Founding Technical Lead

BioTalent; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity package

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

Paid time off and holidays

Flexible working arrangements

Job summary

BioTalent is seeking its first senior technical hire to partner with the founders and own how the AI-driven platform is built and delivered. You’ll drive experiment generation, lab automation integration, computer vision capabilities, and model deployment in a hands-on leadership capacity.

This role combines architecture with execution and offers a clear path to CTO progression as the company scales, with onsite options in Boston or San Francisco and flexible hybrid arrangements.

Qualifications

• Experience leading early-stage tech teams.
• Hands-on leader who can execute and scale teams.
• Experience building tech organizations in startups.
• Strong communicator with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Equity-minded and motivated to drive growth.

Responsibilities

• Own the core AI platform from prototype to production.
• Lead model development, including fine-tuning and deployment of LLMs and multimodal models.
• Enable lab automation across customer sites with remote configurations.
• Deploy computer vision solutions; manage data capture pipelines and storage.
• Define architecture; make build-vs-buy decisions; lead first production-ready platform.
• Build and lead the engineering team across AI, ML, data, and platform disciplines.
• Represent the technology externally to investors, partners, and customers.

Skills

Technical leadership

AI/ML systems

Product thinking

Team building

Stakeholder comms

Edge vs cloud

Job description

Location: US-based | Onsite in Boston or San Francisco, hybrid, or flexible working arrangements available

Founding team opportunity | Potential CTO progression

The Role

You will be the first senior technical hire and a key technical partner to the founder. You'll own how the company's AI-driven platform is built and delivered, including experiment generation systems, lab automation integration, computer vision capabilities, and the selection, fine-tuning, and deployment of machine learning models.

This role combines technical leadership with hands-on execution. You'll define architecture, make build-versus-buy decisions, and lead the development of the first production-ready platform. As the company scales and delivers results, there is a clear pathway to evolve into a Chief Technology Officer position.

What You'll Accomplish

• Own the core AI platform: Develop experiment generation capabilities from prototype through to production, transforming user intent into optimized, executable workflows.


• Lead model development: Drive fine-tuning, evaluation, and deployment of LLMs, multimodal models, and AI systems.


• Enable lab automation: Build systems that remotely configure and manage laboratory automation equipment across customer sites.


• Deploy computer vision solutions: Integrate imaging devices, manage data capture pipelines, and oversee video ingestion and storage infrastructure.


• Manage platform infrastructure: Define what runs on edge devices versus cloud infrastructure, while overseeing telemetry, configuration, scalability, and cost optimization.


• Build and lead the engineering team: Establish technical direction and recruit engineers across AI, machine learning, data, and platform disciplines.


• Represent the technology externally: Engage with investors, partners, customers, and industry audiences as a technical spokesperson.

Who You Are

• Experienced founding engineer, technical lead, engineering manager, or senior technology leader within an early-stage environment.


• Hands-on technical leader who can both execute and scale teams effectively.


• Experienced in building and growing technology organizations, ideally within startup environments.


• Strong product thinker capable of contributing to strategic product decisions.


• Proven ability to attract, assess, and hire high-performing technical talent.


• Excellent communicator comfortable engaging with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.


• AI-native mindset with experience leveraging modern AI tooling and agentic systems.


• Highly motivated, entrepreneurial, and excited by technology-driven innovation.

Technical Experience

• Successfully delivered AI/ML products from concept through production.


• Experience with fine-tuning, evaluation frameworks, Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), structured outputs, and modern LLM workflows.


• Background in optimization, planning, recommendation, search, or workflow automation systems.


• Experience integrating software with hardware, edge devices, cameras, tablets, IoT devices, or similar technologies.


• Familiarity with device deployment, monitoring, and fleet management.


• Understanding of regulated environments and compliance frameworks such as FDA, 21 CFR Part 11, ISO standards, SOC 2, or similar.


• Exposure to computer vision, multimodal AI, robotics, or adjacent technologies is highly desirable.


• Experience within biotech, life sciences, scientific software, laboratory technology, or highly regulated industries is beneficial.


• Previous experience working in high-growth startups or small-company environments preferred.


• Meaningful equity package aligned to the seniority and impact of the role.


• Medical, dental, and vision coverage.


• Paid time off and company holidays.


• Significant opportunity to influence company strategy, technology, and long-term growth trajectory.