We are hiring a
Founding Engineer to build and scale the systems that power Maestro - in person, in Austin.
This role sits at the intersection of engineering, product, and operations. You will work directly with the Founder and partner closely with Product and Ops to translate real-world operational friction into reliable, AI-enabled software.
This is not a ticket-taking role. This is a builder role.
You will be responsible for shipping the automation, tooling, and AI systems that increase team capacity and improve member experience - and driving them to launch and adoption.
What You'll Do- Ship, debug, and improve production code across the stack - backend, APIs, and AI systems
- Integrate and operationalize AI workflows (LLMs, orchestration, APIs, automation) that are stable, understandable, and trusted internally
- Translate ambiguous product and ops needs into working software
- Prioritize based on measurable business impact, in partnership with product
- Make pragmatic tradeoffs between speed, quality, and scalability
- Instrument what you build and track performance in real usage
- Reduce manual, human-heavy workflows through thoughtful automation
- Collaborate closely with our offshore engineering team - sharing context, reviewing work, and unblocking one another to keep delivery moving across time zones
You will help us move from "high-touch but manual" to "high-touch and scalable."
We hire for outcomes, not activities. In your first 3-6 months, you will:
- Ship core AI workflows and integrations that are stable and adopted internally
- Measurably reduce manual, repetitive operational work through automation
- Establish reliability in the systems the team depends on daily
- Ship consistently, with fewer blockers and surprises
- Create systems that scale as membership grows
The Maestro Core (Universal Competencies)Regardless of the role, every Maestro team member must embody:
- High Agency: You find a way over, under, or through obstacles without waiting for permission.
- Execution Velocity: You move work forward with momentum and intentionality.
- Judgment: You make smart tradeoffs under uncertainty.
- Human-Centered Conduct: You treat people like people, even under high pressure.
- Ownership: You act like it's yours-without being told.
Are You a Stage Fit?We are an early-stage, high-growth company. This means we value slope over pedigree.
We need productive challengers who:
- Have thrived in ambiguity and incomplete inputs before - not just tolerated it.
- Start by doing, not delegating - there are no "pure managers" here.
- Optimize for leverage before elegance, and ship "good enough" systems that are reliable and adopted.
- Admit uncertainty and ask for help early to protect team velocity.
- Take initiative without waiting for perfect clarity.
- Care about building durable systems, not just shipping features.
QualificationsRequired Experience- 4+ years building and shipping production software (full-stack or backend-leaning)
- Strong technical judgment across backend, APIs, and modern web
- Hands-on ability to ship, debug, and improve code independently
- Comfort making speed / quality / scalability tradeoffs at an early stage
- Demonstrated ownership of outcomes (not just shipping features)
Strongly Preferred- Experience building or integrating AI-enabled products (LLMs, orchestration, AI agents, automation, ML systems)
- Experience increasing operational leverage (reducing manual work, improving capacity)
- Experience building internal tools, operational systems, or workflow automation
- Experience working collaboratively with distributed or offshore engineering teams
- Experience in high-touch service environments (marketplaces, travel, fintech, concierge, logistics, etc.)
- Comfort with metrics, instrumentation, and reliability practices
- AI-first workflow - you actively use AI to increase your own and the team's efficiency
Work Model- In-person / hybrid role, based in Austin, TX (minimum 3 days/week in-office).
- In-person collaboration is core to how we work and learn as a team.
Compensation & Growth- Competitive salary based on experience, plus meaningful founding-level equity.
- Equity is structured to align long-term ownership with company growth.
- Significant room to grow scope and technical leadership as the company scales.
- Significant opportunity for impact and cross-functional exposure as the company grows.
