Hone builds AI that owns outcomes, not tasks: agentic systems that work towards goals over weeks and months, deploy themselves, and improve over time.
About Hone
Models keep getting smarter, but outside of coding most organizations can't absorb that intelligence, and the gap between model capability and the value derived from it keeps widening. The reasons are many, from human incentives to org design, but at the core we think it's a technology problem. Hone builds engines: AI systems that you hand a goal, like "keep the recruiting pipeline healthy." An engine builds itself, maintains its own agents and code, pulls in people when it needs judgment, and learns from every correction. Leading AI companies and global enterprises already run engines across funnel optimization, procurement, deal sourcing, asset management, financial risk, and product and customer delivery. We measure ourselves by the real-world economic impact our engines create, not benchmark scores. We're ex-founders and early engineers from Cognition, Mercor, Ramp, Jane Street, Decagon, Brex, and Harvey, backed by Benchmark and Index Ventures.
The Role
Hone builds engines that run business functions, and we run our own company the same way. You'll work directly with Hone's co-founders to own the motions that run Hone, and hand each to an engine once it works: recruiting, partnerships and channels, pricing and contracting, the operating cadence, and special projects. This role requires willingness to flex across many functions and stakeholders to build Hone into a scalable machine. For exceptional candidates, this role is Chief of Staff to the co-founders.
What You'll Work On
The following is an illustrative list of opportunity areas where you'll own building systems from scratch. At any given time, you may own anywhere from 2-3 of these areas:
The recruiting system end to end: applicant tracking, agency partners, pipeline cadence and network activation.
Strategic partnerships and channels that create real distribution.
Pricing, packaging and contracting: rate cards, deal structures and contract terms.
Operating cadence: planning, weekly goals, dashboards, and board and investor updates.
Special projects that don't fit anywhere yet, from first version to running motion.
Requirements
Real operating experience at a fast-growing startup, not just advising
You've built new functions, motions, or organizations from scratch, and built them to keep running in your absence
You've run them at scale and kept them running
Strong operating fundamentals: planning, metrics, dashboards, written decisions
Commercial judgment: you've priced, negotiated or structured deals
You use AI agents every day to automate real parts of your work
You genuinely care about building the machinery that makes a company run
Nice to Have
A start in finance, private equity, consulting or venture, followed by hands-on startup operating
Experience building or supporting the growth of AI products, including in areas such as pricing and deployments.
How We Hire
Intro with a co-founder.
Pricing and packaging case.
Stakeholder and deployment conversation.
Three-hour onsite in San Francisco.
References.
Offer.
Logistics
Location: San Francisco, in person, Sunday to Friday.
Compensation: Competitive salary + meaningful equity.
Visa: We sponsor visas and support you through the immigration process.
Benefits: Health and dental insurance, maternity and parental support, and relocation support.
