Member of Technical Staff - Engineering Lead

Department: R&D

Location: London Office

Employment Type: FullTime

Tessl is a fast-growing Series A startup based in London, founded by Guy Podjarny. We’ve raised over $100M from world-class investors including Index Ventures, Accel, GV, and Boldstart, and in 2025 we were ranked #2 in Sifted EU’s B2B SaaS Rising 100 and #20 in Sifted's AI 100.

At Tessl, we are building the context layer for AI coding agents, and a platform for AI-native software development. As an early member of the team, you’ll help shape how we build, scale and support a company operating at the edge of AI and software development.

Overview of Role

As a Member of Technical Staff with managerial responsibilities at Tessl, you’ll lead and grow a high-performing engineering team working at the intersection of AI and software development. This role combines people leadership with significant hands-on technical ownership - you’ll be directly involved in designing, building, and shipping software, whilst managing your team of software engineers.

You’ll report to Maurilio, our Head of Engineering, and work closely with the wider Engineering org, as well as Product and Design. We’re looking for someone who enjoys balancing strategic thinking with day-to-day execution: writing code, unblocking delivery, and setting a strong technical bar while enabling the team to do their best work.

What We're Looking For

Essential

• 8+ years in software engineering, with at least 3 years managing an engineering team

• Relevant and direct experience working and embracing with various AI coding tools

• Strong technical foundation with hands-on coding experience; comfortable reviewing and contributing code

• Experience managing high-performing teams in fast-paced startup environments (Series A-C preferred)

• Track record of hiring, mentoring, and developing engineers across different skill levels

• Deep understanding of modern software development practices, CI/CD, and engineering excellence

• Strong communication skills with the ability to translate between technical details and strategic vision

• Comfortable operating in ambiguity and making decisions with incomplete information

• Passion for building inclusive, collaborative team cultures

• Experience with agile methodologies and pragmatic approaches to balancing speed with quality

Nice to Have

• Direct experience with AI/ML products

• Background in developer tools, IDEs, or platforms for software development

• Experience scaling teams through periods of rapid growth

• Track record of building and maintaining high-quality engineering infrastructure and tooling

• Experience with remote or hybrid team management

What You'll Do

• Lead a team of 5+ engineers, providing mentorship, career development, and performance management

• Devote a significant portion of your time (60%+) to hands on design and development efforts

• Partner with product and design to define roadmaps, prioritise work, and ensure successful delivery of features

• Build and maintain a culture of engineering excellence, balancing innovation with pragmatism

• Participate in technical design discussions and code reviews, staying hands-on when the situation calls for it

• Own the hiring process for your team: write job descriptions, interview candidates, and make hiring decisions

• Collaborate with other engineering leaders to establish best practices, tooling, and processes across the organisation

• Foster a culture of rapid experimentation, clear evaluation, and learning from both successes and failures

Benefits, Salary & Office

Office: Our brand new 10,000 sq. ft office is in the AI hub of Kings Cross, London. We have generous catering and have regular social events such as team lunches, drinks and more. We require all staff to be in our London HQ at least 3 days a week on our anchor days of Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

Salary: We offer a competitive salary based on experience and skills, benchmarked against industry standards.

Benefits: 25 days holiday, health insurance, including dental and vision, which extends to partners and dependents, as well as a company-matched pension. We also provide a commuting stipend for those who live outside London, and a cycle to work scheme.

Application Process

Here's an outline of what you can expect during our interview process:

• Intro call with Maurilio, our Head of Engineering

• Technical and leadership interview with members of the engineering team

• Take-home task

• An on-site session including case studies and team interaction

• A 45 min company fit interview with Guy, our founder and CEO

We care deeply about the warm, inclusive environment we’re building at Tessl and we value diversity – we welcome applications from those typically underrepresented in tech. If you like the sound of this role but are not totally sure whether you’re the right person, do apply anyway!

Learn how we think and work

• On Tessl, The AI Native Development Startup

• Announcing skills on Tessl: the package manager for agent skills

• Podcast Episode: The End of Fragmented Agent Context, Guy Podjarny Tessl CEO