Founding Senior Forward Deployed Engineer

About Retell AI

At Retell AI, we're not just automating calls—we’re transforming how the world communicates. Our AI voice agents are reshaping sales, support, and customer engagement for leading brands. Backed by Alt Capital, Y Combinator, and top-tier investors, we've raised $4.7M in seed funding and hit $14M ARR with just 12 people.

We’re one of the fastest-growing Voice AI startups and we're on a mission to become the standard for voice automation at scale. We're also one of the top ranking startups at https://leanaileaderboard.com/.

About the Role

As a Founding Senior Forward Deployed Engineer, you’ll deliver Retell’s voice AI solutions to enterprise clients, embedding with their teams to build production-ready systems. You’ll bridge technical and non-technical stakeholders with exceptional communication, driving adoption and shaping our platform through customer insights.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end delivery of projects using Retell's voice agent platform - from prototyping to production, communicating progress and risks clearly.

• Become go-to experts on building voice AI solutions, especially LLM prompting tips & tricks.

• Build full-stack integrations (Python, JavaScript) with enterprise tools (e.g. CRMs, ERPs, scheduling tools)

• Partner with sales to engage clients to gather requirements, prototype demos, and present system designs.

• Scope projects, resolve blockers, and align teams with concise updates.

• Codify reusable patterns into tools or platform components.

• Translate field feedback into actionable product and GTM recommendations.

You Might Thrive If You

• Have 2+ years in customer-facing technical roles (e.g., Solutions Engineer, Technical PM, Customer Success/Support engineer, Ex-founder).

• Excel at communication & explaining complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences.

• Have delivered systems in fast-paced, ambiguous settings.

• Write production-grade code (Python, JavaScript, or similar).

• Understand LLM-powered systems and their impact on user experience.

• Proactively manage risks and maintain momentum under pressure.

Job Details

• Job Type: Full-time, 70 hr/week (50 hr/week onsite with flexible hours + 20 hr/week work from home)

• Cash: 215k - 290k

• Equity: 0.2 - 0.4%

• Location: Redwood City, CA, US

• US Visas: Sponsors Visa & Green Card

Other Benefits

• 100% medical, dental, vision insurance coverage

• Unlimited breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks

• Gym and daily commute fee reimbursement

• Internet and phone bills covered

Compensation Philosophy

• Best Offer Upfront: Choose from three cash-equity balance options; no negotiation needed.

• Top 1% Talent: Above-market pay (top 5 percentile) to attract exceptional builders.

• High Ownership: Small teams, >$1M revenue/employee, and significant equity.

• Performance-Based: Offers tied to interview performance, not experience or past salaries.

Interview Process

1. Online Assessment (30 min): 2 CoderPad coding questions on practical problem-solving (7 days to complete).

2. Technical Phone Interview (30 min): Live coding on CoderPad, explaining your approach.

3. Customer-Focused Interview (30 min): Virtual discussion on solving a customer scenario.

4. Onsite/Virtual Interviews (2–3 hrs): Hosted in our office if located in the Bay Area or virtual, with three rounds:

   1. Communication: Persuade and align stakeholders.

   2. Architecture Case: Design a production-ready system.

   3. Problem-Solving: Build a full-stack solution under constraints in any basic environment setup like python, java, node.js, etc.

Learn More

Retell AI - API That Turns Your LLM Into A Human-Like Voice Agent

Retell AI Basics: Everything You Need to Start Building Voice Agents

Join Retell AI to shape the future of voice automation with your technical