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Founding Software Engineer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Beacon Software

Software Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

Beacon Software is a permanent capital holding company which acquires and grows essential ... This Role Is Perfect for You If * You're an ex-founder or founding engineer who thrives in ...

Sapiom

Software Engineer

San Francisco, CA

$200/day

Software Engineer Location: San Francisco, CA AI agents are beginning to act on behalf of companies ... Contribute to product and engineering direction alongside the founding team * Scale systems ...

Diffuse Bio

Software Engineer

Menlo Park, CA · On-site +1

Design and build software and APIs that enable internal and external access to our AI systems ... The opportunity to join the founding team and play a critical and expanding role in shaping the ...

Lever Demo 2

Software Engineer

Palo Alto, CA · On-site

You will be a founding member of the engineering team. You will be responsible for working with the ... Knowledge of modern software engineering best practices in algorithms, data structures, and clean ...

Serval

Software Engineer, Deployed

San Francisco, CA · On-site

The Deployed Software Engineer role involves shipping features and expanding product capabilities ... startup as a founding or early engineer • Background working with enterprise customers or ...

Onton

Founding Staff Software Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$175K - $240K/yr

Join Onton as a Founding Engineer and set the strategic foundation for our Engineering Team ... If you're a builder at heart who shares our values and is passionate about making software tools ...

Watney

Software Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$150K - $200K/yr

Working directly with our founding team, this role is based onsite at our San Francisco ... Design, implement, test, and debug code across the software stack * Collaborate with ML Engineers ...

Clera

Founding Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$120K - $250K/yr

This is a founding-level role with CTO-level expectations. You'll take vague problems, scope them ... software engineering experience (full-stack or equivalent) Strong pluses: * Prior startup ...

Watney Robotics Inc

Software Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site +1

$150K - $200K/yr

Working directly with our founding team, this role is based onsite at our San Francisco ... Design, implement, test, and debug code across the software stack * Collaborate with ML Engineers ...

Alljoined

Software Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$140K - $200K/yr

We are actively growing our founding engineering team to build the underlying infrastructure that makes this ambitious future a reality. About the Role As a Software Engineer , you will build the ...

Clera

Founding Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$120K - $250K/yr

This is a founding-level role with CTO-level expectations. You'll take vague problems, scope them ... software engineering experience (full-stack or equivalent) Strong pluses: * Prior startup ...

Idler

Staff Software Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$300K - $400K/yr

Understand and own the technology stack end-to-end. * 8+ years of professional software engineering ... You'll work with The founding team, a founding engineer, and a small group of engineers (we're ...

Clera

Founding Engineer Intern

San Francisco, CA · On-site

Collaborate with the founding team to design and ship components of an agentic AI system. * Talk to ... Currently enrolled in or pursuing a degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related ...

idler

Staff Software Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$300K - $400K/yr

Understand and own the technology stack end-to-end. * 8+ years of professional software engineering ... You'll work with The founding team, a founding engineer, and a small group of engineers (we're ...

Clera

Founding Engineer Intern

San Francisco, CA · On-site

Collaborate with the founding team to design and ship components of an agentic AI system. * Talk to ... Currently enrolled in or pursuing a degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related ...

idler

Software Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$100K - $150K/yr

You'll work alongside senior engineers and the founding team, learning how to design systems that are both technically sound and philosophically robust. A big part of our work is thinking critically ...

Idler

Software Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$100K - $150K/yr

You'll work alongside senior engineers and the founding team, learning how to design systems that are both technically sound and philosophically robust. A big part of our work is thinking critically ...

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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 Jun 10, 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 are Founding Software Engineers?

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 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.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Founding Software Engineer, and why are they important?

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 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
Software Engineer

Software Engineer

Beacon Software

San Francisco, CA • On-site

Full-time

Posted 3 days ago

Job description

Beacon Software is a permanent capital holding company which acquires and grows essential businesses. We are a profitable series B+ firm that combines great technologists, operators and M&A professionals to accelerate the scale of the ambition of the dozens of businesses we own and operate. We are supported by capital from tier-1 venture capital, crossover, and endowment investors as well as the founders of the leading technology companies from the past decade.
We are growing our team in Toronto, San Francisco, and New York. Apply below.
Software Engineer
We're looking for a versatile Software Engineer to drive technical innovation and accelerate growth across our portfolio of software companies. You'll collaborate closely with product, design, and leadership teams within our portfolio companies to solve high-impact problems across diverse architectures, tech stacks, and industries. You'll learn how to design and execute large-scale software modernization efforts with AI, build new AI-powered features, re-imagine the product experience. You'll have direct influence on revenue, customer experience, product vision, and technical direction-bridging code with commercial impact.
This is a hands-on, high-impact role ideal for a full-stack engineer or ex-founder who thrives in fast-paced, entrepreneurial environments.
Key Responsibilities
  • Deploy into Beacon portfolio companies to identify, design, and deliver high-impact technical initiatives.
  • Analyze portfolio company codebases to identify value creation opportunities and technical debt reduction strategies.
  • Refactor, modernize, and scale existing systems using current best practices and frameworks.
  • Build AI-powered features and products that drive measurable business growth.
  • Architect scalable backend and API services (Node.js, Python, Go, Ruby, etc.).
  • Develop modern, performant frontends using React, Next.js, and TypeScript.
  • Collaborate with product and business leaders to translate commercial goals into technical roadmaps.
  • Contribute to internal engineering playbooks and best practices across Beacon's platform.
  • Mentor and support technical teams within portfolio companies to lift engineering standards
What We're Looking For
  • 5+ years of experience as a full-stack or backend engineer, ideally in a startup or high-growth environment.
  • Strong foundation in software engineering best practices, including code quality, testing, and deployment
  • Command of one or more modern programming languages (e.g., Python, Go, TypeScript, Ruby).
  • Experience with cloud infrastructure and modern DevOps practices.
  • Comfort working across diverse architectures-from monoliths to microservices.
  • Curiosity and versatility to dive into unfamiliar codebases and domains
  • Familiarity with AI integration, LLMs, and data-driven applications.
  • Strong systems-thinking mindset and a bias for simplicity.
  • Proven ability to deliver autonomously with high ownership.
  • Excellent communication skills and collaborative spirit.
  • Commercial mindset, curiosity about business models, and how software creates enterprise value.
  • Desire to grow into a technical leader or founder role.
This Role Is Perfect for You If
  • You're an ex-founder or founding engineer who thrives in ambiguity.
  • You want to build and ship products across multiple industries.
  • You're fascinated by how code translates into profit and growth.
  • You enjoy diving into new codebases, diagnosing bottlenecks, and scaling systems.
  • You believe AI will reshape how software is built-and you want to be at the forefront.
  • You care deeply about clean, maintainable, and scalable engineering.
  • You want to learn how to acquire, operate, and scale software businesses.
  • You're commercially curious-just as excited by go-to-market strategy as by refactoring a service.
  • You're energized by speed, autonomy, and a culture that values judgment over process.
  • You want to work with people who set a high bar-and help you raise yours.

Our Values at Beacon Software
  • Humility: We acknowledge that the path to getting to the right answer involves being wrong along the way. We have strong beliefs which are weakly held. We actively seek new ideas and believe we can learn from anyone at any time.
  • Honesty: We are truth seeking in our approach to business problems. Business is a repeat game and we believe that human relationships generate alpha. We understand that trust is earned over a lifetime and can be lost in an instant.
  • Hunger: We play to win. We hold ourselves to high standards and will not be outworked. We take pride in having a deep sense of responsibility to ourselves, each other, our partners, and our customers. We believe to whom much is given much is expected.
  • Horizon: We seek to build a generational software company. This will take decades. We manage our expectations and those of our partners to take advantage of the 8th wonder of the world - compounding growth.

How We Use AI in Our Hiring Process: To ensure transparency, we want candidates to know that Beacon Software uses Artificial Intelligence and AI-enabled tools to assist with screening, reviewing, organizing and highlighting profiles and applications that match the key requirements for each role.
AI does not make hiring decisions: Every application is reviewed by a member of our team, and all decisions throughout the process are made by humans. We use AI to support efficiency and consistency, not to replace human judgment. We are committed to a fair, thoughtful, and equitable experience for every candidate.

Apply