Director of Engineering

Role Overview We are looking for a hands-on Director of Engineering to lead the design, development, and scaling of AI-first products and platforms. This role sits at the intersection of engineering execution, architecture, AI-driven product thinking, and cross-functional leadership. This is a high-ownership role for someone who enjoys building real systems that ship and scale-not just managing teams or conducting research. Key Responsibilities 1. AI-First System Design & Product Thinking Drive AI-first thinking across product, workflows, and user experience Lead adoption of LLMs, agent-based systems, and automation across internal and external products Evaluate AI tools and platforms (build vs. buy decisions) Ensure responsible AI usage (privacy, reliability, and trust) 2. Engineering & Architecture Own end-to-end system architecture (backend, frontend, mobile, AI layers) Design scalable, modular, and future-ready systems Review code and architecture for performance, security, and maintainability Balance rapid delivery with long-term technical quality 3. Infrastructure, DevOps & Reliability Own cloud infrastructure (AWS), deployments, and cost optimization Build reliable systems for AI workloads (latency, throughput, observability) Establish best practices for CI/CD, monitoring, logging, and security Ensure production readiness of AI systems (fallbacks, guardrails, evaluations) 4. Team Leadership Lead, mentor, and grow a high-performing engineering team Set engineering standards and elevate code quality Drive adoption of AI tools within the engineering workflow Hire engineers with strong technical and AI-first mindset 5. Cross-Functional Collaboration Partner with Product, Design, Sales, and Marketing teams Translate business needs into scalable technical solutions Clearly communicate technical trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders Contribute to roadmap planning with a focus on impact and feasibility 6. Business & Operational Awareness Understand the full lifecycle of an AI-driven startup (product, GTM, sales, support) Contribute to vendor, tooling, and cloud cost decisions Operate with a strong ownership mindset beyond engineering Ideal Candidate Profile 10+ years of experience in engineering Experience across both corporate and startup environments Strong hands-on expertise (backend or full-stack preferred) Proven ownership in a Series A/B startup Experience building and deploying AI-powered systems Comfortable with infrastructure, DevOps, and production systems Strong communicator with business and product alignment Pragmatic, decisive, and execution-focused What This Role Is A high-impact leadership role with direct influence on product and architecture Ideal for someone who sees AI as a core system primitive, not just a feature