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Technical Founder Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Ramp

Technical Program Manager

New York, NY · On-site

$144K - $269K/yr

Background as a software engineer or technical founder * Familiarity with how LLM-based systems are built and deployed - enough to have a meaningful technical conversation with the engineers building ...

Ramp

Technical Program Manager

New York, NY · Remote

$144K - $269K/yr

Background as a software engineer or technical founder * Familiarity with how LLM-based systems are built and deployed -- enough to have a meaningful technical conversation with the engineers ...

Judgment Labs

Forward Deploy AI Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$62.25 - $85/hr

You want to be a technical founder in the future. Why Judgment? * Agents can't work without this. Today's agents hallucinate, drift, and break in production. We're building the infrastructure that ...

MLabs

General Partner

New York, NY · On-site

$250K - $300K/yr

Develop clear investment and admission conviction based on early operational signals, macroeconomic market trends, and technical founder capabilities. * Strategic Conflict Resolution: Act as a ...

turbopuffer Inc

executive operations

New York, NY · On-site

... a technical founder or engineering leader * experience at an early stage startup tpuf is hardcore & whimsical. we value: * overstep > understep * show > tell * complexity is earned * showing up as ...

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Technical Founder information

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$19K

$44.3K

$76.5K

How much do technical founder jobs pay per year?

As of Jun 16, 2026, the average yearly pay for technical founder in the United States is $44,267.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $37,500.00 and $44,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Technical Founder, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Technical Founder, you need deep expertise in software development, product design, and systems architecture, often demonstrated by a degree in computer science or extensive industry experience. Familiarity with programming languages, cloud platforms, and agile project management tools is essential, along with a strong understanding of startup and product lifecycle processes. Exceptional problem-solving, leadership, and communication skills help drive vision, build teams, and attract investors. These skills and qualities are crucial for building scalable products, leading a technical team, and driving the company toward sustainable growth.

What is a Technical Founder?

A Technical Founder is an entrepreneur who establishes a startup or company and brings significant technical expertise to the founding team. They are typically responsible for developing the core product, overseeing technology strategy, and building the initial technology infrastructure. Technical Founders often have backgrounds in software engineering, product development, or related technical fields. Their role is crucial in ensuring the startup’s product is viable, scalable, and innovative. They may also participate in fundraising, hiring, and overall business strategy.

What is the difference between Technical Founder vs Product Manager?

AspectTechnical FounderProduct Manager
Required credentialsTechnical degree, coding skills, startup experienceBackground in business, marketing, or product design
Work environmentFounding team, startup, early-stage companyEstablished companies, tech firms, product teams
Industry usageStartup ecosystem, tech industryTech, software, digital products

The Technical Founder typically has technical expertise and plays a key role in building the product from inception, often founding the company. In contrast, a Product Manager focuses on guiding product development, strategy, and user experience within an existing organization. While both roles require understanding of technology and product development, the Technical Founder is more involved in technical creation and startup leadership, whereas the Product Manager emphasizes product strategy and market fit.

What are some common challenges Technical Founders face when transitioning from product development to team leadership?

Technical Founders often excel at building the initial product but may find it challenging to shift their focus to hiring, managing, and leading a growing team. As the company scales, responsibilities move from hands-on coding to mentoring engineers, setting technical direction, and aligning with business goals. Balancing technical debt, product vision, and team dynamics requires new skills in delegation and communication. Embracing this transition is crucial for both personal growth and the company's long-term success.
What job categories do people searching Technical Founder jobs look for? The top searched job categories for Technical Founder jobs are:
Technical Founder jobs near you
Infographic showing various Technical Founder job openings in the United States as of June 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 96% Full Time, and 3% Contract. Highlights an 90% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 7% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $44,267 per year, or $21.3 per hour.

Product & Technical Co-founder (CPTO) - AI Compliance Platform

FutureSight

Remote

$170K - $197K/yr

Full-time

Posted 10 days ago

Job description

The Opportunity
Compliance at U.S. RIAs, broker-dealers, and wealth fintechs still runs largely on manual review - analysts reading marketing materials line by line, scanning communications for keywords, and reviewing trades and trade requests by hand. Across more than 25,000 firms, operational costs are significant, and regulatory exposure is even greater.
Global RegTech spend is projected to grow from roughly $12B to more than $66B over the next decade, with the US growing to $32B. The teams that ship credible, audit-ready platforms in the next 18 months will define the category. We intend to be one of them.
The Venture
The answer is not another rules engine. We are building an explainable AI platform that reasons like a senior compliance officer, cites firm policy and SEC/FINRA regulations for every decision, and produces audit-ready evidence on demand - across marketing, communications, trading, policy, audit, and filings.
The platform is designed to operate alongside the systems compliance teams already use, replacing manual review with explainable AI judgments that hold up to regulator scrutiny. The roadmap moves from marketing review into communications surveillance, policy and manuals, audit, and ultimately regulatory filings and enterprise integrations.
The Partnership
The CEO co-founder is in place. The customer thesis is validated, design partners are engaged, and the market work is complete. What remains is to bring on the technical co-founder - a partner who will own product and engineering with the same conviction, urgency, and ownership stake.
This is a co-founder role, not a CPTO hire. In return for that level of commitment, you receive founder-level equity, founder-level authority with co-decision rights on product, technology, hiring, fundraising, and strategy, a board or board-observer seat as appropriate to the cap table and stage, and a genuine partnership with the CEO on every material decision.
What you'll own
As Co-Founder & CPTO, you will write the first lines of production code, set the technical direction, and lead execution end-to-end.
  • Architecture & Engineering Culture - Establish the core architecture, engineering culture, and security posture, including SOC 2 readiness, tenant isolation, encryption, and audit logging
  • Product Build - Ship a marketing review prototype into production with a design partner early adopter, then deliver communications surveillance, trading oversight, audit-ready logs and reporting; release GA v1 covering all core modules except regulatory filings within 9 months, and expand into regulatory filings and enterprise integrations through 18 months
  • AI/LLM Build - Own the training and constant evolution of the core AI/LLM model, delivering robust and highly reliable analysis
  • Explainability & Reliability - Own the explainability layer that produces audit-ready evidence on demand, and the reliability engineering that ensures the platform performs consistently in the field
  • Customer & Market - Represent the company in front of all customer constituencies and third-party interests, as well as investors, as the technical voice of the venture
  • Capital - Convert pilots into ten paying customers and reach $1M ARR within 18 months, partnering with the CEO on conversion and fundraising
  • Team - Recruit and lead the founding engineering and applied AI team, and establish the cultural foundation of the company
Co-Founder Profile
  • Shipped LLM-powered systems into production environments where incorrect outputs carried real consequences - not prototypes or demonstrations
  • Full-stack confidence across applied LLMs, RAG, retrieval, deterministic rules engines, human-in-the-loop workflows, observability, and secure multi-tenant SaaS (SOC 2, tenant isolation, encryption, audit logging)
  • Well-formed convictions about explainability and reliability engineering, developed through direct production experience
  • Preference for systems that perform consistently in the field over systems that demonstrate well in controlled settings
  • Prepared to operate as a principal - setting the technical agenda, making decisive calls under uncertainty, and owning the outcomes that follow
  • Strongly preferred: prior founder, founding engineer, or early-stage technical leadership experience; background in legal tech, RegTech, fintech compliance, healthcare, or another high-trust regulated vertical; familiarity with the U.S. wealth management ecosystem, including SEC and FINRA workflows, marketing review, communications surveillance, and trade monitoring; direct experience self-hosting or privately deploying foundation models
How to Apply
Please submit your resume, LinkedIn profile, and a brief note on why this venture aligns with your goals as a founder. We will move quickly for the right candidate.
FutureSight is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds and experiences.

Apply