Staff Software Engineer (Tech Lead)

OpenLoop; United States; Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Competitive compensation

Health benefits

Hybrid Bay Area work model

Macs provided

Job summary

OpenLoop seeks a Technical Lead to own the architecture, execution, and evolution of our AI-driven platform. This senior, hands-on role is a player-coach, writing production code and guiding a small engineering team.

You will design distributed systems on GCP (Cloud Run, Pub/Sub, BigQuery) and lead AI/LLM integration with embeddings and speech models, defining safety practices and deployment strategies.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of software engineering experience, with 2+ years leading projects or as a Tech Lead.
• Staff-level scope or equivalent technical impact.
• Strong LLM experience in production environments (hands-on).
• ML background preferred, especially applied ML or AI infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Own System Architecture: design distributed systems on GCP (Cloud Run, Pub/Sub, BigQuery).
• AI & LLM Strategy: lead hands-on integration of AI systems, embeddings, speech models, and prompt optimization.
• Operational Excellence: champion observability, reliability, and scale; oversee data pipelines for transcripts and healthcare data (FHIR/Medplum).
• Delivery & Execution: contribute code to critical paths while leading major technical initiatives.

Skills

Go

Python

TypeScript

LLMs

Distributed systems

Kubernetes

Leadership

Cloud Run

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

GCP

Pub/Sub

BigQuery

Job description

About OpenLoop

OpenLoop was co-founded by CEO, Dr. Jon Lensing, and COO, Christian Williams, with the vision to bring care anywhere. Our telehealth support solutions are thoughtfully designed to streamline and simplify go-to-market care delivery for companies offering meaningful virtual support to patients across an expansive array of specialties, in all 50 states.

About The Role

We are looking for an Technical Lead to own the architecture, execution, and evolution of our AI-driven platform. This is a senior, hands-on leadership role for someone who has built real systems with LLMs and understands how to take AI from prototype to production at scale.

This is not a pure management role. You’ll operate as a player-coach, writing production code, setting technical direction, and guiding a small, senior engineering team.

What You'll Do

• Own System Architecture: Design and evolve distributed systems on GCP (Cloud Run, Pub/Sub, BigQuery), making final decisions on service boundaries, data models, and technology trade-offs across Go, Python, and TypeScript.
• AI & LLM Strategy: Lead hands-on integration of AI systems, including open-source LLMs, embeddings, and speech models. Define prompt optimization, evaluation strategies, and safety practices using tools like LangFuse.
• Operational Excellence: Champion observability, reliability, and scale. Oversee event-driven ingestion and automated QA pipelines for call transcripts and healthcare data (FHIR / Medplum).
• Delivery & Execution: Contribute code to critical paths while leading major technical initiatives. Identify gaps, unblock teams, and drive projects to completion.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Translate complex technical constraints into clear options and trade-offs for Product, Design, and Clinical Operations.

Who You Are

• 8+ years of software engineering experience, with 2+ years leading projects or serving as a Tech Lead.
• Staff-level scope or equivalent technical impact.
• Strong LLM experience in production environments (hands-on required).
• ML background preferred, especially applied machine learning or AI infrastructure.
• Expert-level proficiency in Go, Python, or TypeScript/Node, with the ability to review code across the stack.
• Deep experience with distributed systems, containerized deployments (Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud Run), and event-driven architectures.

Preferred

• Experience hosting or integrating open-source models (e.g., vLLM, Ollama), with a strong understanding of RAG architectures.
• Background in regulated environments (HIPAA, SOC 2) or healthcare data standards (FHIR, HL7).
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including writing RFCs and explaining technical strategy to non-technical stakeholders.

Why You'll Love It

• High Ownership: Architect and lead AI systems that directly impact real users.
• Senior, Agile Team: Small group that ships fast, tests in production, and learns from failure.
• Flexible Bay Area Hybrid: In-person collaboration without rigid rules.
• Great Tools & Comp: M-series Macs, Linear, GitHub, GCP, competitive compensation, equity, and real perks.
• Career Growth: Opportunity to grow into an Engineering Manager role over time, if desired.

Our Benefits

In addition, for salaried positions you would also be eligible for:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision plans
• Flexible Spending/Health Savings Accounts
• Flexible PTO
• 401(k) + Company Match
• Life Insurance, Pet insurance, and more

Our Company

We have a relatively flat organizational structure here at OpenLoop. Everyone is encouraged to bring ideas to the table and make things happen. This fits in well with our core values of Autonomy, Competence and Belonging, as we want everyone to feel empowered and supported to do their best work.

Sound like a good fit? We’d love to meet you.