Our client is a fast-growing audio data research company building high-quality datasets for frontier AI labs and leading technology companies. Founded in 2024 by former large-scale AI data engineers and operators, the company has grown to roughly 50 employees, serves most major AI labs and technology leaders, generates eight figures of revenue, and has raised $80M from top-tier investors.
We are hiring a hands-on Tech Lead and Engineering Manager to lead and grow a product-focused engineering team. Reporting directly to the CTO, you will shape technical direction, ship the core products behind an audio data research platform, and build a high-performing organization.
What you'll do
• Hire, structure, mentor, and grow the engineering team while maintaining high performance standards
• Remain hands-on technically and write code regularly, especially during the early months
• Scope and ship products that help researchers use high-quality audio data
• Build scalable processing pipelines that extract useful information from terabytes of audio data each day
• Architect systems for dramatically higher capacity across data collection, curation, and delivery
• Partner with the CTO to set technical direction and execute an ambitious product roadmap
• Lead zero-to-one product work and scale successful systems
Requirements
• At least six years of product-focused engineering experience
• Strong web development fundamentals and experience shipping user-facing products end to end
• Experience leading technical teams through rapid growth at a high-growth startup or scale-up
• A track record of building zero-to-one products and scaling them successfully
• Comfort solving ambiguous, previously unsolved problems with clear customer impact
• A bias toward action paired with detailed, reliable execution
• Willingness to work five days per week from the San Francisco office
Bonus points
• At least two years of formal engineering management experience
• Experience as a founder or early technical leader
• Experience with large-scale data pipelines, audio systems, or AI infrastructure
• Familiarity with Next.js, TypeScript, Node.js, PostgreSQL, AWS, WebRTC, or FFmpeg
Benefits
• Base salary of $250K-$300K
• Competitive equity
• Unlimited paid time off
• 100% health coverage
• Daily meals and fitness benefits
• Visa transfers, including OPT or H-1B transfers, are available
• On-site five days per week in San Francisco, California
• Full-time position
Skills Required
- At least six years of product-focused engineering experience
- Strong web development fundamentals
- Experience shipping user-facing products end to end
- Experience leading technical teams through rapid growth at a high-growth startup or scale-up
- Track record of building zero-to-one products and scaling them successfully
- Ability to solve ambiguous, previously unsolved problems with clear customer impact
- Bias toward action paired with detailed, reliable execution
- Willingness to work five days per week from the San Francisco office
- At least two years of formal engineering management experience
- Experience as a founder or early technical leader
- Experience with large-scale data pipelines, audio systems, or AI infrastructure
- Familiarity with Next.js, TypeScript, Node.js, PostgreSQL, AWS, WebRTC, or FFmpeg
What We Do
Raydar is a talent acquisition and business consulting firm that connects world-class and emerging talent with growing organizations. It supports companies through team development, strategic hiring, and customized growth solutions, helping clients recruit roles such as engineers, product managers, executives, legal counsel, and quantitative traders. Raydar focuses on understanding each organization’s needs, culture, and long-term goals to build high-impact teams.
