Staff Engineer, Platform & Systems
At a glance
Senior Engineering Leadership role at Retell AI. Redwood City · full-time · $225,000–$350,000 base.
techroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Set the direction for core platform architecture and guide how its systems evolve
- Drive major engineering efforts from initial design through production release
- Choose technical approaches that balance delivery speed with reliability and scale
- Review designs, mentor engineers and contribute code to strengthen technical work
- Work with product to turn business needs into solutions, and tackle performance or reliability bottlenecks
What you bring
- At least nine years building and running production systems
- Staff or Principal-level scope, whether or not you held either title
- Strong systems-design judgment and experience scaling platforms used by real customers
Who this fits
This is a hands-on senior individual-contributor role, suited to someone comfortable setting direction amid ambiguity while coding, reviewing designs and unblocking teams. The role is onsite in Redwood City, with relocation provided. Work authorization sponsorship is available for qualified candidates.
From the employer
ABOUT RETELL AI
Retell AI is using first-principles thinking to reimagine the call center with cutting-edge voice AI. Thousands of companies now use Retell's AI voice agents to handle sales, support, and logistics calls that once required large teams of human agents. Backed by Y Combinator, Alt Capital, and other leading investors, we've scaled to $80M in ARR with a team of 50, up from $5M at the start of 2025, and are now valued at over $1.5B.
Our vision for 2026 is to build a modern CX platform where entire contact centers are powered by AI. Instead of basic automation that needs constant human tuning, we're creating intelligent AI “workers” that act as frontline agents, QA analysts, and managers, continuously executing, monitoring, and improving every customer interaction.
We're growing fast and looking for ambitious builders who want to tackle hard technical problems, move quickly, and have a real impact on one of the fastest-growing voice AI companies in the world.
Let's build the future together.
Recent recognition:
No. 1 Best Places to Work in the Bay Area, San Francisco Business Times 2026
#3 Fastest-Growing Software Company, G2 Best Software Awards 2026
ABOUT THE ROLE
Retell AI transforms customer experience with voice AI for enterprises, including customers like CVS/Aetna, American Airlines, Lenovo, and Grab. We have more customer stories than we can tell!
We’re looking for a Principal/Staff Engineer to help own the technical direction of our core platform. This is a staff-level IC role for someone who thrives in ambiguity, moves fast, and raises the bar for everyone around them.
You’ll work across systems, infrastructure, and product surfaces partnering closely with engineering, product, and leadership to scale what’s already working and build what’s next.
This is not a “ticket taker” role. You’ll define problems, design solutions, and ship.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Own the design and evolution of core platform and systems architecture.
Lead complex technical initiatives end-to-end, from concept to production.
Make high-leverage technical decisions that balance speed, reliability, and scale.
Raise the technical bar through design reviews, mentoring, and hands-on leadership.
Partner closely with product to translate business needs into robust technical solutions.
Identify and resolve performance, scalability, and reliability bottlenecks.
Help define engineering best practices as we scale the team and platform.
YOU MIGHT THRIVE IF
You have 9+ years of experience building and operating production systems.
You’ve operated at Staff or Principal level (or equivalent scope), even if the title wasn’t official.
You’re strong in systems design and can reason clearly about tradeoffs.
You move fast but care deeply about correctness, reliability, and maintainability.
You’re comfortable owning ambiguous problems and defining the path forward.
You’ve built or scaled platforms used by real customers at meaningful volume.
You enjoy being hands-on writing code, reviewing designs, and unblocking teams.
Bonus points if you’ve worked with: distributed systems, Voice AI, real-time systems, APIs at scale, infra/platform work, or developer-facing products.
WHY THIS ROLE
Real ownership over core systems.
Direct influence on product and company direction.
A small, high-caliber team with very little process drag.
Problems that matter to customers, revenue, and scale.
If you want a role where your decisions visibly shape the company, this is it.
JOB DETAILS
Cash: $225-$350k
Equity: Offers Meaningful Equity
Location: Redwood City, CA, US (100% Relocation Provided)
US Visas: Retell AI is open to sponsoring work authorization for qualified candidates, including H-1B, TN, L-1, E-3, F-1 (OPT/CPT), and O-1 visas.
OTHER BENEFITS
100% coverage for medical, dental, and vision insurance
$70/day DoorDash credit for unlimited breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks
$200/month wellness reimbursement (gym, fitness classes, etc.)
$300/month commuter reimbursement (gas, Caltrain, etc.)
$75/month phone bill reimbursement
$50/month internet reimbursement
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
Recruiter Screen (15min): Speak with a member of the talent team to learn more about us and which team you would be a good fit for.
Technical Interview (45 min): Practical coding session focused on code fluency and system design (For frontend roles, we will focus on React-specific questions. For backend roles, we take a technology-agnostic approach.)
Technical Interview (45 min): This is a systems design-focused interview. There will be no coding; we want to assess your skills in systems design.
Onsite/Virtual Interviews (2–3 hrs): Hosted in our office if located in the Bay Area or virtual, with three rounds:
Practical Coding: Tackle real-world coding tasks with debugging.
System Design: Architect a production-ready system.
Tools & Automation: Build automations or improve workflows in any basic environment setup like python, java, node.js, etc.
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