Head of Engineering

present of AI; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 220,000 - 400,000; Full time

Job summary

Mintlify is seeking a top engineering leader to scale the team from 10 to 50 engineers while staying hands-on with cloud and backend systems. The role emphasizes hiring as a core duty, paired with strong product sense and end-to-end ownership of a product line.

The ideal candidate has experience building team habits aligned with a fast-moving AI and developer tools market, and can balance speed with quality in a startup environment.

Qualifications

• Experience scaling teams from ~10 to ~50 engineers.
• Hands-on work with cloud infrastructure and backend systems.
• Proven ability to recruit and retain top engineers.

Responsibilities

• Scale engineering from 10 to 50 engineers.
• Own end-to-end product line from concept to delivery.
• Lead hiring, feedback, and team rhythms to fit the company's stage.
• Collaborate closely with founders and AI-focused product teams.

Skills

Scaling teams

Cloud and backend

Hiring & recruiting

Product ownership

People leadership

Job description

This is the top engineering job at a fast-growing startup, working closely with the founders. The role asks for someone who has already grown an engineering team from about 10 to 50 people, stays hands on with backend and cloud systems, and treats hiring as a main duty. A strong candidate also shows real product sense, having owned a product line from start to finish, and builds team habits that fit the company's current stage instead of copying another firm's playbook.

How it fits the AI era

Documentation is now read by AI agents as well as people, so the product itself sits close to how AI tools get their information. For an engineering leader, AI shifts how fast a team can build and ship, and raises the bar on reliability for a platform many companies depend on. What stays human is choosing the right bets, hiring well, giving honest feedback, and deciding where to trade speed for quality.

How it builds AI experience

Someone in this seat would gain close experience with products built for AI agents as readers, plus the job of launching new product lines in a fast-moving AI and developer tools market. To prepare, a candidate can study how AI agents consume documentation, try AI coding tools within their own team's workflow, and be ready to talk about how that changes team size, hiring and delivery speed.

Worth showing

• Scaling engineering from 10 to 50
• Hands-on cloud and backend architecture
• Recruiting and retaining top engineers
• End-to-end product line ownership
• Stage-fit team processes and rhythms

This is our own read, written from the employer's posting and the company's Spotlight. The employer's posting is the source of truth for the role.

About Mintlify

A documentation platform built so a company's technical docs stay current on their own and can be read directly by AI agents, not just people.