Founding Engineer

San Francisco on site Until 8/21/2026 3+ years exp First posted June 4, 2026 Last posted June 4, 2026
Job description

About the Role

A fast-moving, early-stage startup in San Francisco is looking for a Founding Engineer to join as one of the first technical hires. This is a rare opportunity to work directly with the founding team, own product decisions end-to-end, and help shape the technical direction of the company from day one. You'll wear multiple hats, move fast, and have a direct impact on what gets built and how.

What You'll Do

  • Build and ship full-stack features across the product in a 0-to-1 environment

  • Own product decisions and contribute to roadmap prioritization alongside founders

  • Set early engineering standards, architecture decisions, and development practices

  • Collaborate cross-functionally in a small, high-trust team with minimal hierarchy

  • Iterate rapidly based on user feedback and business needs

What We're Looking For

Required:

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

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent from a top-20 CS program

  • Strong product sense and comfort owning decisions in a small, cross-functional team

  • Ability to thrive in ambiguous, fast-paced founding-team environments

  • Based in San Francisco, CA or willing to relocate

  • Must be legally eligible to work in the United States without visa sponsorship

Nice to Have:

  • Experience at a FAANG-scale organization and/or an early-stage startup (a mix of both is ideal)

  • Prior experience shipping products in a 0-to-1 context

Compensation & Benefits

  • Salary: $200,000 – $300,000 USD annually

  • Equity and additional benefits commensurate with a founding-team role

Location

This role is on-site in San Francisco, CA. Candidates must be based in San Francisco or willing to relocate. Visa sponsorship is not available.

About this role

Summary

Build and ship full-stack features, own product decisions, shape technical direction

Job title

Founding Engineer

Experience level

3-7 years

Minimum experience

3+ years exp

Industry

software

Location requirements

on-site in san francisco, CA; remote not allowed

Salary

$200k–$300k

Management role

No

Skills & keywords

Required skills

full-stack software developmentbachelor's degree in CSproduct senseownershipadaptability

Preferred skills

FAANG experienceearly-stage startup experienceshipping products in 0-to-1

Specializations

full-stackproductarchitecturedevelopment
Locations

Structured locations inferred from the posting.

San Francisco, CA, USA

On-site City