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Founding Engineer
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Posted 2 months ago
Full Time
San Francisco, California
$200,000 Annually
About the Role
Our client is building modern software to automate highly manual workflows within a massive global industry historically reliant on spreadsheets, email, and fragmented tools. The platform replaces document-heavy processes with AI-native systems that streamline validation, coordination, and risk workflows.
As the Founding Engineer, you will be the first engineering hire beyond the founding team and will play a key role in shaping both the product and the company. You will work end-to-end across the stack, collaborating directly with founders to bring structure to ambiguous problems and ship production-ready systems quickly.
Expect deep ownership of the codebase and infrastructure, significant influence over technical direction, and the opportunity to build applied AI systems from the ground up. This is a highly autonomous, high-impact role suited for someone excited about building foundational technology in an early-stage environment.
Why Candidates Should Join
This is a rare opportunity to join at the earliest stage and help define the technical and product direction of a high-growth company operating in a multi-trillion-dollar global market.You will work directly with experienced founders, build AI-native workflows that solve meaningful real-world problems, and have significant ownership over both technical decisions and company trajectory. The role offers strong equity upside and the ability to create lasting impact on an industry undergoing significant technological transformation.
Tech Stack
ReactTypeScript
Node.js
Go
Java
Python
MongoDB
SQL
Experience
4+ years of software engineering experience with strong evidence of high-quality work and ownershipExperience working in early-stage startups where ambiguity and autonomy are expected
Background at modern enterprise software companies or high-growth startups
Former Founder or Founding Engineer experience preferred
Strong full-stack TypeScript experience (React + Node)
Proficiency in at least one statically typed language such as Go or Java
Experience building and shipping production systems end-to-end
Hands-on experience building or integrating applied AI systems such as LLMs or agents in production environments
Familiarity with transformer-based tooling or Hugging Face ecosystem
Experience leveraging AI-assisted development tools such as Cursor or Windsurf
Strong curiosity and interest in learning new tools, technologies, and domains
Ability to operate effectively in ambiguous environments
Strong product mindset and ability to translate user problems into technical solutions
Interest in workflow automation, AI-native software, or complex operational industries
What Doesn't Work
Candidates without hands-on experience building or shipping AI-enabled production systemsCandidates seeking fully remote or contract-only arrangements
Candidates lacking strong full-stack TypeScript experience
Candidates overly focused on compensation vs long-term ownership and impact
Candidates who prefer highly structured environments with limited ambiguity
Candidates significantly overqualified for early-stage environments or too junior to operate independently
