Founding Full-Stack Engineer

Job Description Founding Full-Stack Product Engineer (AI-Native)On-Site | San Francisco | Full-Time$160K–$220K base + meaningful equityH-1B transfers supportedThe BarThis is a founding engineer seat at an early-stage AI company building core infrastructure for LLM-powered systems.If you need tight requirements, stable roadmaps, or a slow ramp, this is not the role.If you ship fast, think clearly, and believe AI-native development changes how software should be built — keep reading.What Youll OwnEnd-to-end product engineering: backend, frontend, infrastructureAI-driven product features (context engineering, internal GenAI tooling)Telemetry, observability, and system intelligenceDirect interaction with founders and early customersFast iteration under incomplete informationYou will regularly switch between products, systems, and customer realities. That's the job.Non-Negotiables5+ years building and shipping real products as a full-stack engineerStrong backend bias (60/40 backend/frontend)Production experience with TypeScript, Node, Next.jsStartup experience where priorities changed weekly — and you still shippedYou actively use AI tools in your daily workflow (not interested in learning)Clear, concise communicator — in writing and conversationStrong SignalsSeed to Series A startup experienceExperience with developer tooling, telemetry, or infra-adjacent systemsPublic technical thinking (blog, GitHub, X, talks)Evidence of learning velocity over pedigreeRed Flags (We Will Screen Out)Long resumes with vague impactPure big-tech backgrounds without recent startup experienceEngineers are optimized for promotion cycles instead of ownershipLow-intensity, low-urgency working stylesCandidates who talk about AI but don't use itEnvironmentIn-person, 5 days/week in San FranciscoHigh-trust, high-expectation cultureNot a 9–5 shop — consistency and output matterSmall senior team, direct founder accessInterview ProcessFounder screen (~15 minutes)Final on-site loop (up to 4 hours)OutcomeBest case: you help define a category and build systems that scale with AI. Worst case: you leave with elite experience, a powerful network, and accelerated growth.