FoundingSenior/StaffEngineer
Buildthecompany.Shapethetechnology.Solveproblemsthatdon'thaveplaybooks.
Ourclient'searlystagestartupisbuildingsomethingambitious-Observabilityusingasingleprompt-forwhichtheyarelookingforexceptionalengineerswhowanttobefoundationaltothecompanynotjustanotherengineerontheteam.
AsaFoundingEngineer,youwon'tbeboxedintobackend,frontend,infra,orsupport.You'llgowhereverthehardestandmostinterestingproblemsare.
Asthecompanygrows,you'llhavethefreedomandresponsibilitytomoveacrossthestack,tackleproblemsyou'reuniquelygoodat,andhelpdefinehowwebuildthecompany.Therearenoartificialroadblocks.Nowaitingthreequartersforpermissiontofixsomething.Ifyouseeabetterway,you'llhavetheopportunitytobuildit.
Whatyou'llworkon
- Compressinstrumentationonboardingfromdaysofhands-onworktominutes.
- Scalethetelemetryengineintothepetabytes.
- Collapselatencyfromminutestoseconds.
- Buildsystemsthatoperateatmassivescaleandreliability.
- UseAItosolvecomplex,ambiguousengineeringproblems.
- Developtoolingthatfundamentallychangeshowdevelopersunderstandandoperatetheirsystems.
- Moveseamlesslybetweenproduct,infrastructure,developertooling,andwhateverproblemmattersmostthatweek.
Youwon'tbehandedanarrowlydefinedjobdescription.Ourclientwillfigureoutwhereyourhighest-leverageskills,curiosity,andenergycancreatethemostimpactandkeepyouthere.
Whoyouare
OurclientislookingforengineersoperatingataSenior/Stafflevelwhoarecomfortablewithsignificantautonomyandambiguity.Youlikelyhave:
- Start-upexperienceisamust(Currentlyataventure-backedpre-IPOAIcompanythathasraisedSeriesAorlater).Previouslyworkedatatop,well-knowntechnologycompany(Palantir,Affirm,OpenAI,Google,Meta,Nvidia,Apple,Microsoft,Amazon,Stripe,Databricks,ScaleAI,Uber,Airbnb,orsimilar)
- 4+yearsoftotalexperiencewith1+yearsofhands-onexperienceusingAItosolvecomplex,unstructuredproblems.ExperienceapplyingAItodevelopertoolingisamajorplus.
- Level3autonomyyoucantakeanambiguousproblem,definetheapproach,anddriveittocompletionwithoutneedingconstantdirection.
- Preferredcomputerscience/engineeringbackgroundfromtopengineeringcollege
- Strongsystemsandsoftwareengineeringfundamentals.
- Theabilitytomovebetweenlevelsofabstractionfromarchitecturetoimplementationtoproductiondebugging.
- Exceptionalcommunicationskills.Youcantakeanincrediblycomplextechnicalproblemandexplainitsimplyenoughthattheentireteamcanmakeagooddecision.
- Ademonstratededgesomethingyoudoexceptionallywellthatmakesyouunusuallyeffective.
Mostimportantly,you'resomeonewhogetsenergizedbyproblemsthathaven'tbeensolvedbefore.
Whyjoinnow?
You'llhaveanopportunitythatbecomesincreasinglyrareascompaniesgrow:
- Ourclienthasraised$10MfrominvestorsincludingKhoslaVentures,MaxLevchin,TheHouseFund,andSouthParkCommons,alongwithotherleadingangels,tobringthistechnologytotheworld.
- TheproductisalreadybeingusedbyteamsatGPTZero,Perplexity,Orb,andTogetherAI,whohaveexperiencedthedifferencefirsthand.
- Youcanhelpdefinetheproduct,architecture,engineeringculture,andcompanyitself.
- You'llworkdirectlywiththefoundingteam,haveenormousownership,andseetheresultsofyourworkimmediately.
We'reearlybutwe'renotstartingfromzero.
Compensation
- Salary:$250,000–$400,000
- Equity:0.25%–2%
Webelievefoundingengineersshouldparticipatemeaningfullyintheupsidetheyhelpcreate.
Relocation
Needtorelocate?We'llhelpmakeithappen.
- Flights
- 2weeksoftemporaryhousingneartheoffice
- Upto$10kformiscellaneousrelocationexpenses,suchaslease-breakcosts
OurInterviewProcess
Werespectyourtimeandmovequickly.
- 30-minuteconversationtogettoknowyouandtellyoumoreaboutthecompany.
- 45-minuteTechnicalinterview-1
- 45-minuteTechnicalinterview-2
- On-site9:00AM–3:00PM.TypicallyTuesdayorThursday.Flightsandhotelpaidforcandidatesifneeded.
- Offer.Forstrongcandidates,offerstypicallygooutthesamedayastheon-site,within24hours.
Comehelpusbuildthecompanyandsolveproblemsthatnobodyhassolved
