focal | Head of Technology & Applied AI | Remote/Onsite/Hybrid (US)

focal is an institutionally-backed, next-generation venture firm. Currently investing out of fund II (2025 vintage), we lead at the start, often pre-incorporation, with up to $1M. The next great venture firm won't just use AI. It will be AI-native from the ground up - seeing sooner, deciding faster, and building systems that compound across every founder, deal, and outcome. That's how a 5-person team beats a 50-person firm. We're building that firm. You'll own how it gets built.

This is a long-term, high-impact founding role with meaningful financial upside (carry in funds) and ownership over how the firm is built. You'll join as our 5th team member and partner closely with our GPs in a flat structure.

Your core responsibility: Build and own the AI-native operating system that becomes our structural edge.

Why this might be interesting to you: you get carry in our funds, full ownership over architecture and roadmap, and a problem space that's genuinely unsolved. Venture firms haven't been technically reimagined in decades.

Who you are: A founder-type. A builder: Highly technical, deeply curious, high-output, high-agency. You move from idea → architecture → shipped - fast. You want real ownership over process and outcome, not a seat at someone else's table. You've built things from scratch that worked, and you can point to them.

Comp: carry in our funds (your upside is tied to fund returns), competitive cash, 100% healthcare, 401(k), 6 weeks PTO, 3 months parental leave, budget for compute/tools.

We're not asking for a resume. Send us your LinkedIn (and X if you have it) along with your favorite thing that you've built and tell us why you're proud of it. GitHub, side projects, demos, whatever.

hiring@focal.vc | Full post: www.focal.vc/hiring