Founding Technical Lead

BioTalent; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 320,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Meaningful equity

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

Paid time off

Flexible work arrangements

Opportunity to influence strategy

Job summary

BioTalent is seeking a senior technology leader to become the first technical hire and a key partner to the founder. You will own the AI-driven platform, including experiment generation, lab automation integration, computer vision capabilities, and ML model deployment.

This role blends technical leadership with hands-on delivery, defining architecture and guiding build-vs-buy decisions. A clear path to CTO exists as the company grows.

Qualifications

• Experienced founding engineer or senior technology leader in early-stage startups.
• Hands-on leader who can execute and scale teams.
• Experience building technology organizations and making strategic decisions.

Responsibilities

• Own the core AI platform from prototype to production.
• Lead model development, fine-tuning, evaluation, and deployment of ML models.
• Enable lab automation and remotely configure equipment across sites.
• Deploy computer vision solutions and manage data pipelines.
• Define architecture, cloud vs edge deployment, and cost optimization.
• Build and lead the engineering team across AI, ML, data, and platform.
• Represent the technology externally to investors, partners, and customers.

Skills

Technical leadership

Startup experience

AI/ML systems

Edge vs cloud

Team building

Communication

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.