Founding Engineer - Generalist
Summary
First Founding Engineer at a seed-stage AI startup building an agentic geospatial intelligence engine — a natural-language interface that orchestrates specialist agents over geospatial datasets to answer questions about the physical world. You'll own full-stack modules end-to-end (data ingestion, spatial computation, agent orchestration, product surfaces), in-person in San Francisco alongside the
About the Company
Our client is a seed-stage, well-capitalized AI startup in San Francisco building an agentic geospatial intelligence engine: a natural language interface that answers any question about the physical world by orchestrating specialist agents across a unified catalog of public and enterprise geospatial datasets, delivering outputs as maps, visualizations, and reports in seconds to minutes. It is built for a future where agents and bots ask most of the questions.
About the Role
The company is hiring its first Founding Engineers to build the core of a deeply horizontal system spanning data ingestion, spatial computation, agent orchestration, and product surfaces. The system is big and there is a lot to build: each engineer is expected to own outcomes end-to-end, operate with high agency, and function like a mini-founder within the org. This is an in-person role in San Francisco, working directly alongside the founder.
What You'll Own
- Own modules of the geospatial intelligence platform end-to-end, from architecture decisions through production deployment, without waiting for a playbook
- Build and iterate on core system components: data ingestion pipelines, spatial computation layers, agent orchestration logic, and output delivery surfaces
- Ship production code at high velocity, balancing technical depth with product intuition and customer outcomes
- Identify and close gaps in the system independently, proposing and executing on what needs to be built next
- Collaborate directly with the founder to shape early technical and product direction as the team scales from its first hires
Requirements
Must-Have
- 3+ years of engineering experience at real companies, with a track record of building and shipping production systems at high velocity
- Full-stack generalist ability: comfortable owning both backend systems and frontend surfaces, and moving between layers as the scope demands
- High agency and outcome orientation: operates without a defined scope or playbook, identifies what needs to be built, and executes end-to-end
- Fluency with the current AI and software stack: native to modern tooling and not dependent on legacy patterns
- Willingness to work in-person at the San Francisco office at startup intensity, with demanding hours consistent with an early-stage founding team
Nice-to-Have
- GIS or geospatial engineering background: experience with spatial data formats, GIS tooling, or location-based systems
- Applied AI research background: a paper, project, or production system that goes beyond standard ML pipeline work
- Experience at a high-velocity startup (such as Mercor, Databricks, Cognition, or similar) where you built real systems under pressure
- Competitive programming signal: IOI, ICPC, or equivalent
- Prior founding or early-employee experience at a startup where you operated without structure
Key Details
- Location: San Francisco, CA (in-person)
- Employment: Full-time
- Experience: 3+ years
- Salary: $150,000 – $350,000 USD per year, plus founding-stage equity
- Visa Sponsorship: OPT only
Benefits & Perks
- Competitive founding-stage equity
- In-office meals included
Interview Process
- Intro call with the founder
- Take-home project
- Technical debrief call
- Call with a co-founder or advisor
- Work trial (for candidates between roles)
- Offer