San Francisco, CA · On-site
$200 - $250/hr
Clear 0-to-1 experience as a founder, founding engineer, or early engineer at a venture-backed startup. Strong backend engineering skills and the ability to own work across the full stack. Experience ...
New
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$200 - $250/hr
Clear 0-to-1 experience as a founder, founding engineer, or early engineer at a venture-backed startup. Strong backend engineering skills and the ability to own work across the full stack. Experience ...
New
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$180K - $250K/yr
Clear 0-to-1 experience as a founder, founding engineer, or early engineer at a venture-backed startup. Strong backend engineering skills and the ability to own work across the full stack. Experience ...
Quick apply
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$180K - $250K/yr
Clear 0-to-1 experience as a founder, founding engineer, or early engineer at a venture-backed startup. Strong backend engineering skills and the ability to own work across the full stack. Experience ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$180K - $250K/yr
Clear 0-to-1 experience as a founder, founding engineer, or early engineer at a venture-backed startup. Strong backend engineering skills and the ability to own work across the full stack. Experience ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$180K - $250K/yr
Clear 0-to-1 experience as a founder, founding engineer, or early engineer at a venture-backed startup. Strong backend engineering skills and the ability to own work across the full stack. Experience ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$100K - $180K/yr
Experience as a founder, founding engineer, or very early startup employee is a strong plus. * Familiarity with construction, real estate, or PDF workflows is a bonus. * Proficiency with Tailwind CSS ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$100K - $180K/yr
Experience as a founder, founding engineer, or very early startup employee is a strong plus. * Familiarity with construction, real estate, or PDF workflows is a bonus. * Proficiency with Tailwind CSS ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$100K - $180K/yr
Experience as a founder, founding engineer, or very early startup employee is a strong plus. * Familiarity with construction, real estate, or PDF workflows is a bonus. * Proficiency with Tailwind CSS ...
Quick apply
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$100K - $180K/yr
Experience as a founder, founding engineer, or very early startup employee is a strong plus. * Familiarity with construction, real estate, or PDF workflows is a bonus. * Proficiency with Tailwind CSS ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$152K/yr
... as a founder, founding engineer, or a 0-1 pre-seed startup is a big plus • Comfortable with ambiguity, eager to prototype and iterate quickly • Strong sense of ownership -- prefers to build ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$152K/yr
... as a founder, founding engineer, or a 0-1 pre-seed startup is a big plus • Comfortable with ambiguity, eager to prototype and iterate quickly • Strong sense of ownership -- prefers to build ...
New York, NY · On-site
$150K - $200K/yr
Has experience at top start ups or big tech companies companies; or is an ex-founder/founding engineer; or someone who obsesses over side projects (deployed and live, ideally). * Comfortable with ...
New York, NY · On-site
$150K - $200K/yr
Has experience at top start ups or big tech companies companies; or is an ex-founder/founding engineer; or someone who obsesses over side projects (deployed and live, ideally). * Comfortable with ...
Bodega Bay, CA · On-site
Comfortable working in early-stage startups or autonomous roles, prior experience as a founder, founding engineer, or a 0-1 pre-seed startup is a big plus Mindset: * Comfortable with ambiguity, eager ...
Quick apply
Bodega Bay, CA · On-site
Comfortable working in early-stage startups or autonomous roles, prior experience as a founder, founding engineer, or a 0-1 pre-seed startup is a big plus Mindset: * Comfortable with ambiguity, eager ...
The ideal candidate has lived the 0-to-1 journey before, whether as a founder, founding engineer, or early technical hire. You know how to make progress with limited scaffolding, talk directly with ...
The ideal candidate has lived the 0-to-1 journey before, whether as a founder, founding engineer, or early technical hire. You know how to make progress with limited scaffolding, talk directly with ...
Founding Engineer / Technical Co-Founder This is a hands-on builder role joining a de-risked, already-built platform with production systems, filed IP, incorporated entity, and live payment ...
Quick apply
Founding Engineer / Technical Co-Founder This is a hands-on builder role joining a de-risked, already-built platform with production systems, filed IP, incorporated entity, and live payment ...
Comfortable working in early‑stage startups or autonomous roles; prior experience as a founder, founding engineer, or a 0‑1 pre‑seed startup is a big plus Mindset * Comfortable with ambiguity ...
Comfortable working in early‑stage startups or autonomous roles; prior experience as a founder, founding engineer, or a 0‑1 pre‑seed startup is a big plus Mindset * Comfortable with ambiguity ...
Comfortable working in early‑stage startups or autonomous roles; prior experience as a founder, founding engineer, or a 0‑1 pre‑seed startup is a big plus. Mindset * Comfortable with ambiguity ...
Comfortable working in early‑stage startups or autonomous roles; prior experience as a founder, founding engineer, or a 0‑1 pre‑seed startup is a big plus. Mindset * Comfortable with ambiguity ...
New York, NY · On-site
$140K - $190K/yr
Background may include top startups or big tech, ex-founder / founding engineer experience, or serious side projects that are shipped and live * Comfortable with Python and TypeScript Pedigree is not ...
New York, NY · On-site
$140K - $190K/yr
Background may include top startups or big tech, ex-founder / founding engineer experience, or serious side projects that are shipped and live * Comfortable with Python and TypeScript Pedigree is not ...
New York, NY · Hybrid
$120K - $180K/yr
Founding Engineer Package: $120k - $180k + equity Location: New York City (3 days per week in ... This is a true 0→1, founder-mentality role - ideal for someone who thrives in ambiguity, owns ...
Quick apply
New York, NY · Hybrid
$120K - $180K/yr
Founding Engineer Package: $120k - $180k + equity Location: New York City (3 days per week in ... This is a true 0→1, founder-mentality role - ideal for someone who thrives in ambiguity, owns ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$150K - $300K/yr
Experience as a former founder, or as a founding/early engineer who built a product 0 to 1 at a fast-growing, high-caliber startup. * A degree from a strong technical program, or a clear academic ...
Quick apply
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$150K - $300K/yr
Experience as a former founder, or as a founding/early engineer who built a product 0 to 1 at a fast-growing, high-caliber startup. * A degree from a strong technical program, or a clear academic ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$1.0K/day
They are seeking a Founding Engineer to work directly with the founder on complex problems in real-time AI interaction, spanning backend infrastructure, ML model integration, and frontend surfaces.
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$1.0K/day
They are seeking a Founding Engineer to work directly with the founder on complex problems in real-time AI interaction, spanning backend infrastructure, ML model integration, and frontend surfaces.
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$200 - $250/hr
About the Role You'll be a Founding Engineer at Solderable, building the core AI-assisted PCB ... Startup or founder experience; comfort with ambiguity and wearing many hats. * Strong software ...
New
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$200 - $250/hr
About the Role You'll be a Founding Engineer at Solderable, building the core AI-assisted PCB ... Startup or founder experience; comfort with ambiguity and wearing many hats. * Strong software ...
New
San Francisco, CA · On-site
... seeking a Founding Engineer to join their team. The role requires a strong focus on developing ... Responsibilities : • You gotta be in founder mode. • Next.js web / React Native app. • ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
... seeking a Founding Engineer to join their team. The role requires a strong focus on developing ... Responsibilities : • You gotta be in founder mode. • Next.js web / React Native app. • ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$120K - $200K/yr
About the Role This is a founding engineering role at a early-stage hardware-meets-software startup ... Comfort with ambiguity and the pace of an early-stage startup; prior founder or startup experience ...
Quick apply
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$120K - $200K/yr
About the Role This is a founding engineering role at a early-stage hardware-meets-software startup ... Comfort with ambiguity and the pace of an early-stage startup; prior founder or startup experience ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$175K - $225K/yr
About the Role Join an early-stage consumer AI startup as a Founding Engineer - a rare 1-of-1 role ... Build across the full application, collaborating closely with the founder, design team, and other ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$175K - $225K/yr
About the Role Join an early-stage consumer AI startup as a Founding Engineer - a rare 1-of-1 role ... Build across the full application, collaborating closely with the founder, design team, and other ...
$17.07 - $20.80
3% of jobs
$20.80 - $24.54
7% of jobs
$24.54 - $28.28
13% of jobs
$28.65 is the 25th percentile. Wages below this are outliers.
$28.28 - $32.01
16% of jobs
The median wage is $35.41 / hr.
$32.01 - $35.75
12% of jobs
$35.75 - $39.49
14% of jobs
$42.72 is the 75th percentile. Wages above this are outliers.
$39.49 - $43.23
12% of jobs
$43.23 - $46.96
7% of jobs
$46.96 - $50.70
9% of jobs
$50.70 - $54.44
5% of jobs
$54.44 - $58.17
2% of jobs
$17
$37
$58
| Aspect | Founder Founding Engineer | CTO |
|---|---|---|
| Required credentials | Technical expertise, startup experience | Technical background, leadership skills |
| Work environment | Early-stage startup, hands-on role | Growing company, strategic leadership |
| Employer and industry usage | Startup founders, tech companies | Established companies, tech industry |
| Common search intent | Understanding startup technical roles | Leadership in tech companies |
The Founder Founding Engineer is typically a technical co-founder involved in building the product from the ground up in a startup environment. In contrast, a CTO often holds a leadership role overseeing technology strategy in more established or growing companies. While both roles require strong technical skills, the Founding Engineer is more hands-on and involved in daily development, whereas the CTO focuses on strategic planning and team management.
For Founder Founding Engineer jobs, the most frequently searched job titles are:
San Francisco, CA • On-site
$200 - $250/hr
Other
Posted 3 days ago
New
Our client is an early-stage enterprise AI company building an intelligent workspace that converts meetings, email, documents, chat, and operational systems into durable organizational memory, proactive agents, and customer-specific workflows. The company has raised a $10 million seed round, already serves large enterprise customers, and is led by seasoned technology and AI operators.
As a Founding Engineer, AI Platform, you will build the core platform from the ground up and operate across product, infrastructure, agents, evaluations, and customer workflows. You will lead reusable platform primitives including triggers, tools, approvals, memory, observability, and workflow execution; own work from customer discovery through launch and iteration; build full-stack product surfaces and backend systems; work directly with customers; and help shape the product roadmap, architecture, engineering practices, and culture.
3 to 7 years of full-stack software engineering experience in AI-native or fast-moving product environments. Clear 0-to-1 experience as a founder, founding engineer, or early engineer at a venture-backed startup. Strong backend engineering skills and the ability to own work across the full stack. Experience shipping AI-powered features into production and familiarity with LLM APIs, RAG, agent orchestration, tool calling, evaluations, or adjacent agent infrastructure. High autonomy, strong product judgment, comfort with ambiguity, and ability to speak directly with customers. Bachelor's degree in computer science or an equivalent technical degree. Ability to work from San Francisco approximately three days per week. Existing authorization to work in the United States without sponsorship. Base salary of $180,000 to $250,000 plus competitive founding-stage equity, with approximately 0.25 percent discussed as a reference point. Join a $10 million seed-stage company with real enterprise customers, direct access to the founding team, and meaningful influence over product, architecture, and engineering culture.
Sourced by ZipRecruiter
Network security
1 - 10 Employees
San Francisco, CA, US
