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Head Of Science Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Valency Systems Inc

Head of Engineering

Berkeley, CA · On-site

If you care about open science, advancing research at the speed of thought, and using AI to ... The Position As our Head of Engineering, you will report directly to the CEO. You will own the ...

Valency Systems Inc

Head of Research

Berkeley, CA · On-site

If you care about open science, advancing research at the speed of thought, and using AI to ... The Position As our Head of Research , with a PhD or advanced degree in Computer Science ...

EarnIn

Head of Machine Learning

Mountain View, CA · Hybrid

$477K - $583K/yr

POSITION SUMMARY We are seeking an experienced and visionary Head of Machine Learning to lead and ... Drive a culture of scientific and engineering rigor and real-world pragmatism in your team's work ...

Foster Farms

Head of Maintenance

Fresno, CA

$175K - $275K/yr

Position Summary The Head of Maintenance is responsible for planning, organizing, and directing all ... Qualifications Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering preferred, or equivalent work ...

Quince

Head of Performance

Palo Alto, CA · Hybrid

As a Head of Performance, you will serve as the dedicated financial thought partner to our Growth ... You will partner daily with our Marketing, Data Science, Inventory Planning, and Storefront teams ...

Foster Farms

Head of Maintenance

Fresno, CA · On-site

$175K - $275K/yr

Position Summary The Head of Maintenance is responsible for planning, organizing, and directing all ... Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering preferred, or equivalent work experience.

OpenAI Foundation

Head of Talent

San Francisco, CA · On-site

... scientific discovery, more personalized services in healthcare and education, new tools for ... About the Role We are looking for our founding Head of Talent: a proven talent leader who will own ...

sweetgreen

Head of Culinary

Los Angeles, CA · On-site

Head of Culinary sweetgreen is on a mission to build healthier communities by connecting people to ... Bachelor's degree in Culinary Arts, Food Science, or a related field (Master's degree preferred ...

sweetgreen

Head of Culinary

Los Angeles, CA · On-site

Head of Culinary sweetgreen is on a mission to build healthier communities by connecting people to ... Bachelor's degree in Culinary Arts, Food Science, or a related field (Master's degree preferred ...

ZEISS

Head of Supply Chain and Logistics

Dublin, CA · On-site

$205K - $232K/yr

As the pioneers of science, ZEISS handles the ever-changing environments in a fast-paced world ... The Head of Supply Chain and Logistics is responsible for the strategic leadership, operational ...

ZEISS

Head of Supply Chain and Logistics

Dublin, CA · On-site

$205K - $232K/yr

As the pioneers of science, ZEISS handles the ever-changing environments in a fast-paced world ... The Head of Supply Chain and Logistics is responsible for the strategic leadership, operational ...

Mantari

Head of Software

Torrance, CA · On-site +1

$141K - $189K/yr

You'll partner closely with the Head of Weather (who owns forecasting science), and Growth team and Forward Deployed Engineers(who integrate customer systems). Your job: turn the full-stack vision ...

Quince

Head of Performance

Palo Alto, CA · On-site

$230K - $258K/yr

As a Head of Performance, you will serve as the dedicated financial thought partner to our Growth ... You will partner daily with our Marketing, Data Science, Inventory Planning, and Storefront teams ...

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Head Of Science information

See California salary details

$285.7K

$301K

$314.8K

How much do head of science jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 31, 2026, the average yearly pay for head of science in California is $301,005.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $293,600.00 and $308,400.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What does a head of science do?

A head of science oversees scientific research and development within an organization, managing teams of scientists and ensuring projects meet objectives. They develop strategies, coordinate experiments, analyze data, and ensure compliance with safety and regulatory standards, often requiring strong leadership and technical expertise. This role typically involves collaboration across departments and may require advanced degrees in science or related fields.

What are the most commonly searched types of Of Science jobs in California?

The most popular types of Of Science jobs in California are:

What cities in California are hiring for Head Of Science jobs?

Cities in California with the most Head Of Science job openings:

Head Of Science jobs near you
Infographic showing various Head Of Science job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 71% Full Time, 24% Part Time, and 4% Contract. Highlights an 74% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 23% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $301,005 per year, or $144.7 per hour.

Head of Engineering

Valency Systems Inc

Berkeley, CA • On-site

Full-time

Re-posted 24 days ago

Job description

About Valency
Valency Systems is a small, dynamic team of engineers, scientists, and researchers building the global hub for the agentic research era.
We're based in Berkeley, California, and we're building something that matters. If you care about open science, advancing research at the speed of thought, and using AI to accelerate discovery, we'd love to talk.
Our team is hybrid. We come together in person 3 days a week, with the option for 2 days of remote work.
The Position
As our Head of Engineering, you will report directly to the CEO. You will own the technical architecture, define the engineering culture, hire and grow an engineering team, and shape how we build and ship.
You'll be hands-on, building your engineering organization from the ground up and leveraging the power of AI coding tools to accelerate innovation. You will work in tight collaboration with world-class peers in Head of Science and Head of Research. You will make sure we are building the right things, the right way, at the right speed.
If you thrive in a small, collaborative, fast-moving environments where technical decisions have immediate, visible impact on the product and the team, this role was built for you!
What You'll Do
Technical leadership & architecture
  • Own the technical roadmap, making architectural decisions that balance shipping speed with long-term scalability
  • Drive the evolution of our cloud-based infrastructure
  • Anticipate scaling and reliability challenges before they become expensive, staying ahead of the product to validate approaches and surface unknowns early
  • Establish engineering practices and standards that will scale as the team grows from a handful of engineers to a full organization

Hands-on engineering
  • Champion AI-tool fluency across the team, using tools like Claude Code as force multipliers
  • This is a building role, not a meetings role
  • Make key technical decisions across backend services, data infrastructure, and developer tooling
  • Drive measurable improvements in system performance, reliability, and operational cost
  • Build a robust infrastructure that will scale, as we serve the needs of the global scientific community

Cross-functional leadership
  • Be a true partner to the Head of Research and Head of Science - this is not a hand-off relationship, but tight collaborative loops
  • Work in close alignment with product to translate user needs and requirements into engineering priorities
  • Translate complex technical tradeoffs into clear, actionable guidance for technical and non-technical stakeholders alike

People & culture
  • Recruit, hire, and mentor a world-class engineering team across backend, frontend, infrastructure, and security
  • Build a culture where shipping fast (excellence), learning continuously (curiosity), and being good humans (kindness) can coexist
  • Foster an environment of intellectual humility, open source contribution, and AI-native development practices

What We're Looking For
Required
  • Significant experience building and leading engineering teams at early-stage or high-growth companies
  • Genuine fluency with AI coding tools: you already use them daily, to solve real problems, not just experimentally
  • Deep hands-on expertise with cloud-native architectures
  • Some experience with Model Context Protocol (MCP), agentic frameworks, or AI-tool integration patterns
  • A track record of scaling and shipping production systems under real constraints, not just designing them, but delivering them
  • Ability to operate with high autonomy in a fast-moving, resource-constrained environment
Preferred
  • Experience with our stack or adjacent: Node.js/TypeScript, AWS Lambda/CDK/Step Functions, PostgreSQL, Cloudflare
  • Experience scaling teams through key growth inflection points (e.g., 5 → 20 engineers)
  • Familiarity with ML infrastructure, vector search, or document processing pipelines (added bonus for experience in research/academia)
  • Familiarity with auth systems (e.g. OAuth) and observability tooling

Apply