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Job Description
# Leaping AI — Tech Lead
Type: Full-time | On-site | San Francisco, CA
Compensation: $220,000–$250,000 + 0.5%–1% equity
Hiring count: 1
Visa sponsorship: None available
Reports to: CTO
## About Leaping AI
Leaping AI (YC W25) is a voice AI platform that automates customer support and appointment scheduling calls across verticals including home improvement / remodeling, real estate, airlines, healthcare, and insurance, with a current focus on the home improvement industry. The company closed a $4.7M seed round and has doubled ARR in the first half of the year, targeting another 2x in the second half. Team members are split between Europe and San Francisco.
Founded: 2023 | Team size: 1–10 (Seed) | Total funding: $4.7M seed
Industry: AI Tools / Voice AI
Website: leapingai.com
Office: San Francisco (California Street)
## Why Candidates Should Join
- CTO-track role: Framed as a CTO-like next hire to alleviate the CTO in day-to-day engineering leadership — described as one of the most important hires of the year.
- High-growth traction: Doubled ARR in H1 and targeting another 2x in H2, on a $4.7M YC W25 seed.
- Ownership + hands-on: Final say on prioritization and architecture while still contributing code 20–30% of the time.
## Intake Call Summary
- Not provided in the Contrario role page. Request from Contrario if an intake transcript exists.
## The Role
Lead the day-to-day running of a four-person engineering team (which includes the CTO) as a hands-on tech lead — owning architecture, prioritization, and engineering process while continuing to write code.
### What You'll Be Doing
- Manage the engineering team on a day-to-day basis
- Guide the team on architectural decisions
- Have final say on task prioritization
- Review code and RFCs
- Set up engineering best practices and processes
- Act as a strong liaison and sparring partner to decision makers within the company (CEO, CTO, Director of Sales, Head of CS)
- Contribute to the code base yourself (20–30% of your time)
Tech stack: Full-stack applications, cloud / software architecture, LLMs. (No specific languages or frameworks named on the role page.)
## Requirements
- In-person SF, Mon-Fri, 8am to 7pm
- 6+ years engineering experience, most recent role as staff engineer, tech lead, or engineering manager
- Hands-on engineering team management experience required
- Full-stack and cloud/software architecture depth, including LLMs
- Conversational or voice AI company experience a strong plus
## Green Flags
- Startup pedigree at high-caliber fintech or developer-tools companies
- Previous tech lead or engineering management at a conversational AI company
- CTO-level thinking paired with hands-on execution
## Red Flags
- Pure big-tech or low-urgency engineering background
- Management-only profile with minimal coding
- Not comfortable with the in-person schedule
- Needs a defined playbook or heavy process support to operate
## Details
- Location: San Francisco, CA
- Work policy: In-person, Mon–Fri, 8am–7pm
- Compensation: $220,000–$250,000 + equity
- Visa sponsorship: None available
- Employment type: Full-time
## Screening Questions
- None provided in the Contrario role page.
## Interview Process
Stage 1 — Pending Approval — Candidates awaiting initial approval.
Stage 2 — Initial Interview
Stage 3 — Technical Interview
Stage 4 — Onsite Interview
Stage 5 — Offer Extended
Stage 6 — Hired — Candidate accepts and starts.
## Ideal Companies & Backgrounds
Updated: not dated on the role page
High-caliber fintech / dev-tools / infra — Brex, Stripe, Mercury, Plaid, Retool, Temporal, Modal, Linear, Notion
## Ideal Candidate Profiles
For reference only — do not source these specific profiles. Marked "DO NOT CONTACT" on the role page.
- Devin Otway
- Jonah Kaplan
- Ashmeet Singh Rekhi
- Blake McCartin
- David Miron
- Kathryn Selberis
- Akshit Khurana
Key Responsibilities
Manage the engineering team on a day-to-day basis
Guide the team on architectural decisions
Have final say on task prioritization
Review code and RFCs
Set up engineering best practices and processes
Act as a liaison and sparring partner to decision makers