Founders Initiatives, Technical Ex-Founders

Retell; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 200,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

100% medical, dental, and vision insurance

$70/day DoorDash credit

$300/month commuter reimbursement

Job summary

Retell is looking for a Founders Initiatives, Technical Ex‑Founder to develop AI systems that enhance hiring, sales, and operations. This position is perfect for someone with software engineering skills and experience in LLMs.

Key responsibilities include building automation systems, integrating with CRM platforms like Salesforce, and improving operational tools. The role offers a competitive salary between $200,000 and $300,000 and significant equity.

Other benefits include full medical coverage and monthly reimbursements for wellness, meals, and commuting expenses.

Qualifications

• 2+ years professional software engineering experience.
• 1+ year of startup experience.
• Hands-on experience building with LLMs or AI agents in production.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement AI systems for hiring and operations.
• Build automation systems for customer security workflows.
• Integrate with CRM systems and build workflow automation.

Skills

Software engineering

LLMs experience

Full-stack development

Startup experience

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a closely related field

Tools

Salesforce

HubSpot

OpenAI

Job description

About Retell AI

Retell AI uses first principles to reimagine the call center with cutting‑edge voice AI.

Thousands of companies now use Retell’s AI voice agents to handle sales, support, and logistics calls that previously required large human teams. We have scaled rapidly to tens of millions in ARR with a small, high‑velocity team backed by Y Combinator, Alt Capital, and other leading investors.

About Founders Initiatives

Founders Initiatives is a cross‑functional team that works directly with Retell’s founders on the company’s highest‑priority opportunities and challenges. Team members operate across functions, build from first principles, and help scale the business in whatever way creates the most impact.

About The Role

We are hiring a Founders Initiatives, Technical Ex‑Founders to design and implement internal and external AI systems that power how Retell hires, sells, operates, and scales. You will build production‑grade AI workflows, automations, and agent systems that directly impact company operations and customer experience. This role sits at the intersection of applied AI, full‑stack engineering, and startup operations.

Key Responsibilities

• HR & Recruiting AI Systems
  • Build systems that extract structured signals from resumes (skills, experience, founder traits, domain expertise)
  • Develop lead scoring models to predict interview success and role fit
  • Design AI recruiter workflows for candidate screening and qualification
  • Automate personalized outbound email and candidate engagement workflows
• Security & Compliance Automation
  • Build automation systems for customer security workflows (BAAs, DPAs, DocuSign, contract review flows)
  • Automate security questionnaire and compliance response generation
  • Improve internal tooling for enterprise readiness and audit processes
• Operational Infrastructure Tools
  • Build systems for accounts receivable automation and finance-related email workflows
  • Create automated enterprise customer onboarding and account setup tools
  • Design internal systems that reduce manual operational overhead across teams
• 3rd‑Party Integrations & Platform Work
  • Integrate with CRM systems such as Salesforce, HubSpot, and GoHighLevel
  • Build workflow automation using tools like Zapier, n8n, and Make
  • Design LLM‑powered systems using OpenAI, Gemini, Claude, and other models
  • Own API‑based integrations that connect internal systems across the company
• GTM Engineering & Growth Automation
  • Build HubSpot and Lark automations to improve sales and marketing efficiency
  • Develop lifecycle automation systems for customer engagement and retention
  • Create targeted website personalization and ad content generation systems
  • Build email personalization and outbound automation pipelines at scale

You Might Thrive If You

• Have a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a closely related technical field.
• Have 2+ years professional software engineering experience.
• Have 1+ year of startup experience and are comfortable with ambiguity and fast iteration.
• Think like a founder and operate with high ownership.
• Have strong software engineering skills (backend, full‑stack, or systems).
• Have hands‑on experience building with LLMs or AI agents in production.
• Are comfortable working across product, engineering, and operations.
• Move fast, iterate quickly, and are comfortable with ambiguity.
• Prefer building systems over working on narrowly defined tasks.
• Care deeply about real‑world impact over theoretical work.

Job Details

• Cash: $200,000 – $300,000
• Equity: Offers meaningful equity
• Location: Redwood City, CA, US
• US Visas: Retell AI is open to sponsoring work authorization for qualified candidates, including H‑1B, TN, L‑1, E‑3, F‑1 (OPT/CPT), and O‑1 visas.

Other Benefits

• 100% coverage for medical, dental, and vision insurance
• $70/day DoorDash credit for unlimited breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks
• $200/month wellness reimbursement (gym, fitness classes, etc.)
• $300/month commuter reimbursement (gas, Caltrain, etc.)
• $75/month phone bill reimbursement
• $50/month internet reimbursement

Compensation Philosophy

• Best offer upfront: Choose from three cash‑equity balance options; no negotiation needed.
• Top 1% talent: Above‑market pay (top 5 percentile) to attract exceptional builders.
• High ownership: Small teams, >$1M revenue/employee, and significant equity.
• Performance‑based: Offers tied to interview performance, not experience or past salaries.