1+ years of professional software shipping experience
Hands-on experience with APIs and distributed systems
Familiarity with LLMs and AI agents preferred
Experience with AWS or GCP and Linux environments
Strong performance and reliability design instincts
Proactive and self-motivated with high agency
Ability to think critically and build from the ground up
Responsibilities
Design and operate core infrastructure for people-data and AI solutions
Architect production-grade systems for high volumes of API requests
Oversee projects from problem definition to deployment
Collaborate directly with C-suite on technical strategy
Contribute to stack-wide documentation and internal tooling
Benefits
Equity stake as a founding team member
Dynamic startup environment with ownership opportunities
Work directly with executives to shape the company's future
Inclusive culture fostering innovation and quick execution
Full Job Description
About the Role
A seed-stage AI data infrastructure startup in San Francisco is looking for a Founding Engineer with 1+ years of professional experience shipping to production. This is a foundational hire at an early-stage company building a people-data and agent platform - you'll have real ownership, work directly with leadership, and help shape the technical direction of the product as it scales toward Series A. Ideal for a high-agency, first-principles thinker who thrives in ambiguity and has founder aspirations. What You'll Do
Design, build, and operate core infrastructure powering a people-data and AI agent platform, including APIs, LLM-powered workflows, scraping systems, and large-scale knowledge graph architecture.
Architect and maintain production-grade systems capable of handling millions of API requests, with a strong focus on performance, cost efficiency, and reliability across cloud and Linux server environments.
Own projects end-to-end - from ambiguous problem definition through deployment and iteration - shipping quickly without sacrificing system integrity.
Collaborate directly with the CEO and CTO on technical decisions, roadmap priorities, and foundational architectural choices that will define the company's long-term direction.
Contribute broadly across the stack, including developer documentation, technical tutorials, internal tooling, and experimental builds that showcase and stress-test platform APIs.
What We're Looking For
Required: 1+ years of professional experience shipping software to production.
Hands-on experience with APIs, distributed systems, microservices, and data pipelines.
Comfort working with LLMs, AI agents, and knowledge graph or identity resolution systems is a strong plus.
Experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS or GCP) and Linux server environments.
Strong instincts for performance, reliability, and cost-efficient system design.
High agency - you move fast, take ownership, and operate well with limited direction.
First-principles thinker who is energized by building 0-to-1 in a fast-moving environment.
Compensation & Benefits
Salary: $150,000 - $220,000 USD annually
Early-stage equity as a founding team member
Note: Visa sponsorship is not available for this role
Location
This is an on-site role based in San Francisco, CA. Candidates must be available to work in-person.
