Director of Engineering - AI Agents
- Compensation
- $300K–$450K base
- Work mode
- Hybrid/On-site
- Location
- San Francisco, CA
- Industry
- AI Agents · Insurance Technology
- Posted
- 12 Oct 2026
Your market value for this role
Compared with 16 live mandates (same function, level and region).
Base salary only; excludes equity and bonus. Benchmark your own package →
The mandate
Lead and scale an AI engineering organization building production-grade agents for complex, high-stakes insurance workflows. Set technical direction while recruiting and developing teams across infrastructure, agent intelligence and customer-facing products.
Key responsibilities
- Build and scale teams across AI infrastructure, agent evaluation/tooling and agentic products.
- Set architecture for model routing, multi-agent orchestration, reliability and production operations.
- Hire, mentor and retain senior AI engineering talent and future team leads.
- Remain technically hands-on and set a high bar for engineering quality.
- Advance agent capabilities as the technology and market evolve.
What you bring
- 7+ years in AI/ML engineering with team leadership experience at a venture-backed startup.
- Strong experience shipping LLM-powered systems into production.
- Technical depth in agent architectures, evaluation, routing and reliability.
- Ability to recruit and scale a high-performing technical organization.
Location & engagement details
San Francisco, California · Onsite
Full-time. Onsite five days per week in San Francisco. Visa transfers and selected new visa sponsorships may be considered. Competitive equity.
About this mandate
This is a live director mandate I refer executives to directly. The role sits in ai agents · insurance technology and is located in San Francisco, CA on a hybrid/on-site basis, with compensation of $300K–$450K base.
This is a confidential search. Read the brief above, then apply below for this role. The company name is shared once there's a close match and mutual interest.
Most senior mandates are filled this way — privately, before any listing exists. Read how unadvertised executive roles actually get filled.
- This is a confidential search. The company name and full role details are only discussed on a call with one of our recruiters if there is a close match.
- We use your details — your LinkedIn profile URL and email address — to match you against this mandate and any other closely matched roles.
- A verifiable email address, LinkedIn profile and a recent PDF resume are required. Submissions from bots, spammers or unverifiable profiles are removed.
- There is no call booking at this stage. Calls are scheduled only after we identify a close match.
Who I consider
- C-suite, EVP/SVP, VP and Head of function leaders
- Proven scale-up, venture-backed or enterprise leadership experience
- Track record of building and leading teams in the relevant function
Final hiring decisions rest solely with the hiring company. Outcomes depend on role availability and decisions made by the hiring team.
Apply — Director of Engineering - AI Agents
This application is for this role only. I review it against the brief above and contact you if there's a close match.
- This is a confidential search. The company name and full role details are only discussed on a call with one of our recruiters if there is a close match.
- We use your details — your LinkedIn profile URL and email address — to match you against this mandate and any other closely matched roles.
- Handled confidentially — your details are never shared without your consent.
- A referral is an introduction, not a guarantee of an interview or an offer.
- Final hiring decisions rest with the hiring company; outcomes depend on role availability and their decisions.