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Founding Backend Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Fuku

Founding Backend Engineer

New York, NY

$160K - $200K/yr

Founding Backend Engineer Company Overview Client is a fast-growing social shopping platform co-founded by Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni. The platform currently serves over 350,000 users and boasts ...

Fuku

Founding Backend Engineer

New York, NY · On-site

$160K - $200K/yr

*Founding Backend Engineer* *Company Overview* Client is a fast-growing social shopping platform co-founded by Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni. The platform currently serves over 350,000 users and ...

Unsiloed AI

Founding Backend Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$150K - $300K/yr

We are hiring a Founding Software Engineer in San Francisco. We are building a small, talent-dense ... Architect, build, and scale core backend systems powering document intelligence and VLM-based ...

NxT Level

Founding Backend Engineer

Manhattan, NY

Founding Senior Backend Engineer (Data Platform / Integrations) Location: New York City -- In-Person The Opportunity Our client is hiring a Founding Senior Backend Engineer to own the data platform ...

NxT Level

Founding Backend Engineer

Manhattan, NY · On-site

Founding Senior Backend Engineer (Data Platform / Integrations) Location: New York City - In-Person The Opportunity Our client is hiring a Founding Senior Backend Engineer to own the data platform ...

NxT Level

Founding Backend Engineer

Manhattan, NY

Founding Senior Backend Engineer (Data Platform / Integrations) Location: New York City -- In-Person The Opportunity Our client is hiring a Founding Senior Backend Engineer to own the data platform ...

RainesDev

Founding Backend Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

Previous experience as a founder or founding engineer is highly preferred. Hard skills * Strong Python backend development expertise * Demonstrated ability to scaffold and set up projects ...

Pear

Founding Backend Engineer - Phaselaw

New York, NY · On-site

Founding Backend Engineer - Phaselaw Location: New York City or Raleigh/Durham Area Type: Full-time Salary: Competitive, with equity options About Phaselaw Phaselaw is rebuilding the legacy e ...

Falconer AI

Founding Engineer, Backend

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$150K - $250K/yr

We're looking for a Founding Backend Engineer to help us build an AI-powered knowledge platform that companies love. As a founding engineer, you'll have a major impact on our product development ...

Hera

Founding Backend Engineer

New York, NY · On-site

The role We are hiring for a founding backend software engineer to build the systems that power Hera's care platform with rigor, reliability, and long-term scalability. This role is for an engineer ...

SLR Search

Hybrid Senior Backend Engineer

New York, NY · Hybrid

$200K - $250K/yr

... founding or early engineer at a Seed or Series A company. -- Advanced systems expertise including PostgreSQL, async processing, and building agentic LLM-powered automation workflows.

Clera

Backend Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$70K - $100K/yr

About the Role As one of the first backend engineers, you will own core services powering AI voice ... Founding-team equity included * Work Arrangement: Remote, LATAM-based (with US Pacific timezone ...

Clera

Backend Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$70K - $100K/yr

About the Role As one of the first backend engineers, you will own core services powering AI voice ... Founding-team equity included * Work Arrangement: Remote, LATAM-based (with US Pacific timezone ...

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Founding Backend Engineer information

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How much do founding backend engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Jun 29, 2026, the average yearly pay for founding backend engineer in the United States is $147,662.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $124,000.00 and $172,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.
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Founding Backend Engineer jobs near you

Founding Backend Engineer

Fuku

New York, NY

$160K - $200K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Vision, Life, Retirement

Posted 22 days ago

Job description

Founding Backend Engineer
Company Overview
Client is a fast-growing social shopping platform co-founded by Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni. The platform currently serves over 350,000 users and boasts a 90% retention rate. Phia combines community, personalization, and AI-driven recommendations to revolutionize online shopping. Backed by early investors, Phia offers the opportunity to join a small, mission-driven founding team and help shape the future of social commerce.
Key Job Information

  • L
    • ocation: San Francisco or New York City (must relocate to NYC within a few months)
  • W
    • ork Type: In-person, full-time
  • E
    • xperience Required: 3+ years
  • S
    • alary Range: $160,000 - $200,000 per year
  • V
    • isa Sponsorship: H-1B, O-1, OPT
    Role Summary
    As the Founding Backend Engineer, you will own and scale Client's data infrastructure, which powers search, personalization, and recommendations. You will work closely with the CTO and ML engineers to design robust pipelines, architect backend systems, and establish best practices for backend engineering. This is a founding-level opportunity with significant product and technical ownership.
    Responsibilities
  • A
    • rchitect and implement backend systems for Client's recommendation engine and shopping experience.
  • D
    • esign and maintain data pipelines for ingesting and processing large-scale datasets from multiple sources.
  • B
    • uild reusable APIs and microservices for core product features.
  • I
    • ntegrate machine learning models into production in collaboration with the ML team.
  • E
    • nsure system reliability, scalability, and maintainability across the backend stack.
  • D
    • efine and enforce backend engineering standards and technical best practices.
    Requirements
  • M
    • inimum of 3+ years of backend engineering experience.
  • S
    • trong proficiency in Python and cloud platforms (AWS/GCP).
  • H
    • ands-on experience building data pipelines and microservices architectures.
  • F
    • amiliarity with Airflow, gRPC, GraphQL.
  • D
    • eep understanding of search and vector database technologies, including:
    - HNSW (Hierarchical Navigable Small World)
    - OpenSearch / Elasticsearch
    - Approximate Nearest Neighbor (ANN) frameworks
  • E
    • xcellent system design and problem-solving skills.
  • M
    • ust be willing to work in-person in New York City (relocation support provided).
    Benefits & Perks
  • C
    • ompetitive salary plus founding equity package.
  • C
    • omprehensive health, vision, and life insurance.
  • 4
    • 01(k) with company matching.
  • F
    • ree daily lunches, snacks, and late-night Ubers.
  • O
    • pportunity to work directly with founders and early team members, shaping product and technical direction.
    Interview Process
    1. Intro Chat with Head of Recruiting
    2. Technical Interview / Intro Chat
    3. Coding Interview
    4. CTO Interview
    5. Onsite Interview (technical + cultural)
    6. Offer Extended
    7. Hired
    Green Flags (Preferred Qualifications)
  • E
    • xperience at large tech companies (Meta, Google, Pinterest, etc.) and scrappy startups.
  • F
    • amiliarity with Ray, Dask, and Kubernetes.
  • B
    • ackground in machine learning or handling large datasets.
  • P
    • roven ability to establish technical best practices and standards.
  • P
    • assion for building reliable, high-performance systems that drive business impact.
    Red Flags (Disqualifiers)
  • O
    • nly worked at large tech companies (Meta, Google, etc.) with no startup experience.
  • F
    • requent job hopping (tenures less than 6 months).
  • P
    • rimarily management or non-hands-on engineering roles.
  • U
    • nwilling to relocate to New York City within a reasonable timeframe.
    Ideal Companies
    Apple, Meta, Amazon, Pinterest, Google, Robinhood, Ramp, Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Spotify

    About Fuku

    Sourced by ZipRecruiter

    Industry

    Food services and drinking places

    Company size

    51 - 200 Employees

    Headquarters location

    New York, NY, US

    Year founded

    2015

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