Open Source Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Open Source Engineer

Firecrawl is looking for a high-agency engineer to own our open source work. That starts with the main Firecrawl repo — 170k+ stars and counting — which should stay the easiest thing in the category to self-host. It extends to the context primitives we\u2019re open sourcing now, starting with anydoc, our document parsing engine. You\u2019ll keep the core repo healthy and growing, build out the primitives, and think about what makes each one spread on its own.

This is not a developer relations role. We want an engineer who ships the code, reviews the PRs, and makes the repos better every week. Community instincts help, but engineering quality, shipping velocity, and a track record of work people actually use matter most.

Salary Range: $235,000–$260,,000/year

Equity Range: Competitive equity — details shared during the process.

Location: San Francisco, CA (Onsite)

Job Type: Full-Time

Experience: 5+ years

Visa: Must be legally authorized to work in the United States. We\u2019re not able to sponsor visas right now, though that may change down the line.

About Firecrawl

Firecrawl is the easiest way to turn the web into data AI agents can use. One API call converts any URL into clean, LLM-ready markdown or structured data - the boring-hard problem everyone building with LLMs eventually hits, solved.

We hit 8 figures in ARR in year one and more than doubled it in year two. We have 175k+ GitHub stars, and developers, agents, and category-defining AI companies build on us every day. Growth like this is rare, and we\u2019re just getting started.

We\u2019re a small team punching far above our weight. Everyone here owns a real piece of the product and company, end to end, and runs it themselves - no hiding behind process or headcount.

This is a place for people who want to work at the frontier: an AI company building the infrastructure other AI companies run on, not one bolting AI onto an existing product. We move fast, go deep, and are building the tools superintelligence will rely on to gather data from the web.

What You\u2019ll Do

• Own the main Firecrawl repo end to end — triage issues, review PRs, cut releases, write docs

• Keep the self-host experience easy: clone it, run it, keep it running, no surprises

• Build out new context primitives, starting with anydoc, our document parsing engine

• Make the calls on scope and API design for what belongs in a primitive and what doesn\u2019t

• Think about what makes an open source project spread on its own, and build toward that

• Ship code and review PRs every week — this is an engineering seat, not a community seat

What We\u2019re Looking For

• A real open source track record — maintaining a popular repo, or landing significant contributions to one

• You care about the self-host experience and know what makes a repo easy to clone, run, and keep running

• Comfortable owning a repo end to end, from triaging issues and reviewing PRs to cutting releases and writing docs

• You\u2019ve built parsers, crawlers, browser tooling, or developer libraries, and have taste in what belongs in a primitive and what doesn\u2019t

• You understand how open source turns into adoption and pay attention to why some projects take off

• High agency — happy to make calls on scope, API design, and what gets merged

• Often a maintainer, ex-founder, early startup engineer, or builder with impressive public work

What We\u2019re NOT Looking For

• Someone looking for a developer relations role — this is an engineering seat first

• Someone who wants community work to substitute for shipping code

• Someone who needs a mapped-out roadmap before they\u2019ll make a scope call

• Someone \u2019s used open source but never maintained or owned a repo of real scale

A Note On Pace

We operate at an absurd level of urgency because the window for what we\u2019re building won\u2019t stay open forever. If that excites you, keep reading. If it don\u2019t, no hard feelings — but this role probably isn\u2019t for you.

Benefits & Perks Available to all employees

• Salary that makes sense — $235,000–$260,,000/year, based on impact, not tenure

• Own a piece — Gain competitive equity in what you\u2019re helping build

• Generous PTO — 15 days mandatory, anything after 24 days, just ask (holidays excluded); take the time you need to recharge

• Parental leave — 12 weeks fully paid, for all parents

• Wellness stipend — $100/month for the gym, therapy, massages, or whatever keeps you human

• Learning & Development — Expense up to $1,000/year toward anything that helps you grow professionally

• Team offsites — A change of scenery, minus the trust falls

• Sabbatical — 3 paid months off after 4 years, do something fun and new

Available to US-based full-time employees

• Full coverage, no red tape — Medical, dental, and vision (100% for employees, 50% for spouse/kids) — no weird loopholes, just care that works

• Life & Disability insurance — Employer-paid short-term disability, long-term disability, and life insurance — coverage for life's curveballs

• Supplemental options — Optional accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and voluntary life insurance for extra peace of mind

• Doctegrity telehealth — Talk to a doctor from your couch

• 401(k) plan — Retirement might be a ways off, but future-you will thank you

• Pre-tax benefits — Access to FSAs and commuter benefits (US-only) to help your wallet out a bit

• Pet insurance — Because fur babies are family too

Available to SF-based employees

• SF HQ perks — Snacks, drinks, team lunches, intense ping pong, and peak startup energy

• E-Bike transportation — A loaner electric bike to get you around the city, on us

Interview Process

Intro Chat (~25 min) — A quick conversation to get to know each other before we go deep. We\u2019ll talk about what you\u2019ve been working on, what drew you to Firecrawl, and what you\u2019re looking for in your next role. Time for your questions too.

Technical Chat (~45 min) — Ship something real on one of our open source repos, paid at a contractor rate. It\u2019s the truest signal for both sides: you see what maintaining Firecrawl\u2019s open source work actually feels like, and we see how you operate.

Founder Chat (~25 min) — Culture, pace, ownership, and how you like to work. Time for your questions too.

Paid Work Trial (1-2 weeks) — Ship something real on one of our open source repos, paid at a contractor rate. It\u2019s the truest signal for both sides: you see what maintaining Firecrawl\u2019s open source work actually feels like, and we see how you operate.

Decision — We move fast after the trial.

If you want to own the open source surface of one of the fastest-growing AI companies in the world, you should join us.