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Head of Engineering

Quanta

San Francisco, CA, US$225k – $325konsite

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About this role

We're building a new system of record for finance, one that understands not just the numbers, but the business context behind them. At its core is our Operational Ledger: a financial data layer that preserves every event, calculation, policy, source, and decision behind the financials, rather than reducing them to contextless entries.

Questions that once took weeks to answer become as routine as a Google search: Why did margins change? Which customers are actually profitable? How are we tracking against budget? We're not bolting AI onto legacy software. Quanta was built from the ground up around granular financial data, flexible primitives, and systems that agents can safely understand and act on.

We've spent years closing the books for real, fast-growing companies and turning what we learn into product. We've already replaced much of what QuickBooks and NetSuite can do and the manual work surrounding them. Customers are now turning off legacy accounting systems and moving to Quanta.

We're still early. The problems are hard, the ambition is enormous, and there's no playbook for what we're building.

QUANTA

We're building a new system of record for finance, one that understands not just the numbers, but the business context behind them. At its core is our Operational Ledger: a financial data layer that preserves every event, calculation, policy, source, and decision behind the financials, rather than reducing them to contextless entries.

Questions that once took weeks to answer become as routine as a Google search: Why did margins change? Which customers are actually profitable? How are we tracking against budget? We're not bolting AI onto legacy software. Quanta was built from the ground up around granular financial data, flexible primitives, and systems that agents can safely understand and act on.

We've spent years closing the books for real, fast-growing companies and turning what we learn into product. We've already replaced much of what QuickBooks and NetSuite can do and the manual work surrounding them. Customers are now turning off legacy accounting systems and moving to Quanta.

We're still early. The problems are hard, the ambition is enormous, and there's no playbook for what we're building.

THE TEAM

We're a small tight-knit team working together in person in downtown San Francisco. Our team brings together deep expertise in engineering and finance. We've built accounting systems at Affirm, ledgers at Stripe and Robinhood, launched products from 0→1, scaled infrastructure processing billions of dollars, built finance functions, and closed the books under real operating pressure.

We understand our customers because we have been in their shoes. Quanta's earliest product was built around a few principles we still value: get to learning as quickly as possible, find the simplest solution that works, and build alongside real users and real-world edge cases.

Quanta is for people who want ownership, prioritize learning and outcomes over conventional playbooks, and are comfortable figuring things out as they go. The principles behind our earliest product still shape how we build today: get to learning fast, choose the simplest solution that works, and build with real users in the messy reality of real-world edge cases.

THE ROLE

We're fresh off a Series A led by Accel, with real budget to grow the engineering team and we need an engineering leader to do so.

You'll be leading a high-caliber team of 7 with backgrounds from Stripe, Affirm, Robinhood, Cash App, Meta, Airbyte, and more. You'll also sit on the company leadership team, working closely with the CEO (who comes from an engineering background), and helping shape company strategy and how we operate - not just how engineering runs.

A big part of this role is inventing what engineering effectiveness looks like in the AI era. We're a small, greenfield team with no inherited process and no organizational debt. The tools, workflows, and culture of how we build are still being defined. The people joining now are the ones who shape that.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Grow and develop the team

You'll own hiring end to end - sourcing, closing, and holding a high bar. Startup hiring is not passive; we expect you to bring your network and know how to sell the mission to engineers who have options. Once people are here, you'll invest in their growth: understanding what motivates each person, giving clear feedback, and helping them develop into their best.

Own delivery

You'll create clarity on priorities and make sure nothing falls through the cracks. You'll build the right level of process for where we are - structured enough to execute, light enough to move - and evolve it as we scale. You'll own delivery across workstreams, balance short-term output with long-term technical health, and be a credible technical voice who can mentor engineers on architecture, craft, and production readiness.

Lead the company, not just engineering

You'll be opinionated about the business, push back on strategy when you see something others don't, and think proactively about how the org needs to evolve. You'll anticipate what the team needs to look like in six months, make the call on what role to hire next, and communicate proactively across the company.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

Experience managing and scaling engineering teams at a startup, ideally as the first or sole engineering leader

Track record of hiring strong engineers and closing candidates who had other options

Technical depth that earns respect - you can mentor on architecture, review hard problems, and engage seriously with a complex domain

Comfort operating in high-ambiguity environments where the playbook doesn't exist yet

Opinionated about engineering culture and effectiveness, and willing to push on it

Bonus points for experience with financial systems, ledgers, or accounting workflows. You are excited about working in person with a collaborative t

Salary insight

The midpoint of this range ($275k) is about 38% above the median disclosed salary for San Francisco roles listed on ForgeApply ($200k across 8,571 jobs).

Based on live postings with disclosed pay on ForgeApply; refreshed daily. Not an estimate of this employer's offer.

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