Mission
Japan's enterprises are sitting on one of the largest AI opportunities in the world, and most of them aren't yet built to seize it. Recursive exists to close that gap: we build the AI solutions and systems that help Japan's leading enterprises compete in what comes next, and in doing so, help build a fairer, more sustainable society. This is a front-row seat to that transformation.
Recursive builds custom, production-grade AI agents for major Japanese enterprises, including Suntory, KDDI, IHI, Sumitomo Forestry, MS&AD, and CyberAgent. Founded by an ex-Google DeepMind engineer, we're organized into focused engineering teams, each pairing a business lead with engineering and technical leadership to take a solution from client conversation to real production.
We're scaling fast over the next 12 months, driven by both new funding and expanding client revenue. As we grow, execution needs to rely less on direct CTO oversight and more on strong technical leadership distributed across engineering, which is exactly the gap this role fills.
Responsibilities
This role combines hands-on engineering with long-term technical leadership. You'll write code and make architectural decisions, and delegate where it makes sense.
Operate as both engineer and leader, with real authority over architecture, tooling, and client-facing communication
Extend your impact beyond code quality into team revenue and profitability
Step into an urgent, high-visibility seat with immediate impact and fast trust-building across the company
Technical skill alone isn't what we screen for. We're looking for engineers who take initiative without being asked, who stay accountable for whether the client's problem actually gets solved rather than just closing tasks, who are comfortable when a problem isn't fully defined yet, and who raise concerns early when scope starts to shift.
Technical ownership and delivery
Own technical execution across the team, with full transparency on status, risk, and progress
Make architecture and implementation decisions independently, and justify the reasoning behind them
Choose your own tooling, as long as it supports delivery and aligns with company standards
Propose and estimate delivery timelines, and align on scope trade-offs with your business lead
Build hands-on as a working engineer, not purely as a reviewer or architect
Control scope changes deliberately, and surface risk early rather than letting it become a last-minute scramble
Team and client leadership
Own technical communication with the client on roadmap, progress, and delivery approach, and delegate specific conversations to your business lead when that's the more effective voice
Lead engineers at steady state, matching people to work based on capability rather than under-tasking seniors or over-tasking juniors
Contribute strategic thinking toward team revenue and profitability, not just technical correctness
Apply the right level of process for the situation, neither too rigid nor too loose