Head of AI and Labs

Kaya AI; United States; On-site; USD 190,000 - 270,000; Full time

Job summary

Kaya AI is seeking a Head of AI and Labs to lead and scale the engineering team building the AI-native core of Kaya. You will own three archetypes—agentic AI engineers, AI research engineers, and product engineers—driving technical direction and customer impact.

This player-coach role requires hands-on code reviews, architecture decisions, and close collaboration with the CEO and customers to ensure our work moves the business forward.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of software engineering experience
• Led engineering teams and engineered AI-native products
• Experience hiring and managing engineers across multiple specialties (agents, research, product)

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow the AI engineering team across agents, models, and product surfaces
• Hire, mentor, and retain world-class engineers across all three archetypes
• Set technical direction for agentic AI systems, foundation model work, and product engineering
• Own architecture, code quality, and engineering standards across the platform
• Partner with the CEO, product, and design leadership on roadmap and strategy
• Drive delivery on the most important customer commitments and partner integrations

Skills

Software engineering

Engineering leadership

AI systems depth

Hiring engineers

Product and customer instincts

Communication skills

Ownership and quality culture

Tools

Python

TypeScript

PostgreSQL

Redis

Cloud platforms (AWS/GCP/Azure)

Observability tools

Job description

Kaya AI is building the system of action for mission-critical construction and infrastructure projects. We help owners, developers, and contractors proactively manage procurement, logistics, and execution across some of the most complex projects in the world, including data centers, life sciences, and advanced manufacturing.

Our platform combines AI, workflow automation, supply chain intelligence, and real-world operational data to help teams deliver projects faster, with greater predictability and less operational friction. Our agentic coworker, Amber, learns customer context in minutes and helps teams complete RFPs faster, win more work, and eliminate hours of manual procurement and logistics work every week.

We are backed by leading investors and trusted by industry leaders including Crusoe, Align Data Centers, Accenture, Suffolk Construction, and Turner. Kaya has been recognized by Infrastructure Masons (IM 100), BuiltWorlds as a Top AI-Driven AEC Solution for 2026, Cemex Ventures Top 50 Contech Startups, and Suffolk Technologies as Startup of the Year.

The Role

We are looking for a Head of AI and Labs to lead and scale the engineering team that builds the AI-native core of Kaya. You will own the team across three engineering archetypes: agentic AI engineers building production agents, AI research engineers driving foundation model work, and product engineers shipping the customer-facing surfaces of the platform.

This is a player-coach role. You will set technical direction across agents, models, and product surfaces. You will hire, develop, and retain a small high-talent-density team. You will be hands-on in code reviews, architecture decisions, and customer escalations when it matters. And you will partner directly with the CEO, product leadership, and our most important customers to make sure what we build actually moves the business.

You will operate at the intersection of frontier AI and high-stakes real-world infrastructure. The work you ship will be deployed on some of the most complex construction and infrastructure projects in the world, and the bar for quality, reliability, and customer trust is unusually high. This is a foundational leadership hire and one of the most consequential roles at Kaya.

What You'll Work On

• Lead and grow the AI engineering team across agents, models, and product surfaces
• Hire, mentor, and retain world-class engineers across all three archetypes
• Set technical direction for agentic AI systems, foundation model work, and product engineering
• Own architecture, code quality, and engineering standards across the platform
• Partner with the CEO, product, and design leadership on roadmap and strategy
• Drive delivery on the most important customer commitments and partner integrations
• Stay hands-on with critical code reviews, system design, and customer escalations
• Build the team's hiring, onboarding, and performance processes from the ground up
• Represent Kaya engineering externally with investors, partners, and senior customer stakeholders
• Anchor the technical narrative in fundraising conversations and strategic partnerships

Ideal Candidate

• 7+ years of software engineering experience, with at least 4 years leading engineering teams
• Track record of building and shipping AI-native or AI-heavy products in production
• Experience hiring and managing engineers across multiple specialties (agents, research, product)
• Strong technical depth in modern AI systems, including LLMs, agents, RAG, and orchestration
• Strong product and customer instincts, with a habit of getting close to real users
• Comfortable operating as a player-coach at a fast-moving, early-stage company
• Strong communication skills with engineers, executives, investors, and customers
• Track record of recruiting strong engineers and building a culture of ownership and quality
• High bar for execution and clarity, with the judgment to know when to ship versus when to refine

Preferred Technical Experience

• Production AI systems, including agentic architectures, RAG, and tool use
• Modern AI tooling and frameworks across the LLM ecosystem
• Backend systems at scale, including distributed infrastructure, APIs, and event-driven architectures
• Frontend product engineering and design system fluency
• Python, TypeScript, and the broader modern web stack
• Postgres, Redis, cloud infrastructure on AWS, GCP, or Azure
• Observability, evals, and quality systems for AI products
• Experience integrating AI into real-world operational and industrial workflows

Bonus Points

• Previous experience as an engineering leader at a high-growth AI company
• Founder or early engineering leader experience at a venture-backed startup
• Background in supply chain, logistics, construction, or mission-critical infrastructure software
• Experience scaling an engineering team from sub-10 to 30+ engineers
• Track record of attracting senior research or engineering talent from frontier labs
• Public technical contributions, talks, or open source leadership
• Experience presenting to enterprise customers, partners, or investors at the executive level

Why Join Kaya

Lead the engineering function at a category-defining AI company shaping the future of construction and mission-critical infrastructure

Build products deployed alongside the most important names in the industry, including Crusoe, Align Data Centers, Accenture, Suffolk Construction, and Turner

Apply frontier AI to a massive, underserved real-world domain

Direct partnership with the founder, leadership team, and world-class advisors

Significant equity and senior-level compensation

Authority to shape the team, culture, and technical direction from the ground up

Real-world impact on the most complex infrastructure projects in the world, including hyperscale data centers, life sciences facilities, and advanced manufacturing

Access to world-class customers, partners, and investors across AI and infrastructure