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Founding Engineer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Hirevouch

Founding Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

Founding Engineer Job title: Founding Engineer Location: San Francisco, CA (in-person only, relocation available) About the Company They help speech, occupational, and physical therapists build their ...

Clera

Founding Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$150K - $220K/yr

About the Role A seed-stage AI SaaS startup is looking for a Founding Engineer to join their early team in San Francisco. This is a high-ownership, high-impact role for someone who thinks from first ...

Clera

Founding Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$150K - $220K/yr

About the Role A seed-stage AI SaaS startup is looking for a Founding Engineer to join their early team in San Francisco. This is a high-ownership, high-impact role for someone who thinks from first ...

EQL Tech

Founding Engineer

Palo Alto, CA · On-site

The Opportunity EQL Tech is partnering with PhormAI to hire an exceptional Founding Engineer to join its team as the company builds Darwin, its Physical AI platform for Health & Wellness, into the ...

Clera

Founding Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$200K - $300K/yr

About the Role A fast-moving, early-stage startup in San Francisco is looking for a Founding Engineer to join as one of the first technical hires. This is a rare opportunity to work directly with the ...

EQL Tech

Founding Engineer

Palo Alto, CA · On-site

The Opportunity EQL Tech is partnering with PhormAI to hire an exceptional Founding Engineer to join its team as the company builds Darwin, its Physical AI platform for Health & Wellness, into the ...

Fabrion

Founding Engineer

Bodega Bay, CA · On-site

Founding Engineer (Full Stack) Location: San Francisco Bay Area Type: Full-Time Compensation: Competitive salary + meaningful equity (founding tier) Backed by 8VC, we're building a world-class team ...

Clera

Founding Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$97K - $129K/yr

About the Role Join a pre-seed AI startup as Engineer #4 on the founding team, working directly with the CTO and fellow founding engineers. This is a high-ownership, fast-paced role where you'll ship ...

Clera

Founding Engineer

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 working directly alongside the founding team to shape both the product and engineering culture. This ...

Clera

Founding Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$97K - $129K/yr

About the Role Join a pre-seed AI startup as Engineer #4 on the founding team, working directly with the CTO and fellow founding engineers. This is a high-ownership, fast-paced role where you'll ship ...

Clera

Founding Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$200K - $300K/yr

About the Role A fast-moving, early-stage startup in San Francisco is looking for a Founding Engineer to join as one of the first technical hires. This is a rare opportunity to work directly with the ...

Clera

Founding Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$120K - $250K/yr

About the Role A YC-backed enterprise AI SaaS startup is looking for a Founding Engineer to join their small, high-output team in San Francisco. The company is building an agentic operating system ...

Clera

Founding Engineer

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 working directly alongside the founding team to shape both the product and engineering culture.

Clera

Founding Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$120K - $250K/yr

About the Role A YC-backed enterprise AI SaaS startup is looking for a Founding Engineer to join their small, high-output team in San Francisco. The company is building an agentic operating system ...

Pear

Founding Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$150K - $225K/yr

As our Founding Engineer, you'll be a co-architect of everything we build at Blueberry. You'll be responsible for shaping the technical foundation of the company: product, platform, and team culture.

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Founding Engineer information

See California salary details

$29.6K

$68.5K

$116.5K

How much do founding engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Jul 1, 2026, the average yearly pay for founding engineer in California is $68,454.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $50,800.00 and $77,500.00 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 job?

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 California? The most popular types of Founding Engineer jobs in California are:
What are popular job titles related to Founding Engineer jobs in California? For Founding Engineer jobs in California, the most frequently searched job titles are:
What job categories do people searching Founding Engineer jobs in California look for? The top searched job categories for Founding Engineer jobs in California are:
What cities in California are hiring for Founding Engineer jobs? Cities in California with the most Founding Engineer job openings:
Founding Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Founding Engineer job openings in California as of June 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% Internship, 81% Full Time, 14% Part Time, 3% Temporary, and 1% Contract. Highlights an 88% Physical, 4% Hybrid, and 8% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $68,454 per year, or $32.9 per hour.

Founding Engineer

David Joseph & Company

San Francisco, CA

$160K - $220K/yr

Full-time

Posted 22 days ago

Job description

Founding Engineer

Location: San Francisco, CA (Onsite, 5 days in person)
Employment Type: Full-Time
Compensation: $160,000 – $220,000 base + equity

About the Company

An early-stage, venture-backed startup building an advertising network purpose-built for AI-native consumer products. The team creates immersive, personalized ad formats — playable ads, animated character ads, sponsored experiences, and creative units designed to feel native rather than disruptive. The work sits at the intersection of advertising, consumer products, AI-generated media, and mobile entertainment. The team moves fast and ships often.

Industry: AI advertising / consumer AI

The Role

A Founding Engineer who can blend backend, ML, and traditional system design / infrastructure — a high-agency, high-slope builder, not someone filtered through a narrow tech-stack requirement. You'll be one of the earliest engineering hires and help shape the engineering culture.

What You'll Be Doing
  • Backend systems work with a mix of ML and traditional system design / infrastructure
  • Build features end-to-end across whatever the team is shipping
  • Cross-functional work with the rest of the engineering team and founders
  • Help shape the engineering culture as one of the early hires

Tech stack: Tech-stack agnostic. PyTorch fluency is a nice-to-have.

Requirements
  • 0-3 years engineering
  • Backend + ML + systems
  • Side project track record
Green Flags
  • Strong side project portfolio that demonstrates building outside of day-job scope.
  • Recent grad or 0-3 YOE with exceptional signal (top engineering school, notable internships, or notable side projects)
  • Background at Roblox, Meta, Amazon, or comparable consumer / ad infra companies with side-project signal
Red Flags
  • Day-job-only engineer with no signal of building outside of work.
  • Mid-career operator (5+ YOE) wanting Senior or Staff title. This is a founding-tier early hire.
  • Pure ML research background without shipping production systems
Why Join
  • A high-impact founding engineering seat at an AI-native advertising startup
  • Direct working relationship with the founding team
  • Meaningful equity
  • Free lunch and dinner ($35 Uber Eats / DoorDash stipend) and an office gym
Details
  • Location: San Francisco, CA
  • Work policy: Onsite, 5 days in person
  • Compensation: $160,000–$220,000 + equity
  • Visa sponsorship: None available — US citizens or visa holders only
  • Employment type: Full-Time