Founding/Early-Stage Software Engineer

The FOUNDING/EARLY-STAGE SOFTWARE ENGINEER role involves owning products, features, or core systems from concept through deployment. This position contributes by making technical and product decisions in fast-paced environments, collaborating with founders and stakeholders, and shaping engineering culture. The role offers significant ownership and impact on product direction and technical architecture., * Own product features and core systems from architecture to production.

• Build backend services, APIs, data infrastructure, frontend interfaces, and cloud systems.
• Develop AI-native workflows using LLMs, agents, and tool integrations where relevant.
• Make pragmatic architecture and product decisions with limited process.
• Collaborate with founders, customers, and stakeholders to identify problems and deliver software.
• Integrate external APIs, business systems, and data sources.
• Establish engineering patterns, tooling, testing, and observability as teams grow.
• Help shape engineering culture and potentially mentor or lead other engineers.

• Strong professional software engineering experience with production deployments.
• Ability to take ambiguous problems to complete production solutions independently.
• Solid backend, full-stack, product engineering, or systems fundamentals.
• Proficiency in one or more modern languages such as Python, TypeScript/JavaScript, Go, Java, or Rust.
• Comfortable working across multiple product layers.
• High agency, strong problem-solving skills, and adaptability in fast-paced environments.
• Demonstrated technical impact, rapid growth, or startup experience.
• Clear communication of technical decisions and tradeoffs.

Pay Range and Compensation Package:

• Compensation ranges from $175,000 to $275,000 base.
• Opportunity for meaningful equity ownership.

Benefits & Perks:

• Comprehensive health benefits including medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• 401(k) retirement plans, often with employer matching.

Equal Opportunity Statement: Our client is an equal opportunity employer. They celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or national origin.

Note:

TalentHop is a recruitment partner of this role. Please note that all employment decisions, including candidate assessment, interviews, hiring, compensation, and employment terms, are made exclusively by the hiring employer.

The organization partners with a portfolio of venture-backed AI and technology companies focused on building innovative products. These companies address challenges in applied AI, LLMs, agentic systems, developer tooling, data infrastructure, and AI-enabled vertical software. They range from early founding teams to rapidly scaling startups requiring versatile engineers capable of taking ambiguous problems to production-ready solutions.