Lead Engineer (Path to CTO)

Second Talent; Hong Kong; On-site; HKD 900,000 - 1,400,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity upside

Job summary

Second Talent is seeking a Senior AI Engineer to lead from the front, combining deep technical excellence with architectural judgment to deliver production-grade AI systems including LLM apps, RAG, agents, and orchestration. You will build and mentor a small team and help shape the technical vision with founders and product.

You’ll establish high standards, drive collaboration across disciplines, and work toward a CTO trajectory while delivering impactful solutions for regulated environments and

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience building and shipping AI/LLM systems in production.
• Proven technical leadership with ability to deep-dive in code when needed.
• Clear management potential: coaching, prioritisation, and ownership.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical vision and delivery of production-grade AI systems (LLM applications, RAG, agents, evaluation, and orchestration).
• Lead and grow a small, high-performing engineering team.
• Make key architectural decisions balancing speed, reliability, and scalability.
• Work closely with founders and product to turn ambitious ideas into robust, production systems.
• Set engineering standards, mentor others, and raise the bar on quality and ownership.

Skills

AI systems

Team leadership

Architectural design

Tools

LLM frameworks

Production systems

Job description

Our client is building the end-to-end compliance intelligence layer for construction — turning documents, codes, and workflows into actionable AI that helps projects get built right the first time.

We are looking for a Senior AI Engineer who can lead from the front — someone who combines deep technical excellence with the ability to guide people, shape architecture, and eventually step into the CTO role.

What you’ll do

• Own the technical vision and delivery of production-grade AI systems (LLM applications, RAG, agents, evaluation, and orchestration)
• Lead and grow a small, high-performing engineering team
• Make key architectural decisions that balance speed, reliability, and scalability
• Work closely with founders and product to turn ambitious ideas into robust, production systems
• Set engineering standards, mentor others, and raise the bar on quality and ownership

What we’re looking for

• Strong hands-on experience building and shipping AI/LLM systems in production
• Proven technical leadership — you have led projects or teams and can still go deep in the code
• Clear management potential: coaching, prioritisation, communication, and ownership
• Ability to operate in ambiguity and drive outcomes from first principles
• Preference for candidates who have experience (or strong interest) in domain-specific AI, document intelligence, or regulated industries

Why this role

• Real ownership and a clear path to CTO
• Direct impact on a product used by major industry players and government bodies
• Chance to shape both the technology and the engineering culture from an early stage
• Competitive package with meaningful equity upside

If you are a strong AI engineer who also wants to lead people and grow into a technical leadership seat, we’d like to hear from you.