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 ...
Quick apply
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 ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$125K - $175K/yr
Founding Engineer - GovTech Location: San Francisco, CA (In-Office) Partnership: EQL Tech has been exclusively retained by a high-growth technology startup to appoint a Founding Engineer to build ...
Quick apply
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$125K - $175K/yr
Founding Engineer - GovTech Location: San Francisco, CA (In-Office) Partnership: EQL Tech has been exclusively retained by a high-growth technology startup to appoint a Founding Engineer to build ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$200K - $300K/yr
About the Role We're looking for a Founding Engineer to join a fast-growing, early-stage startup in San Francisco. This is a rare opportunity to get in at the ground floor - you'll work directly with ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$200K - $300K/yr
About the Role We're looking for a Founding Engineer to join a fast-growing, early-stage startup in San Francisco. This is a rare opportunity to get in at the ground floor - you'll work directly with ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
Bravi is a startup at the intersection of software engineering, AI, and product design, seeking a Founding Engineer. This role involves owning the full lifecycle of AI features and building AI ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
Bravi is a startup at the intersection of software engineering, AI, and product design, seeking a Founding Engineer. This role involves owning the full lifecycle of AI features and building AI ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$125K - $175K/yr
Founding Engineer - GovTech Location: San Francisco, CA (In-Office) Partnership: EQL Tech has been exclusively retained by a high-growth technology startup to appoint a Founding Engineer to build ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$125K - $175K/yr
Founding Engineer - GovTech Location: San Francisco, CA (In-Office) Partnership: EQL Tech has been exclusively retained by a high-growth technology startup to appoint a Founding Engineer to build ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$70K - $100K/yr
About the Role This is a founding-stage full-stack engineering role at an early-stage B2B SaaS cleantech startup building AI-powered software that controls and optimizes industrial and commercial ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$70K - $100K/yr
About the Role This is a founding-stage full-stack engineering role at an early-stage B2B SaaS cleantech startup building AI-powered software that controls and optimizes industrial and commercial ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$152K/yr
About the Role An early-stage AI startup in the freight and logistics space is looking for a Founding Engineer to help shape the product, technology, and company direction from the ground up. This is ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$152K/yr
About the Role An early-stage AI startup in the freight and logistics space is looking for a Founding Engineer to help shape the product, technology, and company direction from the ground up. This is ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$150K - $220K/yr
About the Role A seed-funded B2B SaaS startup in the people-data and AI agents space is looking for a high-agency Founding Engineer to build core agent infrastructure and help scale the platform ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$150K - $220K/yr
About the Role A seed-funded B2B SaaS startup in the people-data and AI agents space is looking for a high-agency Founding Engineer to build core agent infrastructure and help scale the platform ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$200K - $300K/yr
About the Role We're looking for a Founding Engineer to join a fast-growing, early-stage startup in San Francisco. This is a rare opportunity to get in at the ground floor -- you'll work directly ...
Quick apply
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$200K - $300K/yr
About the Role We're looking for a Founding Engineer to join a fast-growing, early-stage startup in San Francisco. This is a rare opportunity to get in at the ground floor -- you'll work directly ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$140K - $200K/yr
You'll be our founding engineer, with an outsized role in how the product, company, and engineering culture evolve. You'll write code, but you'll also: * Talk to customers and join pilot calls * Turn ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$140K - $200K/yr
You'll be our founding engineer, with an outsized role in how the product, company, and engineering culture evolve. You'll write code, but you'll also: * Talk to customers and join pilot calls * Turn ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$150K - $220K/yr
About the Role A seed-funded B2B SaaS startup in the people-data and AI agents space is looking for a high-agency Founding Engineer to build core agent infrastructure and help scale the platform ...
Quick apply
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$150K - $220K/yr
About the Role A seed-funded B2B SaaS startup in the people-data and AI agents space is looking for a high-agency Founding Engineer to build core agent infrastructure and help scale the platform ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
They are seeking a Founding Engineer to help tackle interesting engineering challenges and contribute to the development of AI-driven solutions. Qualifications : Required : • You have startup ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
They are seeking a Founding Engineer to help tackle interesting engineering challenges and contribute to the development of AI-driven solutions. Qualifications : Required : • You have startup ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$120K - $250K/yr
This is a founding engineer role -- you'll operate at near-CTO level, taking vague problems all the way to shipped product with no hand-holding. You'll be backend-heavy and AI-native, but fully ...
Quick apply
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$120K - $250K/yr
This is a founding engineer role -- you'll operate at near-CTO level, taking vague problems all the way to shipped product with no hand-holding. You'll be backend-heavy and AI-native, but fully ...
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 ...
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 ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$120K - $250K/yr
This is a founding engineer role - you'll operate at near-CTO level, taking vague problems all the way to shipped product with no hand-holding. You'll be backend-heavy and AI-native, but fully ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$120K - $250K/yr
This is a founding engineer role - you'll operate at near-CTO level, taking vague problems all the way to shipped product with no hand-holding. You'll be backend-heavy and AI-native, but fully ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
They are seeking a Founding Engineer who will take ownership of various responsibilities, including engineering work, developer relations, and mobile app development. Responsibilities : • designing ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
They are seeking a Founding Engineer who will take ownership of various responsibilities, including engineering work, developer relations, and mobile app development. Responsibilities : • designing ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
Unbound is a company focused on building exceptional products and enhancing customer experience, and they are seeking a Founding Engineer to engage in hands-on coding and develop features across the ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
Unbound is a company focused on building exceptional products and enhancing customer experience, and they are seeking a Founding Engineer to engage in hands-on coding and develop features across the ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
The Founding Engineer will design and implement scalable backend systems, develop REST APIs, and collaborate with teams to integrate machine learning models into production. Responsibilities : • ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
The Founding Engineer will design and implement scalable backend systems, develop REST APIs, and collaborate with teams to integrate machine learning models into production. Responsibilities : • ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$150K - $250K/yr
As a Founding Engineer , you'll own problems end-to-end, work directly with founders, and make architectural decisions that shape the core system. This is a high-ownership, high-impact role for ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$150K - $250K/yr
As a Founding Engineer , you'll own problems end-to-end, work directly with founders, and make architectural decisions that shape the core system. This is a high-ownership, high-impact role for ...
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$150K - $250K/yr
As a Founding Engineer , you'll own problems end-to-end, work directly with founders, and make architectural decisions that shape the core system. This is a high-ownership, high-impact role for ...
Quick apply
San Francisco, CA · On-site
$150K - $250K/yr
As a Founding Engineer , you'll own problems end-to-end, work directly with founders, and make architectural decisions that shape the core system. This is a high-ownership, high-impact role for ...
$36.7K - $46.5K
2% of jobs
$46.5K - $56.3K
10% of jobs
$62.8K is the 25th percentile. Wages below this are outliers.
$56.3K - $66.1K
20% of jobs
$66.1K - $75.9K
13% of jobs
The median wage is $78.4K / yr.
$75.9K - $85.7K
21% of jobs
$92.1K is the 75th percentile. Wages above this are outliers.
$85.7K - $95.5K
14% of jobs
$95.5K - $105.3K
7% of jobs
$105.3K - $115.1K
5% of jobs
$115.1K - $124.9K
3% of jobs
$124.9K - $134.7K
2% of jobs
$134.7K - $144.5K
2% of jobs
$36.7K
$84.9K
$144.5K
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.
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.
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.
$120K - $250K/yr
Full-time
Re-posted 16 days ago
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 for the enterprise, with thousands of agents already deployed at scale-up startups and enterprise companies. They have strong product-market fit and are growing revenue rapidly month-over-month.
This is a founding-level role with CTO-level expectations. You'll take vague problems, scope them, build them end-to-end, and ship things that create real value — with no hand-holding and no waiting for specs. You need to be a full-stack engineer, an AI engineer, and a product engineer rolled into one. Former founders are especially encouraged to apply.
What You'll DoOwn large parts of the product end-to-end — from user insight all the way to production
Build and continuously improve agentic systems: accuracy, reliability, and capability
Work at the frontier of AI engineering — context engineering, tool use, agent architectures
Talk to users, understand their pain points, and scope features that genuinely solve problems
Ship full-stack when needed (Go backend, Vite + React + TypeScript frontend)
Champion AI-first development practices — coding agents, automation, and self-scaling workflows
Review code quickly while maintaining high standards across the codebase
Must-haves (dealbreakers):
Proven production experience building backend services in Go (Golang)
Authorized to work in the United States without visa sponsorship
Required skills:
Experience building frontend applications with React and TypeScript
Hands-on experience with CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, deployment workflows, and production monitoring/observability
Experience building and consuming REST and/or gRPC APIs in microservices architectures
0–3 years of professional software engineering experience (full-stack or equivalent)
Strong pluses:
Prior startup experience or time as a founding/early engineer
Experience building AI-driven products — agentic systems, LLMs, prompt engineering, or agent orchestration
Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or equivalent) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)
Experience with relational (Postgres/MySQL) and NoSQL databases
AI research background or experience at an AI coding or tooling startup
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience
You'll thrive here if you:
Have razor-sharp problem-solving instincts and move fast without sacrificing quality
Love Go and care about clean, maintainable code
Are obsessed with AI-first development tools (e.g. Claude Code, Cursor, coding agents)
Thrive in ambiguity — you don't need a PM to tell you what to build
Have built something from scratch before: a startup, a side project, or a feature that shipped and mattered
Salary: $120,000 – $250,000 USD annually
Generous equity reflecting the outsized impact of this founding role
Unlimited AI tooling budget
A true seat at the table — you'll shape the product and the company's direction
This role is on-site in San Francisco, CA. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States. Visa sponsorship is not available.
