Head of Software
San Francisco, CAFull-time$200–300K/yrPosted todayStill listed today
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At a glance
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Job overview
Tacit is hiring a Head of Software Engineering to lead and scale its software organization across consumer applications, real-time inference systems, cloud infrastructure, and R&D platforms. Reporting to the CTO, this leader will grow the team, advance AI-native engineering practices, and translate product strategy and technical breakthroughs into reliable products. The role offers executive access, autonomy, and the opportunity to shape a startup’s engineering approach.
Skills & qualifications
Skills
Benefits
Full 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
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Lead and grow the software team, initially ~5 engineers, recruiting, mentoring, and developing exceptional talent across product, infrastructure, and systems engineering.
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Pioneer AI-native engineering, championing the practical adoption of frontier AI models, coding agents, and automated workflows to dramatically increase engineering productivity.
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Drive technical execution, translating product strategy into clear engineering priorities and milestones while maintaining high standards for architecture, reliability, and security.
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Build on the team's existing foundations, accelerating delivery of consumer applications, real-time AI systems, and internal platforms as Tacit scales.
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Partner cross-functionally with ML, hardware, firmware, and product teams to translate technical breakthroughs into compelling user experiences.
Requirements
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Proven track record of recruiting, developing, and leading high-performing software engineering teams that consistently deliver ambitious technical goals.
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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.
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Strong software engineering background and technical judgment, including experience architecting complex systems and balancing rapid execution with long-term quality.
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Excellent communication and organizational leadership skills, with the ability to establish clarity, ownership, and accountability without unnecessary process.
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High ownership in a fast-moving startup environment, with a willingness to engage deeply in technical decisions and problem-solving.
Strong Candidates May Have
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Leadership experience at frontier AI companies such as OpenAI or Anthropic, or high-growth AI-native product organizations.
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Experience scaling software engineering organizations from early stage through major commercial product launches.
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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
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$200,000 - $300,000/year plus meaningful equity package.
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Competitive equity package
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Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance
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Company size: 20-30 people
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Unlimited PTO
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Visa sponsorship
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3% 401k matching
How this job compares
Set against the 2,194 open Engineering Management jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 5, 2026.
- Pay
- This posting$200–300K/yr
- California median$183–286K/yr291 salary ranges
- US median$148–264K/yr1,757 salary ranges
This range's midpoint, $250K, is 7% above the California median midpoint ($235K) — in the middle half of Engineering Management salary ranges in California.
- Openings
- Olive Jobs lists 348 open Engineering Management jobs in California and 2,194 across the US. 8% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
- Experience
- Engineering Management postings that state a minimum ask for 8 years of experience at the median; the middle half ask for 5 to 10 years (1,893 postings).
- Education
- 896 of the 2,194 open Engineering Management jobs (41%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.
Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 5, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.
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