Role Description
Zlayt AI is seeking a Full Stack Developer who thrives in 0 126 1 environments. This is a full-time
role, remote-friendly, with a preference for candidates in or near Austin, TX.
This is not a maintenance role. You will build new systems from scratch, prototype rapidly, and
ship production-ready features at high velocity. You19ll work across the stack - frontend,
backend, and AI systems - turning ideas into working products in days, not weeks.
You19ll operate with high ownership and a strong bias toward action - within clear guardrails. We
work in a legal environment where client confidentiality, data security, and compliance are
non-negotiable. We move fast, and production changes go through review. If that combination
sounds right rather than restrictive, keep reading.
Who You Are (Critical)
- You have startup experience and understand what it means to build with urgency
- You are comfortable going from idea 126 prototype 126 production quickly
- You prioritize speed, iteration, and outcomes over perfection
- You can figure things out independently and unblock yourself
- You communicate before you ship - you flag decisions, surface tradeoffs, and don19t surprise the team with production changes
- You take data sensitivity seriously; you19ve worked with (or want to work with) regulated or
confidential data and understand why guardrails exist - You thrive when requirements are evolving and ambiguous
- You care about shipping and impact, not just clean code in isolation
Key Responsibilities
- Build and ship 0 126 1 features rapidly
- Design and implement scalable systems while maintaining speed
- Own projects end-to-end - from concept to deployment
- Work across the stack (frontend, backend, AI systems)
- Rapidly prototype, test, and iterate on new ideas
- Collaborate closely with leadership to translate business needs into working software
- Build with client confidentiality and data security as first-order constraints, not
afterthoughts - Identify bottlenecks and eliminate them to increase development velocity
- Maintain high standards while balancing speed and pragmatism
- Continuously explore and apply new technologies to accelerate development
Qualifications
- Startup experience strongly preferred (early-stage or high-growth environments)
- 4+ years of experience with AWS, GCP, or Azure in production environments
- Strong proficiency in Python
- Proficiency with Django, React, and PostgreSQL
- Experience building production features on LLM APIs (Anthropic, OpenAI, or similar):
- prompt design, RAG and retrieval patterns, structured outputs, and evaluating output
quality - Experience building end-to-end systems quickly, not just contributing to parts
- Experience working with sensitive or regulated data (legal, healthcare, or financial) is a
strong plus - Strong system design instincts with a bias toward practical solutions
- Ability to operate independently and make decisions with limited guidance
- Excellent communication skills - you can clearly explain what you19re building and why
What Success Looks Like
- You consistently ship features faster than expected
- You turn ambiguous ideas into working products quickly
- You improve team velocity, not just your own output
- You make pragmatic tradeoffs to move fast without breaking core systems - or
compliance
Why This Role Is Different
- Most engineering roles optimize for stability and process. This role optimizes for speed,
ownership, and building from scratch - inside a real firm with real cases, where what you ship
gets used the same week. - If you want to build fast, own what you ship, work on cutting-edge AI, and operate like a true
startup builder, you19ll thrive here.
