ZipRecruiter

Log In

1

Founding Software Engineer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

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 ...

Pulse Software Corp

Software Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$140K - $200K/yr

Prior startup or founding experience is a plus About the Role Design, build, and operate features ... software, new grads considered * Proficiency in Python or TypeScript, plus SQL * Clear ...

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 ...

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 ...

S:23 Recruitment

Senior Software Engineer

Los Angeles, CA · On-site

$130K - $200K/yr

S23 - AI Senior Software Engineer: Data Platform Location: On-site, Los Angeles, CA Salary: $130 ... the founding CTO. Key Responsibilities * Build high-throughput video processing pipelines ...

New

Cognition

Software Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$260K - $300K/yr

Among our founding team, we have world-class competitive programmers, former founders, and leaders ... Role Mission Software Engineers at Cognition are not feature builders. You will be working on some ...

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 ...

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 ...

Mintex Technology

Founding Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$201K/yr

We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer with 8+ years of experience to join our early-stage ... Early or founding engineer experience. Experience at FAANG or other Big Tech companies in addition ...

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 ...

previous page

Showing results 41-60

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 Aug 9, 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 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 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 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 a combination of salary, equity, and benefits, with base salaries typically ranging from $100,000 to $150,000 annually depending on the company and location. Equity stakes can significantly increase total compensation, especially in early-stage startups where founders and early employees often hold substantial ownership shares. Compensation varies based on experience, company funding stage, and technical skills such as proficiency in coding languages and development tools.

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 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 78% Full Time, 17% Part Time, 2% Temporary, and 3% Contract. Highlights an 88% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 9% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $145,592 per year, or $70 per hour.

Member of Technical Staff -- Founding Software Engineer

Twenty Labs

San Mateo, CA • On-site

$150K - $300K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Retirement

Re-posted 18 days ago

Job description

About Twenty Labs / Compound
Twenty Labs is an applied research lab working on augmenting knowledge workers, starting with finance. The penetration of AI in finance is still limited and we want to be the company that delivers AGI to finance through our product, Compound (@getcompoundai). Some product videos can be found on YouTube.
You'll be joining a highly technical founding team, including leading researchers and engineers from Google DeepMind/Brain and Microsoft who pioneered research in language models, shipped GenAI products to billions in production, paired with domain expertise from top finance and consulting firms (Coatue, Bain, Y Combinator).
Our culture and how we operate
  • We seek out the 10% of people who account for 90% of productivity and strive to be a small and talent-dense team.
  • No formal performance reviews. If you're here, you're a high-performer.
  • Our organization is flat with no middle managers and you will work directly with the founders who all code.
  • No empire building - we operate as one team.
  • If you see something you can fix efficiently end-to-end, just do it.
  • We love being in-person at our San Mateo office 5-days a week for maximum bandwidth communication and enjoying delicious local food together.
  • We write blameless post-mortems (incident reports) for any service outages to document and constantly improve reliability.
  • We "Feel the AGI" and want to bring it to others to massively improve productivity.

Benefits
  • Comprehensive Medical/Dental/Vision insurance for you and dependents, including $0 premium plan with company HSA contribution
  • 401(k) plan with 4% match
  • Catered daily team lunch
  • Urban downtown San Mateo office, 5-minute walk from Caltrain and free parking
  • Time off as you need it
  • Top-quality computers and ergonomic workspace
  • Corporate AI subscriptions as much as you need for work
Your role
We're seeking exceptional software engineers who can build complex, high-performance backend systems that power our AI-native products for finance. You'll work closely with the founders, implementing scalable infrastructure and services that enable cutting-edge AI advances to be delivered reliably at scale.
You, the ideal candidate
  • Have experience implementing complex, high-performance backend systems from scratch with high reliability
  • Are an expert in at least one statically-typed language (e.g. Go, Rust, C++), have a strong bias for type-safety, and can decide the best programming language for a task considering trade-offs (velocity, scalability, maintainability)
  • Have a strong understanding of computer science fundamentals, algorithms, and databases
  • Are experienced in deploying services (docker, kubernetes) to at least one of GCP, AWS, Azure
  • Use AI to augment yourself, but you also augment AI (thoroughly review AI-code, catch its bugs, and call-out poor design)
  • Are invigorated by high-performing peers and doing high-quality work
  • Love technically challenging problems

Apply