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# Founding Engineer

- **Company:** Recruiting from Scratch
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA, United States
- **Salary:** $150,000.0 - $250,000.0
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Artificial Intelligence, User Authentication, Cloud Computing, Databases, Programming Tools, Distributed Systems, Internet Message Access Protocols, Simple Mail Transfer Protocols, Software Deployment, Software Engineering, TypeScript, AI Infrastructure, Large Language Models, Backend, Agentic-AI, Build Management, Restful APIs, Programming Languages
- **Published:** November 2, 2026
- **Apply:** https://www.careerbuilder.com/job-details/founding-engineer-san-francisco-ca--41ba3489-a2d2-4fc2-b083-ac56d49c0258

## About the Role

Needs Assessment, Team Lead/Manager, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Startup, Seed Funding, Transformational Communications, Authentication, Artificial Intelligence (AI) Agents, Agent Communication, Team Player, * 0-5 years of professional software engineering experience, with flexibility for exceptional candidates.

 * Experience building production software at a leading technology company or well-known venture-backed startup.
 * Proven ability to own projects from concept through production deployment.
 * Strong backend engineering fundamentals, including REST API design, distributed systems, and server-side architecture.
 * Experience with TypeScript or other modern programming languages.
 * Familiarity with cloud infrastructure, scalable backend services, and production databases.
 * Strong computer science fundamentals and system design skills.
 * Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain technical tradeoffs clearly.
 * High ownership mindset with the initiative to identify opportunities beyond assigned work.
 * Must be authorized to work in the United States without current or future employer sponsorship.

Preferred

 * Experience building email, messaging, or protocol-heavy systems using technologies such as SMTP or IMAP.
 * Background at companies such as FAANG, high-growth Series A+ startups, or leading quantitative trading firms.
 * Experience with AI infrastructure, LLM tooling, developer platforms, or agent-based systems.
 * Startup experience building zero-to-one products with significant ownership.
 * Experience with cloud infrastructure, distributed systems, and developer tooling.
 * Evidence of initiative through entrepreneurship, competitive athletics, research, fellowships, or substantial personal projects.
 * Passion for AI infrastructure and emerging agent ecosystems.
 * Comfortable working in a fast-paced, highly collaborative onsite startup environment.

## Description

Recruiting from Scratch is a specialized talent firm dedicated to helping companies build exceptional teams. We partner closely with our clients to deeply understand their needs, then connect them with top-tier candidates who are not only highly skilled but also the right fit for the company's culture and vision. Our mission is simple: place the best people in the right roles to drive long-term success for both clients and candidates.
https://www.recruitingfromscratch.com, * Design and build backend APIs and infrastructure that enable AI agents to communicate, authenticate, and perform real-world tasks.

 * Own product initiatives from initial concept through architecture, implementation, deployment, and ongoing iteration.
 * Build scalable backend systems supporting production workloads, distributed services, and developer-facing APIs.
 * Develop integrations with email protocols such as IMAP and SMTP, along with authentication and messaging infrastructure.
 * Contribute across the full stack as needed, with a primary focus on backend engineering.
 * Partner directly with customers to understand requirements and support enterprise deployments.
 * Propose and execute new product ideas, growth experiments, and platform improvements.
 * Write maintainable, well-documented code that supports high-volume production systems.
 * Collaborate closely with the founding team to shape product direction, engineering culture, and long-term architecture.
 * Help build the technical foundation for a category-defining AI infrastructure platform.