About the Role
A1 is building a proactive AI system that carries work forward across conversations, tools, and time — enabling users to delegate ongoing tasks to AI agents that coordinate across software, data, and workflows.
We are looking for a leader who can think clearly about systems, make strong technical decisions, and help build the engineering organisation from the ground up.
Be part of founding team to shape the technical direction of the company, while helping build a strong engineering team across the globe.
What You'll Do
Technical Direction
Define the long-term architecture for A1’s AI systems, infrastructure, and developer platform
Evaluate trade-offs between speed of iteration and long-term system design
Ensure systems are designed for scalability, reliability, and long-term evolution
Guide key decisions across model integration, data pipelines, distributed systems, and product architecture
Engineering Leadership
Work with engineers to translate product direction into clear technical execution
Help structure engineering workstreams and keep teams aligned on priorities
Maintain high engineering standards while keeping the team focused on shipping
Establish engineering culture, development practices, and technical standards across the company
Building the Team
Build and scale a world-class engineering team across key talent hubs including China and US
Identify strong technical leaders and help build a high-quality engineering organization
Define hiring standards and interview processes to maintain a high engineering bar
Coordination and Execution
Work closely with product, research, and leadership teams
Ensure technical workstreams move forward smoothly across teams and locations
Help resolve cross-team technical and execution challenges
What You Will Need
Strong technical foundation in system architecture, large-scale systems, distributed architecture.
Ability to reason clearly about complex systems and make pragmatic technical decisions
Experience building or leading high-performing engineering teams
Strong judgment on technical trade-offs and engineering priorities
Comfortable operating in early-stage environments with high ambiguity
Clear communication and ability to align teams
We are particularly interested in candidates who enjoy building teams, superior products and shaping engineering organisations.
How We Work
We operate as a small, senior, hands-on team. Engineers own features end-to-end — from design discussion through production monitoring.
Code reviews and design reviews are expected for all meaningful changes. We discuss architecture openly, make decisions quickly, and ship frequently.
Interview process
If there appears to be a fit, we'll reach out to schedule 3, but no more than 4 interviews.
Applications are evaluated by our technical team members. Interviews will be conducted via virtual meetings and/or onsite.
We value transparency and efficiency, so expect a prompt decision. If you've demonstrated the exceptional skills and mindset we're looking for, the process to offer may be shorter.
