ABOUT FOUNDERS INITIATIVESFounders Initiatives is a cross-functional team that works directly with Retell's founders on the company's highest-priority opportunities and challenges. Team members are expected to operate across functions, build from first principles, and help scale the business in whatever way creates the most impact.
This is not a narrowly scoped role, it is a high-ownership builder position where you will work across product, engineering, GTM, operations, and AI systems to design and ship core company infrastructure.
ABOUT THE ROLEWe are hiring a
Founders Initiatives, Technical Ex-Founders to design and implement internal and external AI systems that power how Retell hires, sells, operates, and scales.
You will be responsible for building production-grade AI workflows, automations, and agent systems that directly impact company operations and customer experience.
This role sits at the intersection of applied AI, full-stack engineering, and startup operations.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIESHR & Recruiting AI Systems- Build systems that extract structured signals from resumes (skills, experience, founder traits, domain expertise)
- Develop lead scoring models to predict interview success and role fit
- Design AI recruiter workflows for candidate screening and qualification
- Automate personalized outbound email and candidate engagement workflows
Security & Compliance Automation- Build automation systems for customer security workflows (BAAs, DPAs, DocuSign, contract review flows)
- Automate security questionnaire and compliance response generation
- Improve internal tooling for enterprise readiness and audit processes
Operational Infrastructure Tools- Build systems for accounts receivable automation and finance-related email workflows
- Create automated enterprise customer onboarding and account setup tools
- Design internal systems that reduce manual operational overhead across teams
3rd-Party Integrations & Platform Work- Integrate with CRM systems such as Salesforce, HubSpot, and GoHighLevel
- Build workflow automation using tools like Zapier, n8n, and Make
- Design LLM-powered systems using OpenAI, Gemini, Claude, and other models
- Own API-based integrations that connect internal systems across the company
GTM Engineering & Growth Automation- Build HubSpot and Lark automations to improve sales and marketing efficiency
- Develop lifecycle automation systems for customer engagement and retention
- Create targeted website personalization and ad content generation systems
- Build email personalization and outbound automation pipelines at scale
YOU MIGHT THRIVE IF YOU- Have a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a closely related technical field.
- Have 2+ years professional software engineering experience
- Have 1+ year of startup experience and are comfortable with ambiguity and fast iteration.
- Think like a founder and operate with high ownership
- Have strong software engineering skills (backend, full-stack, or systems)
- Have hands-on experience building with LLMs or AI agents in production
- Are comfortable working across product, engineering, and operations
- Move fast, iterate quickly, and are comfortable with ambiguity
- Prefer building systems over working on narrowly defined tasks
- Care deeply about real-world impact over theoretical work
JOB DETAILS- Cash: 200k - 300k
- Equity: Offers Meaningful Equity
- Location: Redwood City, CA, US
- 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- Intro Call (15-20min): Connect with our talent team to get a deeper look at the team and the work you'd be doing.
- First Technical Phone Interview (45 min): System Design & Project Deep Dive
- Second Tech Screen (45min): Tools & Automation
- Final Interview
- Coding and Technical Round (90 min)
- Cross-Functional Interview (30 min)
- Past Project Deep Dive (30 min)
