> Markdown version of [/jobs/ext/3037147-founding-engineer](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/3037147-founding-engineer). Every page supports `.md` or `Accept: text/markdown`. Links point to the HTML versions so they work for humans too. Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md).

---

# Founding Engineer

- **Company:** David Joseph & Company
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA, United States
- **Salary:** $180,000.0 - $230,000.0
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Artificial Intelligence, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), Software as a Service, Software Debugging, Design of User Interfaces, Human-Computer Interaction, Python (Programming Language), Software Engineering, Management of Software Versions, Scripting, ReactJS, Large Language Models, Backend, Build Management, Front End Software Development
- **Published:** September 23, 2026
- **Apply:** https://www.careerbuilder.com/job-details/founding-engineer-san-francisco-ca--9e9771c3-33d9-4b4c-bc38-d3ebcebaf368

## About the Role

* 1-5 years building full-stack products at a venture-backed B2B SaaS startup (roughly pre-seed through Series C) with real, paying customers
 * Genuinely full-stack, with strong front-end, UX, and customer-facing product experience - not backend-only
 * Hands-on experience shipping production AI-agent features to real users: LLM agents, RAG pipelines, or agent orchestration (frameworks or custom-built)
 * Comfortable working with React and Python
 * A CS undergraduate degree
 * Thrives in ambiguous, fast-moving environments and takes high ownership
 * Strong product instincts, with genuine excitement about turning user feedback into shipped code

Nice to Haves

 * Prior experience at a venture-backed sales-tech startup, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Artificial Intelligence (AI) Agents, Business-to-Business (B2B), CSS (Cascading Style Sheet), Customer Relations, Customer/Client Research, Debugging Skills, Identify Issues, Product Demonstration, Prototyping, Python Programming/Scripting Language, SLICE (Simulation Language with Integrated Circuit Emphasis), Sales Demonstration, Software Development, Software as a Service (SaaS), Startup, Technical Sales, User Interface/Experience (UI/UX)

## Description

This is a true full-stack founding role with no fixed lane. You'll build across the entire product alongside the technical founder - the conversational agent, the embeddable customer-facing experience, the internal platform, the evaluation and self-improvement pipeline, and the infrastructure underneath it. You'll usually get a problem statement rather than a spec and own the solution end to end, shipping quickly and iterating in production.

What you'll be doing

 * Diagnose and fix live customer agents, then ship fixes to the orchestration layer the same day
 * Prototype generative UI that adapts in real time to what each prospect cares about
 * Own an eval pipeline: catch quality regressions, trace root causes, roll back, and add tests
 * Design and build net-new infrastructure (e.g. versioning so customers can preview agent changes before they go live)
 * Move across the stack as the problem requires, including the unglamorous work - CSS, migrations, and customer debugging


## Related Videos

- [JavaScript? No. Java Scripts! - Scripting with Java](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/2094-javascript-no-java-scripts-scripting-with-java)
- [Developing the Backend with Stefan Lingler, CTO at Shpock](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100360-developing-the-backend-with-stefan-lingler-cto-at-shpock)
- [Watch Tests Go Brrrr! : Getting Started with Cypress in ReactJS](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/282-watch-tests-go-brrrr-getting-started-with-cypress-in-reactjs)
- [Building the Next Generation of Software](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100186-building-the-next-generation-of-software)
- [Intermediate Bitcoin Script](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/25-intermediate-bitcoin-script)
- [Nest.js - TypeScript in the backend can also be clean](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1033-nest-js-typescript-in-the-backend-can-also-be-clean)

## Related Articles

- [Dev Digest 120 - Apple and peers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/455-dev-digest-120-apple-and-peers)
- [Never delegate the understanding](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/749-never-delegate-the-understanding)
- [Navigating the AI Shift](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/629-navigating-the-ai-shift)
- [Dev Digest 137 - AI'm not sure about this](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/485-dev-digest-137-ai-m-not-sure-about-this)
- [Dev Digest 129 - Now that's what I call private data!](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/468-dev-digest-129-now-that-s-what-i-call-private-data)
- [Dev Digest 122 - Cracks in the polyfill](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/457-dev-digest-122-cracks-in-the-polyfill)