Staff Engineer

Staff EngineerLocation: San Francisco, CA Company Stage of Funding: Seed Stage AI Infrastructure Startup (Raised $3.7M) Office Type: On-site (San Francisco Financial District) Salary: $220,000 – $380,000 Base Equity: Competitive Equity (Direct Path to CTO) Bonus: Competitive Total Compensation Package Visa: Visa Sponsorship Available (Transfers Preferred) + Relocation SupportOur client is building production-grade AI infrastructure for complex enterprise workflows that traditional automation tools cannot solve. The platform transforms operational audit artifacts into autonomous agent orchestration systems that operate inside Fortune 5000 environments. Founded in 2025 and currently scaling rapidly from approximately 10 employees toward 30 employees over the coming months. Recently raised $3.7M from Workbench, Momento Ventures, and notable operators including the founder of DoorDash. The company focuses on deploying production AI agents directly into enterprise systems including Salesforce, NetSuite, ServiceNow, and Workday. Their platform automates complex operational workflows including financial operations, claims processing, compliance workflows, audit-grade governance, reconciliation, and enterprise process automation. Engineering challenges involve agent orchestration, retrieval systems, evaluation frameworks, process mining infrastructure, distributed systems, governance frameworks, enterprise-scale deployments, and AI infrastructure.This is a founding-level engineering opportunity with direct influence over technical architecture, engineering culture, hiring strategy, and long-term company direction. The role offers a clear path toward CTO responsibilities and corresponding equity restructuring for exceptional candidates. The company operates with startup urgency, shipping production systems weekly and prioritizing execution over bureaucracy. Leadership is seeking a highly technical builder who can combine hands-on engineering, customer-facing leadership, and team building.What You Will DoOwn the technical architecture and long-term technical vision of the platformDesign and build production-grade AI infrastructure and agent orchestration systemsArchitect scalable multi-agent workflows, retrieval pipelines, evaluation frameworks, and governance systemsBuild distributed systems capable of operating reliably inside enterprise environmentsDrive technical strategy and make critical build-versus-buy decisionsDevelop infrastructure that scales deployments from one-off implementations to repeatable platform productsDesign and implement process mining systems, diagnostic pipelines, and orchestration layersBuild production AI systems involving LLMs, agents, tool use, retrieval, and enterprise integrationsPartner directly with enterprise customers and translate business requirements into scalable technical solutionsPresent technical concepts and architectural decisions to executive stakeholders and customersRecruit, mentor, and lead engineers as the organization scalesEstablish engineering standards, code review processes, and technical best practicesDrive engineering velocity and maintain a strong bias toward executionBridge frontier AI research and production deployment realitiesCollaborate closely with leadership on company strategy and product directionBuild systems supporting compliance-heavy and audit-sensitive enterprise workflowsHelp scale the engineering organization from early-stage startup to larger technical teamsLead through technical excellence while remaining deeply hands-onInfluence company growth through both engineering execution and organizational leadershipIdeal Candidate Background6+ years of software engineering experienceAt least 2 years operating at Staff, Principal, Founding Engineer, or equivalent senior technical leadership levelExperience leading development of LLM-powered products or AI systems end-to-endStrong startup experience during periods of rapid growthAlternatively, ownership of major technical initiatives within highly respected technology companiesExperience building enterprise-facing AI productsStrong distributed systems and cloud infrastructure expertiseDeep experience with Kubernetes and scalable infrastructure platformsStrong AI engineering experience beyond research and experimentationExperience building production agent systems, orchestration frameworks, or AI infrastructureExperience working directly with enterprise customersStrong engineering leadership and mentoring experienceStrong communication and presentation skillsComfortable operating in highly ambiguous startup environmentsProven recruiting and hiring experienceStrong understanding of AI tooling, prompting, and AI-assisted development workflowsAbility to balance technical leadership with hands-on executionExperience scaling systems and engineering organizationsStrong SignalsStaff Engineer, Senior Staff Engineer, Principal Engineer, or Founding Engineer experienceExperience at companies such as Glean, Writer, Moveworks, Hebbia, Adept, Cognition, Cohere, Lindy, 11x, or similar AI-native startupsBuilt and shipped production-grade LLM-powered productsDeep expertise in agent orchestration and multi-agent systemsExperience deploying AI systems inside enterprise environmentsStrong Kubernetes and distributed systems backgroundExperience building governance, evaluation, and observability frameworks for AI systemsPrevious startup leadership experienceProven ability to recruit and scale engineering teamsStrong customer-facing technical experienceExperience balancing technical depth with business impactHistory of owning company-critical technical initiativesDemonstrated ability to move quickly while maintaining engineering qualityStrong infrastructure and platform engineering expertiseExperience translating cutting-edge AI capabilities into reliable production systemsEvidence of upward career progressionHigh agency and entrepreneurial mindsetCompensation and BenefitsBase salary: $220,000 – $380,000+Competitive equity packageDirect path toward CTO-level responsibilitiesPotential equity restructuring for exceptional candidatesVisa sponsorship available (transfers preferred)Relocation assistance availableBacked by respected venture investors and experienced operatorsOpportunity to define technical architecture from the ground upHigh visibility across leadership and company strategySignificant influence over hiring and engineering cultureExposure to cutting-edge AI infrastructure challengesOpportunity to work directly with enterprise customersFast-moving startup environment with substantial ownershipFoundational role in shaping a rapidly growing companyWhy JoinThis is a rare opportunity to join an AI infrastructure startup at the earliest stage while still receiving significant compensation and ownership. The company is building production AI systems for some of the most challenging enterprise workflows where reliability, governance, compliance, and scalability matter. Unlike many AI startups focused on demos or copilots, the platform operates directly inside critical business systems and drives real operational outcomes. The role combines architecture ownership, AI infrastructure, distributed systems, customer engagement, recruiting, and technical leadership. Strong candidates have a clear path toward becoming the company's future CTO. If you enjoy building production AI systems, designing scalable infrastructure, leading technical organizations, and shaping the future direction of a company, this role offers exceptional upside.