CTO‑Like Tech Lead for AI SaaS Growth

Leaping AI; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Leaping AI in San Francisco seeks a CTO-like leader to unite a four-person engineering team around scalable architecture and product excellence. The role focuses on lifting engineering productivity, guiding design, and aligning engineering work with revenue goals.

You will work closely with the CEO/CTO and cross-functional leaders, mentoring engineers, and contributing to codebase as a hands-on leader while maintaining high standards and operational discipline.

Qualifications

• 6+ years in fast-growing startups, staff engineer or tech lead.
• Strong background in software design, cloud architecture and LLMs.
• Proven leadership of an engineering team, with delivery impact.
• Excellent prioritisation and project management skills.
• Strong communication with executives and cross-functional partners.
• Mentors team members and drives productivity improvements.
• Ideally prior leadership at a conversational AI company.

Responsibilities

• Manage the engineering team on a day-to-day basis.
• Guide architectural decisions for the product and platform.
• Have final say on task prioritisation and roadmap alignment.
• Review code and RFCs to ensure quality and consistency.
• Set up engineering best practices, processes and standards.
• Act as liaison to CEO, CTO, Director of Sales, Head of CS.
• Contribute to the codebase personally (20–30% time).

Skills

Staff engineer / tech lead

Software design

Cloud architecture

LLMs

Full-stack apps

Leadership experience

Project management

People skills

Business acumen

Engineering best practices

Mentoring / team development

AI / Conversational AI leadership

Job description

Leaping AI in San Francisco seeks a CTO-like leader to unite a four-person engineering team around scalable architecture and product excellence. The role focuses on lifting engineering productivity, guiding design, and aligning engineering work with revenue goals.

You will work closely with the CEO/CTO and cross-functional leaders, mentoring engineers, and contributing to codebase as a hands-on leader while maintaining high standards and operational discipline.