Head of Engineering at Graphite

New York, New York, United States

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Not SpecifiedCompensation

Expert & Leadership (9+ years)Experience Level

Full TimeJob Type

UnknownVisa

Technology, AI, Developer ToolsIndustries

Requirements

10+ years in software engineering, with at least 3–5 years in senior engineering leadership roles (Director / VP / Head of Engineering)
Background in AI / ML systems, developer platforms, or infrastructure tooling preferred
Experience leading engineering through high growth (Series B → Series D or pre-IPO phase), scaling orgs from tens to hundreds
Strong architectural understanding of distributed systems, APIs, cloud infrastructure, and modern ML pipelines
Proven ability to balance long-term platform investments with short-term product delivery
Exceptional communication, organizational design, and strategic leadership skills; proven ability to inspire high-performing teams
Bonus: Experience in open-source developer ecosystems, AI safety, or applied LLM tooling

Responsibilities

Build, mentor, and manage a high-performing engineering organization (currently ~30–50 engineers) as we scale to hundreds
Define and communicate a clear technical strategy aligned with business and product goals, balancing innovation with pragmatic execution
Oversee architecture, development, and deployment of core products and infrastructure, ensuring reliability, scalability, and velocity
Implement strong engineering processes — CI/CD, testing, observability, incident response, and security — to support rapid iteration and quality
Partner closely with the CTO, Product, and AI Research to translate vision into scalable technical execution
Foster a culture of ownership, curiosity, and continuous learning; champion diversity, inclusion, and psychological safety
Attract top engineering talent; establish career ladders and coaching frameworks to retain and grow our best people
Lead modernization and scalability efforts across our backend, ML pipelines, and developer platform

Skills

Key technologies and capabilities for this role

Engineering LeadershipTechnical StrategyTeam ScalingArchitectureCI/CDObservabilityIncident ResponseSecurityMentoringRecruiting

Questions & Answers

Common questions about this position

What experience is required for the Head of Engineering role?

Candidates need 10+ years in software engineering, with at least 3–5 years in senior engineering leadership roles such as Director, VP, or Head of Engineering, plus a track record of scaling engineering organizations from tens to hundreds during high growth phases like Series B to Series D.

What is the current size of the engineering team?

The engineering organization currently consists of ~30–50 engineers, with plans to scale to hundreds.

What kind of leadership and culture-building is expected?

You'll foster a culture of ownership, curiosity, and continuous learning, while championing diversity, inclusion, and psychological safety, and establishing career ladders and coaching frameworks to attract and retain top talent.

Is the position remote or office-based?

This information is not specified in the job description.

What makes a strong candidate for this Head of Engineering position?

A strong candidate has 10+ years of software engineering experience including 3–5 years in senior leadership, expertise in AI/ML systems or developer platforms, proven scaling track record, technical depth in distributed systems and ML pipelines, and exceptional leadership skills.

Graphite

Monitors and visualizes time-series data

About Graphite

Graphite is a software tool that focuses on monitoring and visualizing time-series data, which consists of data points collected at specific intervals. It was initially developed in 2006 and became open-source in 2008, allowing it to be widely adopted by large companies. Graphite's main function is to help businesses store, retrieve, share, and visualize their time-series data, but it does not collect data itself. Instead, it allows users to input metrics into its database, making it essential for monitoring performance metrics like application performance and database request times. Unlike many competitors, Graphite operates on both low-cost hardware and cloud infrastructure, making it accessible for various clients, including e-commerce platforms and software development communities. The company generates revenue through support services, custom development, and consulting, ensuring that businesses can maximize the use of the tool while contributing to its ongoing development.

San Francisco, CaliforniaHeadquarters

2006Year Founded

VENTURE_UNKNOWNCompany Stage

Consulting, Enterprise SoftwareIndustries

1-10Employees

Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

Parental Leave

Paid Vacation

Relocation Assistance

Meal Benefits

Commuter Benefits

401(k) Retirement Plan

Risks

Competition from Prometheus and Grafana with advanced features threatens Graphite.

Security vulnerabilities in open-source software pose risks if not regularly updated.

Shift towards all-in-one solutions may reduce Graphite's market appeal.

Differentiation

Graphite excels in visualizing time-series data for enterprise-level monitoring needs.

It operates efficiently on both low-cost hardware and cloud infrastructure.

Graphite's open-source model allows for cost-effective customization and integration.

Upsides

Rising demand for cloud-native tools boosts Graphite's integration capabilities.

DevOps practices increase the need for real-time monitoring, benefiting Graphite.

Open-source popularity enhances Graphite's appeal for cost-effective enterprise solutions.

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