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# Senior Software Engineer (Founding-Level)

- **Company:** BUSTEM INCORPORATED
- **Location:** New York, NY, United States
- **Experience:** Expert
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Artificial Intelligence, PostgreSQL, Next.js, Software Engineering, TypeScript, Large Language Models, Backend
- **Published:** November 8, 2026
- **Apply:** https://www.juju.com/job/28_25197_a7cf025c550513ead5c44afa5905711a

## About the Role

* You take full ownership once something's handed to you - it comes back done to the right standard, without anyone needing to check in or course-correct along the way.
 * 5+ years of professional software engineering experience, with meaningful time at an early-stage or bootstrapped startup - ideally as a founding or near-founding engineer.
 * Have owned a system end-to-end at real scale and can point to actual users, requests, or data volume.
 * 1+ years operating with minimal senior oversight; you don't need a fully-scoped spec to start moving.
 * Comfortable making architecture tradeoffs independently, with real production-incident ownership.
 * Track record of shipping to real, paying customers - not just internal tools or side projects.
 * Strong product instincts - you think about UX and usability, not just backend correctness, and you're quick to notice when a feature isn't landing with users and ask why.
 * A clear, energetic communicator - you explain tradeoffs simply and bring real energy to the work, not just heads-down execution.
 * Proficient with Next.js, Postgres, and TypeScript, and comfortable integrating AI and LLMs into engineering workflows to reduce manual work.

## Description

We're hiring a Senior Software Engineer at the founding level - someone who has already built and owned something from scratch, not someone looking for their first 0-to-1 experience. You'll work at the core of Bustem's product: the real-time detection and enforcement systems that protect 120+ brands from counterfeiters and unauthorized sellers.

This is a peer-level technical hire, not a junior seat executing someone else's spec. You'll work closely with our CTO and have real autonomy to make architecture and build-vs-buy calls independently - and to raise the technical bar for the rest of the engineering team., * Construct AI-powered scraping and detection systems that monitor marketplaces, social platforms, and the open web.

 * Identify infringers and unauthorized sellers as they emerge in real time, and build agents and workflows that automate takedown reporting at scale across 120+ brands.

Own Systems & Infrastructure End-to-End

 * Design and own scalable backend systems and APIs using Next.js, Postgres, and TypeScript.
 * Take real production-incident ownership and leverage LLMs to cut manual engineering work and increase team throughput.

What Great Looks Like

 * You can be handed something and never have to be checked up on - it comes back done right, to the standard it needed to be done to.
 * You've built a concrete 0-to-1 system here that didn't exist before - not an incremental feature.
 * What you ship is intuitive and easy to use, not just technically correct - you notice when something isn't landing with users and dig into why.
 * Other engineers are better because you're on the team, through direct mentorship or the standard your work sets.
 * You make sound architecture calls independently, treat incidents as your problem to solve, and make Bustem's systems faster, more reliable, and harder to game., * Daily lunch and dinner stipend, bi-weekly team events, and a direct close working relationship with the founder and CTO.
 * Ground-floor technical ownership at a profitable, bootstrapped company

This range may span several levels that could apply to the role. Final salary depends on factors like level, relevant experience, skills, and expertise.