Head of Engineering

CGS; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 260,000 - 350,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation support

Company apartment

Health benefits

Job summary

CGS in San Francisco seeks a Hands-on Head of Engineering to define technical direction and scale a growing AI platform.

You will oversee architecture for model routing, AI agents, memory and optimization, work closely with the CEO/COO/CPO, and lead an engineering team of ~18 to become a high-performing, scalable organization.

This fully on-site role offers relocation support, access to a company apartment, and competitive equity discussions as the company expands.

Qualifications

• Strong hands-on software engineering skills alongside leadership.
• Proven experience building and scaling engineering teams in AI startups.
• Experience with LLMs, model routing, AI agents.
• Ability to set technical direction and roadmap.
• Willingness to work fully on-site in San Francisco.
• Visa sponsorship is available.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive engineering strategy and direction.
• Lead architecture across model routing, AI agents, memory, and platform optimization.
• Establish standards for code quality, reliability, scalability.
• Build and manage the engineering organization, including hiring and mentoring.
• Stay hands-on with code and contribute to critical decisions.
• Collaborate with CEO, COO, and CPO on product strategy.
• Balance infrastructure and product development.
• Support engineers with international deployments.

Skills

Hands-on coding

Engineering leadership

AI systems design

Architecture strategy

Hiring engineers

Startup experience

Job description

Location: San Francisco, CA – fully on-site, five days per week

Working hours: 9-9-6

Equity: To be confirmed during the introductory conversation

Experience: 4+ years (4–10-year experience range)

The Company

A seed-stage AI model-routing company based in San Francisco, built around the idea that businesses should own and control their AI infrastructure rather than depend on a single model provider.

Its platform routes requests across hundreds of open-source and commercial AI models, can be hosted in different environments, and enables companies to deploy enterprise AI agents that perform real-world tasks. The company serves approximately 100 customers worldwide, ranging from early-stage startups to publicly listed enterprises.

The Opportunity

The company is looking for a hands‑on Head of Engineering to define its technical direction and build a high‑performing engineering organisation.

You will oversee the architecture and development of the company's core platform, spanning model routing, agent infrastructure, memory, skills and optimisation. Working directly with the CEO, COO and CPO, you will translate the company's broader technical ambitions into a clear engineering roadmap, while helping turn an existing team of approximately 18 people into a structured, scalable engineering organisation.

This is a senior leadership role for someone who remains close to the code, combines strong technical judgement with proven people leadership, and has experience building engineering teams at high‑growth AI companies.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and drive the company's overall engineering strategy and technical direction.
• Lead architecture and development across model routing, AI agents, memory, skills and platform optimisation.
• Establish engineering standards for code quality, reliability, scalability and technical execution.
• Build, develop and manage the engineering organisation, including hiring and mentoring engineers.
• Remain hands‑on with code and contribute to critical technical decisions and implementation.
• Work closely with the CEO, COO and CPO on product strategy, roadmap priorities and complex technical challenges.
• Balance infrastructure and product development to deliver a robust, AI‑native platform.
• Support engineers working directly with international customers and enterprise deployments.

Requirements

• At least 4 years of relevant engineering experience.
• Early‑stage or founding engineering experience at a high‑growth AI company.
• Proven experience setting technical direction and architecture at meaningful scale.
• A track record of personally hiring engineers and building or developing engineering teams.
• Strong hands‑on software engineering skills; this is not a purely managerial position.
• Technical depth across infrastructure, platforms and product engineering.
• Experience with LLMs, AI agents, model routing, inference or generative AI systems.
• Strong understanding of engineering fundamentals, code quality and system reliability.
• Comfortable operating in a fast‑paced startup environment with significant responsibility and autonomy.
• Willingness to work fully on‑site in San Francisco five days per week.
• Visa sponsorship is available.

Particularly Relevant Experience

Candidates who joined AI companies as founding or early engineers and helped scale their technology and engineering teams are especially relevant. Strong backgrounds may include companies such as Glean, LangChain, Decagon, Listen Labs and similar high‑growth AI businesses.

Experience co‑founded a technology company, building an independent technical venture or leading engineering at an AI startup while remaining hands‑on is also highly valuable.

A strong computer science background is preferred. Candidates already based in San Francisco are a plus.

What Makes This Opportunity Interesting?

• Lead engineering at a growing AI company with approximately 100 customers worldwide.
• Shape the technical direction of a platform supporting hundreds of AI models.
• Work across model routing, agent infrastructure, memory and enterprise AI applications.
• Partner directly with the CEO, COO and CPO on the company's most important technical decisions.
• Build and develop an engineering organisation while remaining technically involved.
• Relocation support, including access to a company apartment, relocation benefits and health benefits.

Interview Process

• 30-minute introductory conversation: With company leadership, covering experience, leadership readiness, technical background, startup environment and on‑site expectations.
• Technical interviews: One or two 60-minute interviews with the engineering team, focusing on architecture, infrastructure, product engineering, AI-native technical judgement and code quality.
• Technical exercise: A 3–4-hour take‑home assignment or in‑person technical session.
• One‑day on‑site work trial: An in‑person session with the team. Travel expenses will be covered where required.