suite and senior client technologists while keeping technical credibility intact.
• A strong bias for shipping. A tight v0 in two weeks beats a perfect roadmap in two months.

Bonus Points for

• Prior experience at an agency, studio, or consulting firm — you understand pitch‑driven rhythms.
• Open‑source contributions or published technical writing on AI systems, agent design, or generative interfaces.
• A background in design tooling, brand systems, content infrastructure, or generative interfaces.
• Experience designing platform/SDK abstractions that other engineers happily adopt.

Why Join AIP?

• Build the technical foundation for AI productization at R/GA — one of the world's most respected creative innovation networks.
• Enjoy an independent mandate to invest in AI with direct executive sponsorship from the CEO and CTO.
• Have a direct line to the Head of AI Products and the Global CTO. Your work will show up in pitches, press, and awards.
• Work within a senior, intentionally small team. No politics, no process tax, no committees.

The hiring range for this position is $200,000 to $240,000. Where an employee or prospective employee is paid within this range will depend on, among other factors, actual ranges for current/former employees in the subject position; budgetary considerations; tenure and standing with the company (applicable to current employees); as well as the employee's/applicant's applicable skills, pertinent experience, and qualifications.