Job description

Tessl is a fast-growing Series A startup based in London, founded by Guy Podjarny, who previously founded Snyk. We’ve raised more than $100 million from world-class investors, including Index Ventures, Accel, GV and Boldstart. In 2025, Tessl ranked #2 in Sifted’s B2B SaaS Rising 100 and #20 in its AI 100. We’re building the context layer for AI coding agents and a platform for AI-native software development. As an early member of the team, you’ll help shape how we build and scale a company operating at the forefront of AI and software development. OVERVIEW OF ROLE We're looking for a Developer Advocate to be Tessl's presence in the Bay Area AI community. Someone already deep in the local scene, building with AI every day, showing up at the meetups and hackathons, and pushing what's possible with agentic coding alongside the people defining it. This is a builder's role first. You'll be a power user of our product, creating integrations, tools and projects that show what AI native development really looks like, then taking that into the community to hack, demo and present. Your main focus will be the Bay Area, but you'll also travel to give customer and conference sessions across the US. Because the rest of the team is in London, this role suits someone who thrives with the autonomy to set their direction and the self-motivation to act on it without much steering. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES - Build with Tessl: Go beyond writing about the product, build with it. Create apps, integrations and creative projects using Tessl that inspire and enable the developer community to do the same. - Own the Bay Area: Be Tessl's visible presence in the local AI scene. Show up at the meetups and hackathons that matter, hack alongside people, demo what you've built and present what's possible with agentic coding. - Content creation: Write articles, tutorials and guides, and produce videos that give developers practical, actionable insight into AI native development with Tessl. - Speak across the US: Travel to give customer and conference sessions around the country while keeping your main focus in the Bay. - Ecosystem exploration: Constantly explore the AI developer tooling landscape, identifying integration opportunities and ways to connect Tessl with the broader ecosystem. - Show up where developers are: Run webinars, appear on podcasts and make yourself at home in other people's communities, from Discord servers and Slack groups to subreddits and newsletters. WHAT YOU'LL NEED - Already in the Bay Area scene: You're a regular at the meetups and hackathons that matter, a recognised face in the local AI developer community, and an active voice online where the discussion is happening. - Living on the edge of agentic coding: You live and breathe cutting-edge agentic development. You're using the newest tools the week they land and you have a point of view on them. - A builder's mindset: You'd rather ship something than describe it. A slick integration, a creative app, an experiment no one's tried yet, you get excited about making things. - Scrappy and self-directed: You set your own direction and get on with it. With the majority of the team in London, you're comfortable operating with less day-to-day steering. - Comfortable on the road: You have the experience to travel and present customer and conference sessions across the US. - Strong communicator: You can write and speak clearly and engagingly about technical AI topics. - Development skills: You're comfortable enough with code to build and hack on things yourself. You don't need to be a full-time engineer, but you ship. NICE TO HAVE - Experience with open-source communities and contributor ecosystems - An existing network in the Bay Area AI developer tooling space - Comfort operating in a fast-moving, early-stage startup environment We care deeply about the warm, inclusive environment we’re building at Tessl and we value diversity – we welcome applications from those typically underrepresented in tech. If you like the sound of this role but are not totally sure whether you’re the right person, do apply anyway! LEARN HOW WE THINK AND WORK - On Tessl, The AI Native Development Startup tessl.io - Announcing skills on Tessl: the package manager for agent skills tessl.io - Podcast Episode: The End of Fragmented Agent Context, Guy Podjarny Tessl CEO youtu.be

Requirements

Must-haves

Because the rest of the team is in London, this role suits someone who thrives with the autonomy to set their direction and the self-motivation to act on it without much steering.
Build with Tessl: Go beyond writing about the product, build with it. Create apps, integrations and creative projects using Tessl that inspire and enable the developer community to do the same.
Own the Bay Area: Be Tessl's visible presence in the local AI scene. Show up at the meetups and hackathons that matter, hack alongside people, demo what you've built and present what's possible with agentic coding.
Content creation: Write articles, tutorials and guides, and produce videos that give developers practical, actionable insight into AI native development with Tessl.
Speak across the US: Travel to give customer and conference sessions around the country while keeping your main focus in the Bay.
Ecosystem exploration: Constantly explore the AI developer tooling landscape, identifying integration opportunities and ways to connect Tessl with the broader ecosystem.
Show up where developers are: Run webinars, appear on podcasts and make yourself at home in other people's communities, from Discord servers and Slack groups to subreddits and newsletters.
Already in the Bay Area scene: You're a regular at the meetups and hackathons that matter, a recognised face in the local AI developer community, and an active voice online where the discussion is happening.
Living on the edge of agentic coding: You live and breathe cutting-edge agentic development. You're using the newest tools the week they land and you have a point of view on them.
A builder's mindset: You'd rather ship something than describe it. A slick integration, a creative app, an experiment no one's tried yet, you get excited about making things.
Scrappy and self-directed: You set your own direction and get on with it. With the majority of the team in London, you're comfortable operating with less day-to-day steering.
Comfortable on the road: You have the experience to travel and present customer and conference sessions across the US.
Strong communicator: You can write and speak clearly and engagingly about technical AI topics.
Development skills: You're comfortable enough with code to build and hack on things yourself. You don't need to be a full-time engineer, but you ship.
Announcing skills on Tessl: the package manager for agent skills https://tessl.io/blog/skills-are-software-and-they-need-a-lifecycle-introducing-skills-on-tessl/
Podcast Episode: The End of Fragmented Agent Context, Guy Podjarny Tessl CEO https://youtu.be/ntkM-hRblfo

Nice-to-haves

Experience with open-source communities and contributor ecosystems
An existing network in the Bay Area AI developer tooling space
Comfort operating in a fast-moving, early-stage startup environment

Application prep

Use the role’s language and application details while tailoring your materials.

Keywords to mirror

airestgo

Platform: ashby
Effort: quick