Founding Engineer

Department: Engineering

Location: San Francisco

Employment Type: FullTime

About the Role

We're looking for a Founding Engineer to join a fast-growing, early-stage startup in San Francisco. This is a rare opportunity to get in at the ground floor — you'll work directly with the founding team, own significant product surface area, and help shape the technical direction of the company from day one. You'll be a true 0-to-1 builder: someone who thrives in ambiguity, moves fast, and cares deeply about both code quality and product outcomes.

What You'll Do

• Design, build, and ship full-stack features end-to-end — from database schema to polished UI

• Own large areas of the product with minimal oversight, making key technical and product decisions

• Collaborate closely with founders and early team members to define and execute on the product roadmap

• Establish engineering foundations: architecture, tooling, processes, and best practices

• Contribute meaningfully to product direction, not just implementation

• Iterate quickly based on user feedback, data, and business priorities

What We're Looking For

Required:

• 3–7 years of full-stack software development experience

• Proven experience building products 0-to-1 at an early-stage startup — including owning product in a small team

• Strong proficiency in both frontend and backend development

• CS degree from a top-20 university program

• Strong product sense and the ability to think like a product owner, not just an implementer

• Based in San Francisco, CA or willing to relocate

• Eligible to work in the United States without visa sponsorship

Nice to Have:

• Experience at a high-growth startup or a large-scale technology company (FAANG-equivalent)

• Comfort operating in fast-paced, resource-constrained environments

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary: $200,000 – $300,000 USD annually (dependent on experience)

• Equity participation as an early founding team member

Location

This role is on-site in San Francisco, CA. Candidates must be located in San Francisco or willing to relocate. No visa sponsorship is available for this position.