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Senior Founding Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Senior Founding Engineer

New York, NY · On-site

$185K - $245K/yr

What we do Ambral builds digital models of people and teams that predict what they'll do next. Enterprises use these "digital twins" to synthesize signals across product telemetry, support ...

The Founding Engineer will take ownership of building the product, including developing real-time ... This is a founding role, not a senior eng seat. Preferred : • Experience with voice/speech ...

The candidate will be one of the first hires on a small, senior team. They will partner with the ... Founding or early engineer at a startup * Engineer who has owned a product surface end-to-end with ...

As a Senior Software Engineer on Meridian, you'll own the technical design and delivery of major ... This is a founding engineer role on a zero-to-one product with meaningful distribution, regulatory ...

The candidate will be one of the first hires on a small, senior team. They will partner with the ... Founding or early engineer at a startup * Engineer who has owned a product surface end-to-end with ...

As a Senior Software Engineer on Meridian, you'll own the technical design and delivery of major ... This is a founding engineer role on a zero-to-one product with meaningful distribution, regulatory ...

As a Senior Software Engineer on Meridian, you'll own the technical design and delivery of major ... This is a founding engineer role on a zero-to-one product with meaningful distribution, regulatory ...

The Role We're hiring a Senior or Staff Level Founding Engineer who will partner directly with our CTO (Steve) to help lead product, engineering, and design. This is not a typical developer role. You ...

Lead Founding Engineer/Architect

New York, NY · On-site

$112.10K - $147.70K/yr

As our Lead Founding Engineer & Architect, you'll design and deliver core infrastructure and ... senior leadership role (CTO or Head of SWE). Key Responsibilities: * Own system design and ...

Lead Founding Engineer/Architect

New York, NY · On-site

$112.10K - $147.70K/yr

As our Lead Founding Engineer & Architect, you'll design and deliver core infrastructure and ... senior leadership role (CTO or Head of SWE). Key Responsibilities: * Own system design and ...

Founding Engineer (Matchmaking)

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$144.30K - $198.50K/yr

We are looking for an exceptional founding engineer. * You will work directly with our CTO & Co-Founder Daniel and ship your own features to production every day. You will have a strong impact on ...

Founding Engineer (Matchmaking)

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$144.30K - $198.50K/yr

We are looking for an exceptional founding engineer. * You will work directly with our CTO & Co-Founder Daniel and ship your own features to production every day. You will have a strong impact on ...

Founding Sr. Software Engineer

Elk Grove Village, IL · Hybrid

$120.70K - $159.10K/yr

This is a highly entrepreneurial, early-stage role for a senior IC who wants to operate in a founding engineer capacity, owning product initiatives end-to-end and helping shape both the technical ...

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Senior Founding Engineer information

See salary details

$59.5K

$126.6K

$183.5K

How much do senior founding engineer jobs pay per year?

As of May 30, 2026, the average yearly pay for senior founding engineer in the United States is $126,557.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $104,500.00 and $143,500.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

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

To thrive as a Senior Founding Engineer, you need deep expertise in software engineering, product development, and startup environments, usually demonstrated by a strong technical background and experience launching products from scratch. Familiarity with modern programming languages, cloud platforms, version control (e.g., Git), and agile development tools is essential, and experience with system architecture or DevOps is highly valued. Leadership, adaptability, and excellent problem-solving skills set standout candidates apart, as does the ability to communicate complex ideas to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. These skills are crucial for driving technical innovation, building scalable products, and shaping the culture and success of an early-stage startup.

How does a Senior Founding Engineer typically balance hands-on technical work with strategic decision-making in an early-stage startup?

As a Senior Founding Engineer, you’ll often juggle direct coding responsibilities with broader technical leadership tasks, such as setting architectural direction and influencing early product decisions. In a small, agile team, you’ll collaborate closely with other founders, designers, and sometimes initial customers to iterate rapidly on features while ensuring scalability and maintainability. The role demands adaptability—shifting between solving immediate technical problems and long-term planning to support growth. This dual focus is both a challenge and an opportunity for career development, as it provides visibility into all aspects of building a product and company from the ground up.

What are Senior Founding Engineers?

Senior Founding Engineers are experienced technical professionals who join a startup at its earliest stages, often as part of the founding team. They are responsible for designing and building the initial product architecture, making critical technical decisions, and setting engineering best practices. In addition to hands-on coding, they often help shape the company's culture, contribute to hiring, and may participate in strategic business decisions. Their work significantly impacts the company's trajectory and future growth.

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

AspectSenior Founding EngineerLead Software Engineer
CredentialsTypically requires a bachelor's or master's in computer science or related field, with extensive experienceSimilar educational background, often with several years of software development experience
Work EnvironmentEarly-stage startups or new company divisions, often wearing multiple hatsEstablished teams within companies, focusing on project leadership and technical guidance
Industry UsageCommon in startups, tech companies, and entrepreneurial venturesWidely used across tech firms, especially in mid to large-sized organizations
Search & Comparison IntentUnderstanding roles in startup environments, founding responsibilitiesClarifying leadership roles in software development teams

The main difference is that a Senior Founding Engineer is typically an early team member in a startup, often involved in building the product from the ground up, while a Lead Software Engineer usually operates within established organizations, leading project teams and overseeing technical execution.

More about Senior Founding Engineer jobs
What cities are hiring for Senior Founding Engineer jobs? Cities with the most Senior Founding Engineer job openings:
What are the most commonly searched types of Founding Engineer jobs? The most popular types of Founding Engineer jobs are:
What states have the most Senior Founding Engineer jobs? States with the most job openings for Senior Founding Engineer jobs include:
What job categories do people searching Senior Founding Engineer jobs look for? The top searched job categories for Senior Founding Engineer jobs are:
Infographic showing various Senior Founding Engineer job openings in the United States as of May 2026, with employment types broken down into 92% Full Time, 3% Part Time, and 5% Contract. Highlights an 91% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 6% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $126,557 per year, or $60.8 per hour.

Senior Founding Engineer

Firstchoicedrivers

San Francisco, CA

$200K - $250K/yr

Full-time

Medical

Posted 8 days ago


Job description

About the Role

We're hiring a Senior Founding Engineer to help architect and scale the systems behind one of the fastest-growing platforms in conversational AI infrastructure.

This is a deeply technical, architecture-heavy full stack engineering role focused on building systems that operate reliably at massive scale. The platform already handles millions of real-time conversations every month, and the engineering team is looking for someone who has built and optimized production systems operating at that level of complexity.

You'll work directly with the founding team in a highly collaborative onsite environment, owning problems across the stack — from backend infrastructure and database optimization to frontend performance and real-time communication systems.

This role is ideal for engineers who thrive in fast-moving startup environments, enjoy solving large-scale systems challenges, and bring exceptional craftsmanship and intensity to both work and personal pursuits.

About the Company

The company is building the world's first quality assurance and observability platform for conversational AI agents.

Founded by former AI engineers from Microsoft and AWS, the platform enables organizations to simulate, evaluate, monitor, and improve AI voice and text agents before they interact with real customers.

Backed by Y Combinator, Floodgate, and PeakXV, the company has experienced explosive growth since launch:

  • Surpassed $100K ARR within the first month during YC
  • Doubled growth every three months since inception
  • Surpassed $1M in revenue
  • Currently processing millions of calls monthly

Customers include major organizations such as Google, DoorDash, Sallie Mae, and other rapidly growing enterprise customers.

What You'll DoArchitecture & Systems Engineering
  • Architect and develop systems for simulating, analyzing, and evaluating conversational AI agents
  • Build scalable infrastructure capable of handling millions of real-time conversations
  • Design resilient distributed systems using AWS services including Lambda, EC2, WebSockets, and SIP
  • Optimize performance across the stack including database queries, APIs, and frontend rendering performance
  • Reduce bottlenecks and improve platform responsiveness at scale
AI Infrastructure & Product Development
  • Develop pipelines and algorithms that surface insights, detect failures, and evaluate AI behavior
  • Build systems that improve AI reliability, safety, and observability
  • Develop full stack product experiences spanning backend services and frontend applications
  • Work directly with customers to deploy and improve products in real-world environments
Engineering Leadership
  • Establish strong engineering practices across architecture, system design, and code review
  • Contribute to technical direction and long-term scalability planning
  • Collaborate closely with founders in a highly iterative product environment
Required Qualifications
  • 6+ years of full stack software engineering experience
  • Deep expertise across both frontend and backend engineering
  • Strong proficiency in:
    • TypeScript
    • Python
    • SQL
    • AWS infrastructure
  • Strong systems architecture and distributed systems thinking
  • Experience building and optimizing production systems operating at significant scale
  • Experience handling high-throughput systems, large datasets, or millions of requests
  • Strong communication skills and collaborative working style
  • Comfortable operating in fast-paced startup environments
  • Demonstrated obsession/mastery outside of work requiring long-term deliberate practice and discipline
Preferred Visa Status
  • US Citizenship or Permanent Residency strongly preferred
  • H-1B transfers considered
Tech StackFrontend
  • React
  • Next.js
  • Tailwind CSS
  • TypeScript
Backend & Infrastructure
  • Python
  • FastAPI
  • Supabase
  • Redis
  • AWS (Lambda, EC2, WebSockets, SIP)
Voice AI & Real-Time Systems
  • LiveKit
  • Deepgram
  • Cartesia
  • ElevenLabs
  • Gemini
  • WebSockets
DevOps & Tooling
  • CI/CD pipelines
Preferred Qualifications
  • Previous experience as a founding engineer at a YC-backed startup
  • Experience building voice AI or conversational AI systems
  • Strong frontend product design and UI craftsmanship
  • Experience as a technical founder or startup operator
  • Background at high-performance AI or infrastructure companies
Compensation & BenefitsCompensation
  • Base Salary: $200,000 – $250,000 USD
Benefits & Perks
  • Health insurance
  • Gym membership reimbursement
  • $500 desk and workspace stipend
Work Environment
  • Location: San Francisco, California
  • Fully onsite with the founding team
  • Office expansion underway as the company scales rapidly
  • High-intensity, high-ownership startup culture
Why This Role Stands OutMassive Scale Challenges

The platform is already operating at production scale with millions of real-time conversations each month, creating meaningful distributed systems and performance engineering challenges.

Foundational Ownership

You'll directly influence architecture, infrastructure, engineering standards, and product direction alongside the founding team.

Elite Technical Environment

Work with experienced AI and infrastructure leaders from Microsoft, AWS, and top-tier startup ecosystems.

Real Product & Customer Impact

Your systems directly shape the reliability and performance of AI agents deployed into real-world customer environments.

High-Performance Culture

The company values craftsmanship, intensity, curiosity, and people who pursue mastery both inside and outside of engineering.