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Founding Engineer Jobs in Arizona (NOW HIRING)

Principal Software Engineer

Phoenix, AZ · On-site

$134K - $179K/yr

You will start as a hands-on founding engineer, growing into long-term technical ownership and mentorship as the platform matures. Key Responsibilities * Design the core architecture, select the ...

Founding GTM Engineer

Phoenix, AZ · On-site

$120K - $170K/yr

Founding GTM Engineer (Series A Fintech / EdTech) Location: San Francisco, CA or Phoenix, AZ (In-Person, Full Time) | Seniority: Founding / Senior IC | Equity: Meaningful Founding Stake The Mission:

Founding GTM Engineer

Phoenix, AZ · On-site

$120K - $170K/yr

Founding GTM Engineer (Series A Fintech / EdTech) Location: San Francisco, CA or Phoenix, AZ (In-Person, Full Time) | Seniority: Founding / Senior IC | Equity: Meaningful Founding Stake The Mission:

Infrastructure Engineer

Phoenix, AZ · On-site

$106K - $140K/yr

You will work alongside top talent, including a founding engineer who did AI research at MILA and at Elon Musk's SpaceX school, a Head of Risk from Mercury, Stripe, and Circle, and a Payments ...

Infrastructure Engineer

Phoenix, AZ · On-site

$106K - $140K/yr

You will work alongside top talent, including a founding engineer who did AI research at MILA and at Elon Musk's SpaceX school, a Head of Risk from Mercury, Stripe, and Circle, and a Payments ...

Infrastructure Engineer

Phoenix, AZ · On-site

$125K - $175K/yr

You will work alongside top talent, including a founding engineer who did AI research at MILA and at Elon Musk's SpaceX school, a Head of Risk from Mercury, Stripe, and Circle, and a Payments ...

Infrastructure Engineer

Phoenix, AZ · On-site

$125K - $175K/yr

You will work alongside top talent, including a founding engineer who did AI research at MILA and at Elon Musk's SpaceX school, a Head of Risk from Mercury, Stripe, and Circle, and a Payments ...

AI Engineer

Phoenix, AZ · On-site

$125K - $175K/yr

You will work alongside top talent, including a founding engineer who did AI research at MILA and at Elon Musk's SpaceX school, a Head of Risk from Mercury, Stripe, and Circle, and a Payments ...

AI Engineer

Phoenix, AZ · On-site

$125K - $175K/yr

You will work alongside top talent, including a founding engineer who did AI research at MILA and at Elon Musk's SpaceX school, a Head of Risk from Mercury, Stripe, and Circle, and a Payments ...

AI Engineer

Phoenix, AZ · On-site

$125K - $175K/yr

You will work alongside top talent, including a founding engineer who did AI research at MILA and at Elon Musk's SpaceX school, a Head of Risk from Mercury, Stripe, and Circle, and a Payments ...

Lead AI Engineer

Phoenix, AZ · On-site

$99K - $131K/yr

Experience as a founding engineer or early technical leader in AI-driven products. * Demonstrated success delivering technically complex autonomous systems that customers actively rely on.

Infrastructure Engineer

Phoenix, AZ · On-site

$125K - $175K/yr

You will work alongside top talent, including a founding engineer who did AI research at MILA and at Elon Musk's SpaceX school, a Head of Risk from Mercury, Stripe, and Circle, and a Payments ...

Sr AI Engineer I

Phoenix, AZ

$103K - $142K/yr

Experience as a founding engineer or early technical contributor in high-growth environments. * Demonstrated ability to ship technically complex systems in regulated contexts that customers actively ...

This is a founding team, these first hires will shape the culture, the systems, and the trajectory ... You might come from engineering, consulting, product, or pre-sales - what matters is that you build ...

Since our founding over 100+ years ago, Rosendin has been driven to positively impact the ... The Engineer II - SCCAF is a mid-level engineering position responsible for providing technical ...

New

Engineer Senior

Tonopah, AZ

$100K - $138K/yr

Since our founding in 1886, APS has demonstrated a strong commitment to our customers in one of the ... Summary The Senior Engineer applies in-depth technical knowledge and expertise to complex ...

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Showing results 1-20

Founding Engineer information

See Arizona salary details

$28K

$64.6K

$110K

How much do founding engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 9, 2026, the average yearly pay for founding engineer in Arizona is $64,638.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $48,000.00 and $73,200.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the biggest challenges a founding engineer typically faces at an early-stage startup?

As a Founding Engineer, you’ll often be tasked with building a product from the ground up while balancing rapid development with long-term technical vision. Resource constraints and evolving product requirements can require creative problem-solving and the ability to prioritize effectively. You’ll work closely with the founding team, making pivotal decisions that shape both technology and culture, so adaptability and a hands-on approach are important. While the environment can be demanding and ambiguous, it also offers unique opportunities to learn, take ownership, and have a major impact on the success of the company.

What is a founding engineer?

A Founding Engineer is one of the first technical hires at a startup, responsible for building the company's core products and setting the foundation for its technology stack. They work closely with the founders, making key architectural decisions, writing production-ready code, and often wearing multiple hats across engineering, product, and strategy. This role requires a mix of deep technical expertise, problem-solving skills, and adaptability to thrive in a fast-paced, early-stage environment.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive in the founding engineer position, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Founding Engineer, you need deep expertise in software development, system architecture, and product design, typically backed by experience with startups or building products from scratch. Familiarity with modern programming languages, cloud platforms, and agile tools such as Git, AWS, and Jira is often essential. Exceptional problem-solving, strong ownership mentality, and the ability to communicate clearly in fast-paced, unstructured environments set standout candidates apart. These skills are crucial because Founding Engineers must quickly turn vision into reality, adapt to changing needs, and help establish the technical foundation of a new company.

What are the most commonly searched types of Founding Engineer jobs in Arizona? The most popular types of Founding Engineer jobs in Arizona are:
What are popular job titles related to Founding Engineer jobs in Arizona? For Founding Engineer jobs in Arizona, the most frequently searched job titles are:
Infographic showing various Founding Engineer job openings in Arizona as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 33% Internship, 33% Full Time, and 34% Contract. Highlights an 100% In-person job distribution, with an average salary of $64,638 per year, or $31.1 per hour.

Principal Software Engineer

Moove

Phoenix, AZ • On-site

$134K - $179K/yr

Full-time

Posted 29 days ago


Job description

About Moove AV

At Moove AV, we’re on a mission to make the world safer by enabling autonomy in transportation. Partnering with industry leaders like Waymo, we’re redefining fleet management and driving the commercialization of autonomous vehicles.

We’re expanding globally and seeking passionate, innovative professionals to join our journey. If you’re ready to be at the forefront of cutting-edge technology and help make mobility safer, more efficient, and accessible, we want to hear from you!


Role Summary

Are you interested in building an AI operated autonomous fleet and depot operating system? Moove AV is looking for a Principal Software Engineer to serve as the founding technical owner of a brand-new, greenfield platform for autonomous mobility operations, powered by GenAI, LLMs, and real-time visual intelligence. You will start as a hands-on founding engineer, growing into long-term technical ownership and mentorship as the platform matures.

Key Responsibilities
  • Design the core architecture, select the technology stack, and write the foundational production code for a new autonomous fleet & depot platform, built from scratch.

  • Work closely with product, operations, and depot teams to translate ambiguous, fast-moving business requirements into resilient, production-ready systems.

  • Influence product and technology strategy by helping define platform features, refine system architecture, and spearhead Agentic AI and LLM best practices.

  • Build agentic APIs to deliver low latency, low cost, highly reliable, and highly scalable cloud services and device software solutions.

  • Design for distributed systems fundamentals, including reliability, performance, and maintainability, from day one.

  • Set engineering standards, coding practices, and technical decision-making processes for the systems you build.

  • Onboard, mentor, and coach new team members as the platform scales, setting them up to contribute quickly and grow into the engineering culture you're building.


Qualifications

Must have

  • Bachelors in a related-field preferred (Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering)

  • 10+ years of experience building cloud-native backend or platform systems.

  • Proven experience delivering greenfield products or internal platforms from scratch.

  • Hands-on experience building distributed systems on modern cloud infrastructure and deployment pipelines, including AI/ML or LLM-driven components in production.

  • Ability to translate ambiguous business requirements into production-ready systems.

  • Strong engineering fundamentals across system design, performance, reliability, and maintainability.

  • Comfort operating in high-ownership, low-process, early-stage environments.

  • Must reside in and be authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship.

Nice to have

  • Experience building workflow engines, orchestration systems, or DAG-based processing platforms.

  • Exposure to logistics, fleet, mobility, or data-intensive SaaS platforms.

  • Prior experience in founding engineer or early platform team roles.


Working in AV Fleet & Depot Ops Tech

You’ll be building at the center of one of the fastest-moving infrastructure categories in transportation, where the AV fleet operations market is projected to reach $12.8B by 2034.

  • Rapid Industrial Growth: You will work at the cutting edge of a booming global industry transforming logistics, supply chains, and urban transit.

  • High-Impact Innovation: Your daily work directly optimizes complex software systems, reducing vehicle emissions and building cleaner, more sustainable transportation networks.

  • Crucial Problem Solving: You will solve massive, real-world operational challenges like real-time scheduling, automated charging, and predictive fleet maintenance.

  • Valuable Skill Building: This career path builds highly marketable, future-proof expertise in artificial intelligence, robotics, data analytics, and cloud infrastructure.


Why Join Moove AV?

You will be joining a team that is literally building the future of movement. We offer the chance to lead in an industry where your work directly impacts public trust in autonomous technology. If you thrive in environments where the bar is set high and the mission is clear, we want to talk. We welcome people from diverse backgrounds who seek the opportunity to help build a future where everyone and everything can move independently.