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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Founding Engineer - **Company:** Athena LLC. - **Location:** San Francisco, CA, United States (Remote available) - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Artificial Intelligence, Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems, Computer Programming, Educational Software, Programming Tools, Github, Design of User Interfaces, Human-Computer Interaction, Systems Analysis, Software Construction, AI Infrastructure, Large Language Models, Backend, Front End Software Development - **Published:** July 31, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.careerbuilder.com/job-details/founding-engineer-san-francisco-ca--abc78f96-2a6e-46f9-b8e1-de32997e05dd ## About the Role * Experience building and shipping production software across multiple layers of the stack. You've built full products real customers depend on. * Strong product instincts and engineering judgment. You instinctively know when something feels unfinished. * Exceptional attention to user experience and product quality. You care about details most people never notice. * The ability to turn ambiguous ideas into polished, intuitive products. * Experience talking directly with users and incorporating feedback into product decisions. You regularly sync with users because product intuition isn't built from dashboards. * A track record of operating independently in early-stage or fast-moving environments. * AI makes you faster, not less rigorous, accelerating development without compromising quality. * You want to spend the next several years building something from zero. We're less interested in your exact technology stack than your judgment, curiosity, and ability to build products people genuinely love. Nice to Have * Experience as an early engineer or founder * Experience building consumer products * Experience building AI-native products * Experience with LLMs, agents, retrieval systems, evaluation frameworks, or AI infrastructure * Passion for education and helping people learn, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Computer Programming, Continuous Improvement, Conversation Engine, Educational Software, GitHub, Machine Tool, Memory Hardware, Power Amplifier, Product Design, Product Development, Product Engineering, Product Planning, Product Strategy, Product Testing, Product/Service Launch, Production Systems, Programming Tools, Psychology, Reporting Dashboards, Student Conduct, Systems Analysis, Team Building, Team Lead/Manager, Technical Recruiting, Technical Strategy, Training/Teaching, User Interface/Experience (UI/UX), YouTube ## Description We're looking for our first Founding Engineer who will define Athena as much as the founder does and help build both the product and the technical foundation at Athena. You'll spend more time debating product decisions with the founder to turn ambitious ideas into software students genuinely love using (instead of implementing tickets). You'll help define our engineering culture, shape the product roadmap, and establish what AI-native learning should look like. This role goes well beyond engineering execution. Great education products sit at the intersection of engineering, product, design, psychology, and learning science. Every engineering decision changes how someone learns. We're looking for someone who wants to build a great company, not just write code. How We Build We care as much about how we build as what we build. * Product taste and good design matter. We believe great design keeps students engaged. We obsess over the moments most teams ignore: the pacing of an explanation, the moment encouragement appears, the friction between opening the app and making progress. We want Athena to feel less like educational software and more like a product students genuinely look forward to using. If Athena feels like "another AI app," we've failed. * Students' outcomes win every argument. Every decision starts with one question: does this genuinely help students learn? * Ship early and learn fast. We believe real student behavior is more valuable than internal debate. We ship, observe, learn, and iterate relentlessly. * AI should raise the quality bar. We use AI throughout our development process to move faster, but never to lower our standards. AI should amplify craftsmanship, not replace it. Why This Role Matters The hard problem is building software students trust enough to learn with every day. That means solving personalization, memory, motivation, evaluation, and product design at once. As Athena's first Founding Engineer, you'll help define what AI-native education looks like. You'll influence not only the architecture, but also the product, the culture, and the standards we build around. The architectural decisions you make in year one may still shape Athena a decade from now. What You'll Own You'll own the following across both product and engineering: * Designing learning experiences students genuinely enjoy using * Helping every student make measurable progress through personalized, AI-powered tutoring * Defining how Athena remembers what students know and decides what they should learn next * Building the systems that measure whether students are actually learning and not just completing exercises * Establishing the engineering architecture, tooling, and standards that allow Athena to move quickly as we scale * Partnering with the founder on product direction, technical strategy, and building the engineering team At a skill level, you'll work across: * Full-stack product development spanning frontend, backend, AI systems, and infrastructure * Production AI systems that combine reasoning, retrieval, evaluation, and continuous improvement from student interactions * Product quality, performance, and user experience * Engineering architecture, developer tooling, and infrastructure that enable rapid, high-quality iteration This role spans the entire stack. One week you may be designing a new learning experience or refining how Athena adapts to an individual student. The next week, you may be improving AI evaluation systems, optimizing infrastructure, strengthening engineering foundations, or shipping features inspired directly by student feedback. What Success Looks Like During your first 6 to 9 months, your focus will be on three priorities. * Students voluntarily return every week: Build the next versions of Athena and the learning experiences that students return to because they genuinely help them make progress. * Engineering velocity increases rather than slows: Establish scalable architecture, engineering standards, and systems that allow the company to move quickly without sacrificing quality. * Partner closely with the founder on product direction, architecture, hiring, and engineering culture: As one of the earliest employees, you'll help shape not only the product, but how Athena operates. ## Related Videos - [Innovating Developer Tools with AI: Insights from GitHub Next](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1268-innovating-developer-tools-with-ai-insights-from-github-next) - [Developing the Backend with Stefan Lingler, CTO at Shpock](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100360-developing-the-backend-with-stefan-lingler-cto-at-shpock) - [Data Science in Retail](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/586-data-science-in-retail) - [Building Products in the era of GenAI](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/827-building-products-in-the-era-of-genai) - [Bringing AI Model Testing and Prompt Management to Your Codebase with GitHub Models](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1536-bringing-ai-model-testing-and-prompt-management-to-your-codebase-with-github-models) - [Designing AI-first products: When the interface is no longer the product](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/2062-designing-ai-first-products-when-the-interface-is-no-longer-the-product) ## Related Articles - [Navigating the AI Shift](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/629-navigating-the-ai-shift) - [How to Become an AI Engineer](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/331-how-to-become-an-ai-engineer) - [What is Software Engineering in the Age of AI?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/640-what-is-software-engineering-in-the-age-of-ai) - [Dev Digest 137 - AI'm not sure about this](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/485-dev-digest-137-ai-m-not-sure-about-this) - [MLOps And AI Driven Development](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/82-mlops-and-ai-driven-development) - [Never delegate the understanding](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/749-never-delegate-the-understanding)