Manager of Applied AI Architecture, Startups

Anthropic Anthropic · AI Frontier · San Francisco, CA · Applied AI

Manager of Applied AI Architecture for startups, leading a team of technical architects to drive adoption of frontier AI and help startups build AI-native products using the Claude Developer Platform. Focuses on technical partnership, building teams, defining playbooks, and influencing product roadmap.

What you'd actually do

  1. Lead, develop, and grow a team of Startups Applied AI Architects — setting a high bar for technical credibility, customer impact, and startup-paced execution
  2. Drive team performance through clear goal-setting, regular coaching, and a culture of continuous technical development
  3. Personally lead pre-sales engagements with high-priority startup accounts, from initial technical discovery through deployment and expansion, modeling what great looks like for your team
  4. Build and own the segment's technical playbooks: how to run technical evaluations, develop customer-specific eval frameworks, architect LLM solutions for resource-constrained early-stage teams, and win against competitive alternatives
  5. Partner with aligned Account Executives and GTM leadership to shape segment strategy and drive Claude API adoption across the startup ecosystem

Skills

Required

  • 8+ years of experience in technical customer-facing roles (Solutions Architect, Sales Engineer, Forward Deployed Engineer, or similar)
  • 5+ years leading and managing pre-sales or technical go-to-market teams
  • Strong track record of building and developing high-performing SA teams
  • Deep experience working with startups or high-growth technology companies
  • Genuine builder credibility: experience building and deploying LLM-powered applications
  • Hands-on expertise with context engineering, LLM evaluation frameworks, and modern AI architectures
  • Comfortable with Python
  • Fluent in LLM frameworks, tools, and integration patterns common in startup engineering stacks
  • Experience building foundational team infrastructure from the ground up: hiring frameworks, onboarding programs, technical playbooks, and coaching systems in a high-growth environment

Nice to have

  • Experience as a technical founder or in a founder-led sales motion
  • Track record of winning competitive technical evaluations against other LLM providers
  • Deep familiarity with how developer infrastructure procurement evolves from seed through Series B and beyond
  • Visible technical presence in the startup or AI engineering community through conference talks, written content, or open-source contributions

What the JD emphasized

  • technical go-to-market leader
  • build teams that move at startup speed
  • earn the trust of deeply technical buyers
  • define the playbooks
  • set the bar for technical excellence
  • grow the people
  • technical credibility
  • customer impact
  • startup-paced execution
  • high-priority startup accounts
  • technical discovery
  • deployment
  • expansion
  • technical playbooks
  • technical evaluations
  • customer-specific eval frameworks
  • architect LLM solutions
  • resource-constrained early-stage teams
  • win against competitive alternatives
  • technical presence
  • technical customer-facing roles
  • leading and managing pre-sales or technical go-to-market teams
  • building and developing high-performing SA teams
  • deep experience working with startups or high-growth technology companies
  • velocity
  • constraints
  • culture of early-stage companies
  • technical decisions
  • genuine builder credibility
  • built and deployed LLM-powered applications
  • speak the language of founders and founding engineers
  • earn the trust of deeply technical audiences
  • hands-on expertise
  • context engineering
  • LLM evaluation frameworks
  • modern AI architectures
  • guide both your team and customers
  • prototype
  • production-grade system
  • Python
  • LLM frameworks
  • tools
  • integration patterns
  • startup engineering stacks
  • building in ambiguous environments
  • define the playbook
  • fast-moving contexts
  • technology and the customer segment are both evolving rapidly
  • making powerful technology safe and societally beneficial
  • technical founder
  • founder-led sales motion
  • technical buyers
  • winning competitive technical evaluations
  • other LLM providers
  • foundational team infrastructure
  • hiring frameworks
  • onboarding programs
  • technical playbooks
  • coaching systems
  • high-growth environment
  • developer infrastructure procurement
  • seed through Series B
  • adapt your team's approach
  • visible technical presence
  • startup or AI engineering community
  • conference talks
  • written content
  • open-source contributions

Other signals

  • drive adoption of frontier AI
  • leading a team of technical architects
  • help startups build AI-native products
  • support their technical ambitions from early product to scale
  • technical go-to-market leader
  • build teams that move at startup speed
  • earn the trust of deeply technical buyers
  • define the playbooks for nurturing and scaling new customers
  • set the bar for technical excellence
  • grow the people
  • partner with the New Business sales leader
  • Lead, develop, and grow a team of Startups Applied AI Architects
  • setting a high bar for technical credibility, customer impact, and startup-paced execution
  • Drive team performance through clear goal-setting, regular coaching, and a culture of continuous technical development
  • Personally lead pre-sales engagements with high-priority startup accounts, from initial technical discovery through deployment and expansion
  • Build and own the segment's technical playbooks: how to run technical evaluations, develop customer-specific eval frameworks, architect LLM solutions for resource-constrained early-stage teams, and win against competitive alternatives
  • Partner with aligned Account Executives and GTM leadership to shape segment strategy and drive Claude API adoption across the startup ecosystem
  • Ensure your team consistently surfaces insights on how startups are building with Claude — emerging use cases, deployment patterns, architectural decisions — and translate that signal into actionable feedback for Product and Engineering
  • Drive cross-functional influence across Sales, Product, and Engineering to advance startup customer needs and shape roadmap priorities
  • Build Anthropic's technical presence and credibility in the startup ecosystem through events, conferences, workshops, and content
  • Stay ahead of the AI engineering landscape — context engineering, eval frameworks, agentic architectures, developer tooling — and ensure your team is operating at the frontier
  • Have 8+ years of experience in technical customer-facing roles (Solutions Architect, Sales Engineer, Forward Deployed Engineer, or similar), with 5+ years leading and managing pre-sales or technical go-to-market teams
  • Have a strong track record of building and developing high-performing SA teams
  • Have deep experience working with startups or high-growth technology companies
  • Bring genuine builder credibility: you've built and deployed LLM-powered applications, you speak the language of founders and founding engineers, and you can earn the trust of deeply technical audiences without relying on a title
  • Have hands-on expertise with context engineering, LLM evaluation frameworks, and modern AI architectures, and can guide both your team and customers through the decisions that separate a prototype from a production-grade system
  • Are comfortable with Python and fluent in the LLM frameworks, tools, and integration patterns common in startup engineering stacks
  • Are energized by building in ambiguous environments — you're excited to define the playbook, not just run it, and you thrive in fast-moving contexts where the technology and the customer segment are both evolving rapidly
  • Have a genuine passion for making powerful technology safe and societally beneficial
  • Experience as a technical founder or in a founder-led sales motion
  • A track record of winning competitive technical evaluations against other LLM providers
  • Experience building foundational team infrastructure from the ground up: hiring frameworks, onboarding programs, technical playbooks, and coaching systems in a high-growth environment
  • Deep familiarity with how developer infrastructure procurement evolves from seed through Series B and beyond, and how to adapt your team's approach accordingly
  • A visible technical presence in the startup or AI engineering community through conference talks, written content, or open-source contributions