Tech Director, AI Products

<p><strong>About R/GA</strong></p> <p>R/GA is a globally renowned design and innovation network that has been reinventing industry standards for over four decades. From pioneering computer-assisted film production to defining digital platforms of the connected age — such as the original Nike+ ecosystem and the launch of Beats by Dre — R/GA helps brands adapt and thrive in the face of disruptive technology. Now independent, we are investing heavily in AI to lead the Intelligence Age.</p> <p><strong>About AI Products (AIP)</strong></p> <p>AI Products (AIP) is the team building R/GA's next chapter. Our mandate is to shift the business from service-as-labor to service-as-software — turning innovation already taking shape across the network into reusable AI products R/GA can take to market. We build with agents: a substantial share of our code is agent-generated, and every team member is an expert at directing agents to produce production-quality work. We are engineering-led, small by design, and just getting started.</p> <p><strong>About the Role</strong></p> <p>As the Tech Director of AI Products, you will be the founding technical leader of our team — a hands-on, full-stack player-coach who sets the architecture and ships production code. You will lead the engineering work on our first product bets, shape the patterns R/GA will inherit as it ships AI to the market, and partner directly with our Head of AI Products and the R/GA Global CTO.</p> <p>You will work within a small, senior team — alongside an AI Engineer and a Senior PM — with an explicit mandate to ship reusable products rather than bespoke client work.</p> <p>This is an engineer-first role requiring the judgment of an architect and the instincts of a founder. You will write production code daily across the stack, directing agents fluently and writing by hand where it matters most. We hire for one specific shape: technically minded, T-shaped individuals with a track record of building long-term AI products that have shipped, sold, and lasted — not just demos.</p> <p><strong>Key Responsibilities</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>Hands-on Full-Stack Engineering:</strong> Ship production code across the stack — frontend, backend, AI/ML, and infrastructure. As a player-coach, you will contribute daily, not just review code.</li> <li><strong>Agent-Driven Development:</strong> Lead how AIP builds with agents. Set the standards, patterns, and tooling that ensure agent-generated code is production-quality.</li> <li><strong>Architecture &amp; Platform:</strong> Define the reference architecture, runtime, and tooling underlying AIP's products, ensuring each is genuinely reusable across clients.</li> <li><strong>Engineering Leadership:</strong> Lead the technical build of our first product bets. Set patterns, mentor the team, and raise the bar.</li> <li><strong>Productization Discipline:</strong> Ensure every product ships as a working demo, a marketing deck, and a reusable codebase. Hold the line against one-off custom work.</li> <li><strong>Cross-Network Partnership:</strong> Coordinate with R/GA's CTO and engineering teams to harvest patterns and ensure architectural coherence.</li> <li><strong>Talent:</strong> Hire, develop, and retain a high-bar engineering team.</li> <li><strong>Pitch Support:</strong> Act as the authoritative technical voice in the room during high-stakes pitches.</li> <li><strong>Roadmap &amp; Bet Selection:</strong> Partner with Paul and Nick to evaluate productization opportunities and decide what scales versus what retires.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Qualifications</strong></p> <ul> <li>10+ years of software engineering experience, with 3+ years leading AI-powered products in production.</li> <li>Full-stack engineering capability: strong in at least three of the following — modern frontend (React/TypeScript), backend (Python/Node/Go), AI/ML systems and pipelines, or infrastructure. You are comfortable picking up tickets across the stack.</li> <li>Expertise in agent-driven development. You know when to drive an agent and when to write code yourself, as well as how to review and harden agent output before it ships.</li> <li>Deep fluency in generative AI: LLMs, agent frameworks, retrieval architectures, evaluation methods, and deployment patterns.</li> <li>A proven track record of shipping reusable software products (not just custom client builds).</li> <li>Founding-team or early-engineering-leader experience at a startup, studio, or product organization.</li> <li>Comfortable presenting to the C-suite and senior client technologists while keeping technical credibility intact.</li> <li>A strong bias for shipping. A tight v0 in two weeks beats a perfect roadmap in two months.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Bonus Points for</strong></p> <ul> <li>Prior experience at an agency, studio, or consulting firm — you understand pitch-driven rhythms.</li> <li>Open-source contributions or published technical writing on AI systems, agent design, or generative interfaces.</li> <li>A background in design tooling, brand systems, content infrastructure, or generative interfaces.</li> <li>Experience designing platform/SDK abstractions that other engineers happily adopt.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Why Join AIP?</strong></p> <ul> <li>Build the technical foundation for AI productization at R/GA — one of the world's most respected creative innovation networks.</li> <li>Enjoy an independent mandate to invest in AI with direct executive sponsorship from the CEO and CTO.</li> <li>Have a direct line to the Head of AI Products and the Global CTO. Your work will show up in pitches, press, and awards.</li> <li>Work within a senior, intentionally small team. No politics, no process tax, no committees.</li> </ul> <p>The hiring range for this position is $200,000 to $240,000. Where an employee or prospective employee is paid within this range will depend on, among other factors, actual ranges for current/former employees in the subject position; budgetary considerations; tenure and standing with the company (applicable to current employees); as well as the employee's/applicant's applicable skills, pertinent experience, and qualifications.</p>