Founding Engineer

Founding EngineerLocation: Onsite | San Francisco, CA Clearance: U.S. Citizen required | Active clearance a plus, not requiredEmployment Type: Full-time, salaried, with full benefits The Company & Mission:Our Client is building the AI operating system for military administrative work. Their platform replaces the spreadsheets, email chains, and disconnected legacy systems that burden service members daily — automating readiness, scheduling, deployment, and compliance workflows end to end. Already deployed with Air Force units and backed by the Pentagon's Chief Data and AI Office, the team is cutting admin time by 90% for the highest-tempo military units in the DoD. The goal: give service members back the time they need to focus on training and mission execution. What This Role is All About:This is a founding engineer role — one of the first two engineers hired. You'll work side-by-side with the founders to shape the product, engineering culture, and company from day one. You'll own the full development lifecycle, travel to military bases to work directly with service members, and translate real operator needs into software that matters. High ownership, high impact, high autonomy. What You’ll Be Doing:Own and ship full-stack features from user research through productionWork directly with service members at military bases (~1x/month) to understand workflows and iterate fastHelp shape engineering standards and culture from the ground upShip production-quality code at high frequencyPartner with founders on product strategy and roadmap decisions What You Bring:U.S. citizenship requiredStrong full-stack engineering skills across TypeScript, Next.js/Express, PostgreSQL, and AWSA bias toward shipping — high output, production-quality workComfort working in ambiguous, fast-moving early-stage environmentsLow ego, high attention to detail, and willingness to learnGenuine mission motivation — care about national security outcomes Bonus Points:Experience with Kubernetes or open-source infra (Grafana, Loki, Keycloak) in secure deploymentsFamiliarity with DoD security and compliance frameworksHands-on experience integrating LLMs into production applicationsMilitary background or veteran experienceActive U.S. security clearance Benefits:0.5% – 1.5% equityCompetitive health benefits