Head of Software

Tacit; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Unlimited PTO

Visa sponsorship

401k matching

Medical benefits

Job summary

Tacit, an early-stage hardware startup in San Francisco, is seeking a Head of Software Engineering to lead a small, highly technical team and scale software across consumer apps, real-time inference, cloud infra, and R&D platforms.

Reporting to the CTO, you will hire, mentor, set engineering priorities, champion AI-native practices, and collaborate with ML, hardware, firmware, and product teams to translate breakthroughs into usable experiences.

Qualifications

• Proven track record leading software engineering teams that deliver ambitious goals.
• Strong hands-on experience with frontier AI models and AI-native development workflows.
• Experience architecting complex systems balancing rapid execution with long-term quality.
• Excellent communication and organizational leadership skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow the software team, recruiting and mentoring across product, infra, and systems engineering.
• Pioneer AI-native engineering and practical adoption of frontier AI models and workflows.
• Translate product strategy into engineering priorities, ensuring reliability and security.
• Accelerate delivery of consumer apps, real-time AI systems, and internal platforms.
• Partner with ML, hardware, firmware, and product teams to turn breakthroughs into user experiences.

Skills

AI-native engineering

People leadership

Recruiting

Systems architecture

Job description

About Tacit

We are an early-stage, deep tech startup based in San Francisco, developing innovative hardware that rethinks human-computer interaction. We are backed by General Catalyst, Khosla Ventures, and Greylock Partners, with a founding team from Stanford, BrainGate, Oculus, and Tesla. While we can’t reveal too much just yet, our team is tackling cutting-edge engineering challenges to bring revolutionary products to life.

We are hiring a Head of Software Engineering to lead and scale a highly technical software organization spanning consumer applications, real-time inference systems, cloud infrastructure, and core R&D platforms. Reporting directly to the CTO, you will build on the team's existing technical foundations, accelerate product development, and help shape how we build software in the age of AI.

We're looking for an unusual combination of exceptional people leadership, AI-native engineering practices, and strong technical judgment.
What You'll Do

• Lead and grow the software team, initially ~5 engineers, recruiting, mentoring, and developing exceptional talent across product, infrastructure, and systems engineering.

• Pioneer AI-native engineering, championing the practical adoption of frontier AI models, coding agents, and automated workflows to dramatically increase engineering productivity.

• Drive technical execution, translating product strategy into clear engineering priorities and milestones while maintaining high standards for architecture, reliability, and security.

• Build on the team's existing foundations, accelerating delivery of consumer applications, real-time AI systems, and internal platforms as Tacit scales.

• Partner cross-functionally with ML, hardware, firmware, and product teams to translate technical breakthroughs into compelling user experiences.

Requirements

• Proven track record of recruiting, developing, and leading high-performing software engineering teams that consistently deliver ambitious technical goals.

• Deep hands-on experience with frontier AI models, coding agents, and AI-native development workflows, with strong convictions about how AI is transforming software engineering.

• Strong software engineering background and technical judgment, including experience architecting complex systems and balancing rapid execution with long-term quality.

• Excellent communication and organizational leadership skills, with the ability to establish clarity, ownership, and accountability without unnecessary process.

• High ownership in a fast-moving startup environment, with a willingness to engage deeply in technical decisions and problem-solving.

Strong Candidates May Have

• Leadership experience at frontier AI companies such as OpenAI or Anthropic, or high-growth AI-native product organizations.

• Experience scaling software engineering organizations from early stage through major commercial product launches.

• Background shipping complex systems spanning hardware, software, real-time ML, or consumer applications.

Why This Role Matters

At Tacit, you'll help define how humans interact with computers. You'll join at a pivotal moment, translating scientific breakthroughs into category-defining consumer products with direct access to executive leadership, significant autonomy, and substantial resources.

You'll have the opportunity to build a world-class software organization and help pioneer an AI-native approach to engineering.

Compensation and benefits

• $200,000 - $300,000/year plus meaningful equity package.

• Competitive equity package

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance

• Company size: 20-30 people

• Unlimited PTO

• Visa sponsorship

• 3% 401k matching