VP of Platform Engineering
- Compensation
- $400K–$500K
- Work mode
- Hybrid/On-site
- Location
- Financial District, San Francisco, CA
- Industry
- Financial Technology
Your market value for this role
Compared with 4 live mandates (all VP mandates).
Base salary only; excludes equity and bonus. Benchmark your own package →
The mandate
We are looking for a VP of Platform Engineering with 10+ years of experience to own and scale the AI-native platform core at a profitable, Series A agentic AI company serving hundreds of financial institutions. This is a player-coach role — you'll build and lead the platform engineering org while staying hands-on in the code, partnering directly with the CTO and CEO on architecture, product releases, and new initiatives.
Key responsibilities
- Managing and growing the existing platform engineering team (\~4 engineers today, expanding) while remaining deeply hands-on in code and architecture
- Working directly with the CEO and CTO daily on product releases and new platform initiatives being built from scratch
- Owning the AI-native platform core end-to-end — agent runtime, LLM orchestration, retrieval systems, evals, integrations, and the agent-authoring platform
- Driving velocity, quality, and reliability across all platform domains including tooling, eval gates, and observability
- Scaling the platform org and its engineering culture through the company's next stage of growth
- 10+ years of engineering experience with 4–6 years in leadership; must have scaling experience (revenue, funding stages, team growth)
- Production-scale experience in AI/agentic systems, LLM/ML infrastructure, or conversational/voice AI — working on the platform side
- Hands-on and still technical — must be actively coding, reviewing PRs, and making architecture calls (not a pure people manager)
- Startup experience strongly preferred (Series A–D); open to strong VP-level candidates from big tech if they show exceptional career trajectory
- Must be on-site in San Francisco 5 days/week; BS/BA in Computer Science required
What you bring
- 10+ years of engineering experience with 4–6 years in leadership; must have scaling experience (revenue, funding stages, team growth)
- Production-scale experience in AI/agentic systems, LLM/ML infrastructure, or conversational/voice AI — working on the platform side
- Hands-on and still technical — must be actively coding, reviewing PRs, and making architecture calls (not a pure people manager)
- Startup experience strongly preferred (Series A–D); open to strong VP-level candidates from big tech if they show exceptional career trajectory
- Must be on-site in San Francisco 5 days/week; BS/BA in Computer Science required
Location & engagement details
Financial District, San Francisco, CA · On-site
$400K–$500K base salary + competitive founding-team-tier equity. The company has indicated flexibility up to $500K for exceptional candidates. Full benefits include 100% paid health/dental/vision, 401(k), daily meals, commuter benefit, monthly wellness stipend, and Claude Enterprise + frontier AI tools.; Equity: Competitive equity; Visa sponsorship details: Open to visa transfers (e.g. OPT, H1B transfers); On-site work policy: 5 days in-office at the office (21st floor), Financial District, San Francisco
About this mandate
This is a live vp search with direct introductions to the hiring team. The role sits in financial technology and is located in Financial District, San Francisco, CA on a hybrid/on-site basis, with compensation of $400K–$500K.
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 can apply
- 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 — VP of Platform Engineering
This application is for this role only. It is reviewed against the brief above, and you will be contacted if there is 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.