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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Founding Engineer - **Company:** Recruiting from Scratch - **Location:** San Francisco, CA, United States (Remote available) - **Experience:** Experienced - **Salary:** $175,000.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Artificial Intelligence, Amazon Web Services, Applications Architecture, Application Layers, Software Applications, Cloud Computing, Software Debugging, Programming Tools, Design of User Interfaces, Human-Computer Interaction, Node.Js, Next.js, Software Deployment, Software Engineering, Software Systems, TypeScript, Data Logging, Enterprise Software Applications, ReactJS, Delivery Pipeline, Backend, Agentic-AI, Build Management, Containerization, Kubernetes, Infrastructure Automation Frameworks, Build Tools, Front End Software Development, Restful APIs, Terraform, Docker, Web Api - **Published:** October 27, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.careerbuilder.com/job-details/founding-engineer-san-francisco-ca--b1be91d8-cf26-48fe-82da-670ca5102e0e ## About the Role Funding, Software Engineering, Startup, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Artificial Intelligence (AI) Agents, High Tech Industry, Reporting Dashboards, Application Programming Interface (API), User Interface/Experience (UI/UX), Product Engineering, 3-7 years of experience in full-stack software engineering at product-led companies., This is a highly hands-on role for a product-minded engineer who wants to build rather than manage. You will own features end-to-end, work directly with early customers, make architecture and product decisions, and help scale the platform as adoption grows. The ideal candidate combines strong full-stack engineering skills with production intuition, a high degree of ownership, and the ability to build reliable systems in a fast-moving startup environment., * 3-7 years of professional full-stack software engineering experience. * Experience building products at product-led technology companies. * Experience owning features end-to-end, from concept through production. * Strong product intuition and an understanding of production systems. * Experience building applications used directly by customers or end users. * Comfortable working in a small, fast-moving startup environment. * Experience taking ownership of technical decisions with minimal oversight. * Ability to work across frontend, backend, and infrastructure when needed. * Interest in building AI-powered products and enterprise agent platforms. Technical Requirements * Strong TypeScript experience. * Strong React experience. * Experience with Next.js. * Strong Node.js backend development experience. * Experience building scalable APIs and backend systems. * Experience with AWS or comparable cloud infrastructure. * Familiarity with Terraform and infrastructure as code. * Experience with Docker and containerized applications. * Familiarity with Kubernetes and container orchestration. * Understanding of application architecture, system design, and production deployment. * Strong debugging and troubleshooting skills. * Ability to make pragmatic architecture and technical tradeoff decisions. AI, Agent & Infrastructure Requirements * Strong interest in AI agents and agent-based software systems. * Understanding of the infrastructure needed to deploy and manage AI agents in production. * Interest in agent permissions, guardrails, activity logging, and observability. * Experience building scalable and reliable production systems. * Understanding of monitoring, logging, and production troubleshooting. * Ability to design systems that can scale with growing user demand. * Familiarity with cloud infrastructure, deployment workflows, and infrastructure automation. * Experience building developer tooling or platform infrastructure is valuable. * Ability to balance infrastructure reliability with rapid product iteration. Product & Full-Stack Engineering Requirements * Strong ability to work across frontend and backend systems. * Experience building customer-facing applications with React, Next.js, and TypeScript. * Experience designing and implementing backend APIs. * Strong product intuition and an understanding of user workflows. * Experience building features from concept through production. * Comfortable making product and architecture decisions independently. * Ability to work directly with customers to understand requirements. * Strong production intuition and attention to reliability. * Experience working on developer tools, enterprise software, or AI-powered applications is valuable. * Ability to move between application development, infrastructure, and platform engineering as needed. Soft Skills * Exceptional ownership and accountability. * Highly proactive and self-directed. * Strong product instincts. * Comfortable operating without detailed specifications. * Clear and direct communicator. * Strong problem-solving skills. * Comfortable working in a small, high-velocity team. * Able to make independent technical decisions. * Comfortable receiving feedback and iterating quickly. * Willing to build rather than manage. * Strong technical curiosity. * Comfortable shifting priorities as the company evolves. * High attention to production quality. * Collaborative and team-oriented. * Motivated by hard technical problems and meaningful ownership. ## Description As a Founding Engineer, you will help build the core application layer that enables enterprises to manage agent activity, permissions, observability, and user-facing workflows. You will work across the stack, from backend systems and APIs to frontend dashboards and infrastructure., * Own the application layer of the platform, including observability, permissions, control panes, and user-facing dashboards. * Build polished interfaces that allow enterprise users to manage and monitor AI agents. * Develop frontend applications using React, Next.js, and TypeScript. * Build features from concept and design through implementation, deployment, and launch. * Ensure the application layer is reliable, secure, and intuitive for enterprise users. * Work directly with early customers to understand workflows and improve the product. * Maintain a high bar for production quality and user experience. 2. Design Scalable APIs & Backend Systems * Design and build scalable APIs and backend services. * Develop reliable application infrastructure using TypeScript and Node.js. * Build systems that support agent permissions, activity logging, and enterprise controls. * Make architecture decisions that support growing product usage and increasing system complexity. * Develop developer tooling that makes it easier to build, deploy, and manage agents. * Design systems that balance performance, security, reliability, and maintainability. * Identify and resolve bottlenecks as the platform scales. 3. Scale Agent Infrastructure & Production Systems * Help scale the infrastructure powering the agent workforce platform. * Build and maintain cloud infrastructure using AWS. * Work with Terraform, Docker, and Kubernetes to support deployment and infrastructure management. * Improve observability, monitoring, and production reliability. * Build systems that can support growing customer demand and increased agent activity. * Identify infrastructure bottlenecks and implement scalable solutions. * Establish engineering practices that support reliable deployment and continued product growth. 4. Work Directly With Customers & Own Problems End-to-End * Work directly with early customers to understand their needs and shape the product roadmap. * Lead architecture and product decisions with a high degree of autonomy. * Translate ambiguous customer problems into practical technical solutions. * Own features from initial concept through production launch. * Collaborate closely with the founding team to prioritize product and engineering work. * Balance speed of execution with reliability, security, and product quality. * Help establish engineering standards and technical practices as an early member of the team. * Contribute hands-on wherever the highest-impact engineering problem exists.