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Founding Engineer Jobs in Philadelphia, PA (NOW HIRING)

Mintex Technology

Founding AI Engineer

Philadelphia, PA · On-site

$180K/yr

Founding AI / ML Engineer Location: Philadelphia, PA (Hybrid -3 days) - Remote Employment Type: Full-Time Salary: $180K + equity About Company: ***** is building the AI-powered workflow layer for ...

PERMA FAIR

Chief Technology Officer

Camden, NJ · On-site

Hold the engineering quality line. Qualifications : Required : • 10+ years building production systems, with recent years as a Principal Engineer, Software Architect, Founding Engineer, or hands-on ...

Socket.dev

Chief Technology Officer

Camden, NJ · On-site

$275 - $325/hr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Retirement

  • PTO

Prior Founding CTO, CTO, or VP Engineering role at an early‑stage company. * Power Platform / Dataverse low‑code depth. * Experience with TPAs, payers, brokers, or self‑funded plan ...

HBK Engineering, LLC

Design Engineer

Philadelphia, PA · On-site +1

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

About Us HBK Engineering, LLC is a fully licensed, professional engineering design firm ... Since our founding in 1998, we have earned a reputation for delivering outstanding, accurate ...

HBK Engineering, LLC

Design Engineer

Philadelphia, PA · On-site

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

About Us HBK Engineering, LLC is a fully licensed, professional engineering design firm ... Since our founding in 1998, we have earned a reputation for delivering outstanding, accurate ...

HBK Engineering, LLC

Design Engineer

Norristown, PA · On-site +1

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

About Us HBK Engineering, LLC is a fully licensed, professional engineering design firm ... Since our founding in 1998, we have earned a reputation for delivering outstanding, accurate ...

HBK Engineering, LLC

Graduate Engineer

Philadelphia, PA · On-site

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

About Us HBK Engineering, LLC is a fully licensed, professional engineering design firm ... Since our founding in 1998, we have earned a reputation for delivering outstanding, accurate ...

HBK Engineering, LLC

Graduate Engineer

Philadelphia, PA · On-site +1

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

About Us HBK Engineering, LLC is a fully licensed, professional engineering design firm ... Since our founding in 1998, we have earned a reputation for delivering outstanding, accurate ...

HBK Engineering, LLC

Graduate Engineer

Norristown, PA · On-site +1

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

About Us HBK Engineering, LLC is a fully licensed, professional engineering design firm ... Since our founding in 1998, we have earned a reputation for delivering outstanding, accurate ...

HBK Engineering, LLC

Design Engineer - Civil

Norristown, PA · On-site +1

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

About Us HBK Engineering, LLC is a fully licensed, professional engineering design firm ... Since our founding in 1998, we have earned a reputation for delivering outstanding, accurate ...

HBK Engineering, LLC

Design Engineer - Civil

Philadelphia, PA · On-site +1

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

About Us HBK Engineering, LLC is a fully licensed, professional engineering design firm ... Since our founding in 1998, we have earned a reputation for delivering outstanding, accurate ...

Quanta Services

Design Engineer

Philadelphia, PA · On-site +1

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

HBK Engineering, LLC is a fully licensed, professional engineering design firm headquartered in ... Since our founding in 1998, we have earned a reputation for delivering outstanding, accurate ...

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All JobsFounding Engineer JobsFounding Engineer Jobs in Philadelphia, PA

Founding Engineer information

See Philadelphia, PA salary details

$30.3K

$70K

$119.1K

How much do founding engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 14, 2026, the average yearly pay for founding engineer in Philadelphia, PA is $69,992.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $52,000.00 and $79,200.00 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 Philadelphia, PA?

The most popular types of Founding Engineer jobs in Philadelphia, PA are:

What are popular job titles related to Founding Engineer jobs in Philadelphia, PA?

For Founding Engineer jobs in Philadelphia, PA, the most frequently searched job titles are:

What job categories do people searching Founding Engineer jobs in Philadelphia, PA look for?

The top searched job categories for Founding Engineer jobs in Philadelphia, PA are:

Founding Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Founding Engineer job openings in Philadelphia, PA as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 85% Full Time, 8% Part Time, 1% Temporary, and 6% Contract. Highlights an 85% Physical, 5% Hybrid, and 10% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $69,992 per year, or $33.6 per hour.

Founding Engineer / Technical Co-Founder

Venus Consultancy

Philadelphia, PA • On-site

Part-time

Re-posted 14 days ago

Job description

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 infrastructure.

This is not an idea-stage role. It is a scale-and-ownership execution role.

1. Compensation Structure

This is a pre-seed, capital-efficient structure:

● Cash (initial phase): Below-market startup compensation during the founding

phase

● Deferred Compensation: The gap between market and paid cash accrues and

converts at the first institutional funding round

● Equity (primary upside): Core wealth driver tied to long-term ownership

Positioning:

Cash is intentionally modest early and normalizes post-funding. Equity and conversion

mechanics drive long-term upside.

2. Equity Structure

Two pathways depending on candidate fit:

A. Founding Engineer → Co-Founder Track (Preferred)

● Initial equity: 0.5% – 2%

● 4-year vesting / 1-year cliff

● Written conversion path to 8% – 15% co-founder band, triggered by:

○ 90-day delivery + mutual commitment, or

○ Pre-seed closing

B. Immediate Co-Founder (Exceptional Candidates)

● Equity: 10% – 20%

● 4-year vesting / 1-year cliff

● Full acceleration on change-of-control

Context: Lower than scratch co-founder ranges because the company already has a

working product foundation, IP, and live systems.

3. Location & Geography

● Primary base preference: US Eastern time zone alignment

● Remote-first with periodic in-person collaboration

● Location is not a gate; execution quality is the priority

4. Working Model

● Remote-first, async-heavy execution

● High-bandwidth in-person collaboration during early architecture phases

● No office currently (capital discipline)

● Optional future physical hub based on team clustering post-scale

5. Fundraising Timeline

Bootstrapped and evidence-driven approach:

● Now → near-term: Build to meaningful revenue and product autonomy

● Pre-seed / Seed: Raise based on traction and product proof

● Series A: Driven by retention, scale, and multi-vertical expansion

Principle: Fundraising follows execution, not narrative.

6. Product Development Expectations

6 Months

● Fully autonomous customer lifecycle:

trial → onboarding → payment → product output

● Security and infrastructure baseline complete

● Founder removed from daily engineering dependency

12 Months

● Core product modules scaled into multi-tenant system

● Early engineering team in place

● SOC 2 path initiated

24 Months

● Multi-vertical platform expansion

● Enterprise-grade architecture (SSO, RBAC, compliance)

● Engineering organization fully operational

7. Founder Vision

The core thesis:

Management is the last unscaled operating system in business.

Sales systems evolved (CRM, forecasting, engagement), but leadership execution

systems did not.

This platform builds an AI-native Management OS for leaders, not reps.

Key advantages:

● Proprietary operator methodology encoded into product

● Strong domain credibility from real-world execution experience

● AI-native architecture enabling speed and scale advantages

● Sales is the initial wedge; platform expands into multiple enterprise functions

8. What We Optimize For

Ideal signals:

● Built and shipped 0→1 production systems

● Strong systems thinking + fast execution

● Experience building with AI tools/agents

● Ownership mindset over task execution

Explicit non-goals:

● Not a body-shop engineering role

● Not a hype-stage or narrative-only startup

● Not committee-driven product development

● Not process-heavy over builder-first execution

Closing Positioning

This is a builder-first, evidence-driven opportunity:

● Real product already in production

● Real systems and infrastructure in place

● Clear path from founding engineer → co-founder ownership

We are selecting for people who want:

meaningful ownership in a system they help scale, not a title in a company

still trying to become real