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Founding Software Engineer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

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 team. This role will define the engineering archetype at Unsiloed AI and set the ceiling for the ...

Rockstar

Founding Software Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$150K - $250K/yr

They are hiring a full-stack software engineer to help shape the future of healthcare. This engineer will be on the front lines of the most ambitious product bets-owning development of core features ...

Rockstar

Founding Software Engineer

San Francisco, CA · Remote

$150K - $250K/yr

They are hiring a full-stack software engineer to help shape the future of healthcare. This engineer will be on the front lines of the most ambitious product bets-owning development of core features ...

Helicon

Founding Software Engineer

Los Angeles, CA · On-site

We combine AI software, robotics, and full-stack manufacturing to reinvent how the West maintains a ... Building alongside world-class hardware engineers with full autonomy Who We're Looking For Need ...

Helicon

Founding Software Engineer

Torrance, CA · On-site

$100 - $125/hr

We combine AI software, robotics, and full-stack manufacturing to reinvent how the West maintains a ... Building alongside world-class hardware engineers with full autonomy Who We're Looking For Need ...

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Showing results 21-40

All JobsFounding Software Engineer JobsFounding Software Engineer Jobs in California

Founding Software Engineer information

See California salary details

$62.7K

$145.6K

$202.8K

How much do founding software engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Sep 7, 2026, the average yearly pay for founding software engineer in California is $145,592.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $118,400.00 and $170,700.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a founding software engineer?

Founding Software Engineers are among the first technical hires at a startup or newly formed company. They play a critical role in building the initial product, setting up the technical foundation, and often shaping the company's engineering culture and processes. In addition to coding, they may also be involved in architecture decisions, hiring, and even strategic business discussions. This role typically requires broad technical expertise, entrepreneurial spirit, and the ability to work in fast-paced, ambiguous environments.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a founding software engineer?

To thrive as a Founding Software Engineer, you need deep expertise in software architecture, full-stack development, and problem-solving, often demonstrated by a strong technical background and relevant degrees. Familiarity with cloud platforms, version control systems (like Git), and modern programming languages or frameworks is essential, along with startup exposure or experience. Initiative, adaptability, and outstanding communication are crucial soft skills for shaping the product vision and collaborating in a small, fast-moving team. These capabilities are vital for efficiently building robust products from scratch and driving early-stage company growth.

What are some unique challenges faced by founding software engineers in an early-stage startup environment?

Founding Software Engineers in early-stage startups often navigate rapidly shifting priorities and must wear multiple hats, from architecting core systems to handling on-call troubleshooting. The role typically requires balancing the need for quick feature delivery with building scalable, maintainable code. Close collaboration with co-founders and other early team members is essential, as decisions made at this stage have a lasting impact on the product and company culture. Adaptability, strong communication, and ownership are key, as resource constraints and ambiguity are common.

What is the difference between Founding Software Engineer vs Software Engineer?

AspectFounding Software EngineerSoftware Engineer
Required CredentialsBachelor's or higher in CS or related field; startup experience often preferredBachelor's degree in CS or related field; entry to mid-level experience
Work EnvironmentEarly-stage startup, high responsibility, flexible rolesEstablished companies or startups, structured teams, defined roles
Employer & Industry UsageFounding teams of startups, tech companiesTech firms, corporations, startups
Search & Comparison IntentUnderstanding startup roles, early-stage responsibilitiesStandard software development roles, career progression

The main difference is that a Founding Software Engineer is an early team member in a startup, often taking on broader responsibilities and helping shape the company's technical foundation. A Software Engineer typically works within established teams on specific projects, with more defined roles and responsibilities.

How much do founding software engineers make?

Founding software engineers often receive higher compensation than standard engineers, including equity or stock options, as they help establish the company's technology. Salaries typically range from $100,000 to $200,000 or more, depending on the company's size, funding stage, and location, with early-stage startups sometimes offering lower salaries but greater equity potential.

What does a founding software engineer do?

A founding software engineer is a key early team member responsible for designing, developing, and implementing the core software products of a startup or new project. They often work closely with founders to establish technical architecture, write code, and set development standards, typically using programming languages like Python, Java, or JavaScript. This role requires strong problem-solving skills, adaptability, and the ability to work in a fast-paced, evolving environment.

What are popular job titles related to Founding Software Engineer jobs in California?

For Founding Software Engineer jobs in California, the most frequently searched job titles are:

What job categories do people searching Founding Software Engineer jobs in California look for?

The top searched job categories for Founding Software Engineer jobs in California are:

What cities in California are hiring for Founding Software Engineer jobs?

Cities in California with the most Founding Software Engineer job openings:

Founding Software Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Founding Software Engineer job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 90% Full Time, 6% Part Time, and 3% Contract. Highlights an 87% Physical, 4% Hybrid, and 9% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $145,592 per year, or $70 per hour.

Founding Software Engineer

Tamarind Bio, Inc

San Francisco, CA • On-site

Full-time

Re-posted 28 days ago

Job description

About Tamarind Bio
We enable any scientist to access AI-powered drug discovery. Thousands of scientists from large pharma companies, top biotechs, and academic institutions use Tamarind to design protein drugs, improve industrial enzymes, and create cutting edge molecules that weren't feasible until now.
New AI models are quickly eclipsing physics-based tools in computational drug discovery. Scientists often struggle to fine-tune, deploy, and scale these models, leaving breakthroughs on the table. Tamarind provides a simple interface to the vast array of tools being released daily.
About the Role
We're hiring three exceptional Founding Software Engineers to help us scale the computational biology platform that powers our drug discovery pipeline.
In this role, you'll collaborate closely with the founders to design, build, and scale our infrastructure, APIs, and web interface. You'll own major pieces of our stack end-to-end - from architecture to deployment - and ship features that directly impact scientists and customers.
You'll be responsible for maintaining and expanding the core systems that underpin our computational biology tooling, ensuring reliability, scalability, and performance as we grow.
This is a deeply collaborative and customer-facing role. You'll work directly with users to understand their needs, translate feedback into product improvements, and deliver elegant solutions that accelerate their research.
Techstack:
  • Python, React, AWS (EC2, S3, DynamoDB), Docker, CUDA, Conda, TensorFlow/PyTorch; notebooks; bash/Slurm; APIs & web apps.

Week in the Life:
  • Partner with founders on product decisions, scope experiments, and ship quickly
  • Build/operate services (infra + ML + web) and iterate with customer feedback
  • Mix of coding, design reviews, and practical deployment work
  • Onsite expectation: Team currently onsite in SF ~5 days/week.

Ideal Qualifications:
  • Adaptability and openness to work on diverse problems (e.g. batch HPC scaling, frontend development, automated fine-tuning...)
  • AWS DevOps (DynamoDB, EC2, S3, docker, etc.) and MLOps (CUDA, Conda, Tensorflow, PyTorch)
  • Front-end development (React/Vercel)
  • Willingness to learn about biology-ML models
  • Located in the SF Bay Area or able to relocate to the Bay Area

Pluses:
  • Experience with AI/ML models across various architectures and environments
Technology
Our technology sits at the intersection of DevOps, MLOps, and Computational Biology. We deal with problems ranging from scaling ML inference on AWS for hundreds of GPUs to dissecting pdb files with Biopython. We deploy a wide range of open source ML models for customers, navigating between Docker containers, Colab notebooks, bash scripts, slurm jobs, and more.
Our Interview Process
We keep our process focused, transparent, and designed to give both sides a clear sense of fit.
1. Recruiter Screen (15-30 minutes) - Virtual
Meet with our recruiter to dive into your background, interests, and what you're looking for next. We'll also walk you through the company, team, and role.
2. Technical Interview (90 minutes) - Virtual
  • Co-Founder Interview (30 minutes): A conversation with Deniz Kavi (CEO & Co-founder) about product, collaboration, and how you approach building in an early-stage environment.
  • Technical Deep Dive (60 minutes): A live coding and problem-solving session with Sherry Liu (CTO & Co-founder) or a member of our engineering team.

3. Onsite (1 day) - San Francisco
Spend a day with us working on a mini project and meeting the team.

Apply