--- title: 'Technical Community Lead - US at Dryft' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/technical-community-lead-us-dryft-san-francisco-4kex4p6n7s7z' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-10-20' --- # Technical Community Lead - US at Dryft - **Company:** Dryft - **Location:** San Francisco, CA - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-10-06 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-20 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/dryft/94db8639-2bbc-4a5c-acb9-f1b4f61a9796 ## Job description ## DRYFT Ideas only change the world when you build them at scale. That’s what Dryft is here for. Dryft builds models that automate complex human decisions in manufacturing operations. We capture the knowledge of experienced operators across supply chain, production planning, engineering and more, simulate the consequences of their decisions, and use this understanding to help run their business. Our customers include some of the largest robotics, machine and component manufacturers in the world. We’re a small, talent-dense team with modest roots and a love for the physical world: cars, machines, planes. Our team includes graduates from Stanford, Berkeley, CDTM and TUM, winners of Stanford TreeHacks, recipients of Fulbright & Haniel scholarships, and people who have built everything from robots and race cars to software with millions of downloads. What matters more to us than credentials is how people work: humility, hard work, speed, kindness, deep customer care, and a willingness to take on problems others avoid. Working at Dryft is hard. You get unusual ownership early on, with real responsibility. But that’s also what makes it one of the biggest learning experiences of your life. We’re backed by founders and operators behind some of the most legendary tech companies of our time, Tier-1 U.S. venture firms, and board members of global industrial companies. ERPs ran the physical world for half a century. Dryft is building the intelligence layer that will power the next. ​ ## THE ROLE The best startups are built by exceptional people. As our Technical Community Lead, you'll spend your time meeting the most extraordinary builders, students, operators, founders and investors, often before they are actively considering their next move. - Host the room everyone wants to be in – run the hackathons, events and parties the best builders fly in for, where they meet each other, and meet Dryft - Connected everywhere it counts – from lecture halls to VC offices to late-night founder dinners, grow a network around Dryft that opens every door - Raise the bar with every hire – turn those relationships into exceptional hires; every person you bring into Dryft should raise the bar for the entire company Building the world's best team is Dryft's highest priority, and this role gives you a front-row seat to what it takes to build a generational company. ​ YOU - Community builder – you bring together exceptional builders, founders and researchers, and nobody leaves when it's over - Talent radar – you know "who is going to make it" before anyone else; you might even run a secret spreadsheet of them at home - Magnetic energy – people feel it the moment you walk in; exceptional people are drawn to you, and leave inspired and excited about an ambitious mission - Founder mindset – you move with urgency, take full ownership, and build networks and systems from the ground up - Engineer at heart – you understand what engineers and operators are building, and they can tell from the first conversation - Relocation – you're ready to work onsite in San Francisco (we support visa) ## About Dryft ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Dryft builds artificial intelligence that mimics, optimizes, and automates complex human decisions in manufacturing operations, essentially building the next generation of ERP systems. - **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage, $5M total funding) - **Headquarters**: Palo Alto, California, United States (with presence in Germany and Greece) - **Founded**: 2024 - **Founders**: Anna-Julia Storch (CEO) and Leonie Freisinger (CTO) ## Core Business - **Primary industry/industries**: AI for manufacturing operations; industrial software. - **Target customers**: B2B – manufacturing companies (SMB to enterprise). - **Mission or purpose statement**: "We combine agent-based intelligence with mathematical optimization to build what comes after ERPs: systems that think, act, and adapt autonomously across manufacturing operations." ## Products & Services - **Dryft AI Platform**: An AI-powered system that uses agents and mathematical optimization to autonomously handle complex manufacturing decisions such as supplier follow-ups, inventory management, safety stock adjustments, and late-item alerts. It integrates with existing data (inventory, orders) and acts as an autonomous co-pilot for manufacturing operations. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private company). - **Key Metric**: Total Funding – $5.0M (Seed round, November 2025). - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Led by General Catalyst; investors include Ali Partovi (founder, Neo; co-founder Code.org), Jeannette zu Fürstenberg (Managing Director, General Catalyst), Jeff Wilke (former CEO Amazon Consumer), Steve Blank, Claire Hughes Johnson, and others. - **Growth Signals**: - Headcount grew from ~1 to 12 in a year (+1,100% YoY). - Active job postings for 4 open positions (Founding Forward Deployed Engineer, Full-Stack Engineering Intern, Founding Full-Stack Engineer, Founding Design Engineer). - Monthly website visits ~9,475 (73% US, 27% Germany). - Team members span three countries and backgrounds from Stanford, MIT, Porsche, and manufacturing companies. ## Competitive Advantages - **AI + Mathematical Optimization**: Dryft uniquely combines agent-based AI with traditional optimization (operations research), creating a hybrid that can both learn and mathematically guarantee good decisions. - **Deep Manufacturing Domain Expertise**: Founders and team have hands-on experience in manufacturing (Leonie worked on Porsche Taycan predictive controllers; Anna-Julia worked with Siemens' AI Lab on the “factory of the future”). - **Founder-Market Fit**: Both founders are technical (MS in Data Science from Stanford) and have spent thousands of hours with manufacturers co-developing the product. - **Backed by Top-Tier Investors**: General Catalyst and a roster of prominent individuals (Ali Partovi, Jeff Wilke) signal strong confidence. ## Strategic Focus - **Replace legacy ERPs** with autonomous, AI-native systems for manufacturing. - **Hire a small, elite technical team** to build and deploy the first product version. - **Scale from manufacturing operations** to broader industrial decision-making. - **International presence**: Already has team members in Germany and Greece, suggesting a pan-European talent strategy. ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: "All technical team" with a sense of urgency and taste for great products. Values include building everything from robots, PCBs, and race cars to software. - **Remote/Hybrid/Office**: Roles are listed as “San Francisco” – likely onsite but open to relocation support. - **Perks**: "We support Visa & Relocation" – actively hiring international talent. - **Engineering Culture**: Early‑stage startup (founded 2024) with opportunity to shape the product and architecture. Team includes people from physical intelligence, Stanford, MIT, and manufacturing backgrounds. - **Growth Opportunity**: Joining at “Day 0” – chance to be a founding engineer in a well-funded startup tackling a 50‑year‑old industry problem. ## Sources 1. [dryft.ai](https://dryft.ai/) 2. [dryft.ai/careers](https://dryft.ai/careers) 3. [LinkedIn - Dryft](https://www.linkedin.com/company/dryft-hq) 4. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/dryft](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/dryft) ## Other roles at Dryft - [Open Application - Germany](https://feeny.ai/job/open-application-germany-dryft-munich-ch746br298eg) — Munich, Germany - [Forward Deployed Engineer - Germany](https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployed-engineer-germany-dryft-munich-qxvhz59amr00) — Munich, Germany - [Member of Technical Staff - Germany](https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-technical-staff-germany-dryft-munich-a2pjp47mbgh3) — Munich, Germany - [Open Application - US](https://feeny.ai/job/open-application-us-dryft-san-francisco-vyasam35twme) — San Francisco, CA - [Head of Marketing & Creative - US](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-marketing-creative-us-dryft-san-francisco-b3wqn6mwrygn) — San Francisco, CA - [GTM Lead - Germany](https://feeny.ai/job/gtm-lead-germany-dryft-munich-vf34ef72vbw5) — Munich, Germany - [Deployment Lead - Germany](https://feeny.ai/job/deployment-lead-germany-dryft-munich-t7b99em7jwyz) — Munich, Germany - [Deployment Strategist - Germany](https://feeny.ai/job/deployment-strategist-germany-dryft-munich-esf0d4jxnncg) — Munich, Germany - [Forward Deployed Engineer - US](https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployed-engineer-us-dryft-san-francisco-z4n57j8pvsq4) — San Francisco, CA - [Member of Technical Staff Intern - US](https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-technical-staff-intern-us-dryft-san-francisco-d9qnq7yj366x) — San Francisco, CA