About this roleThis is a
founding role on the small team that owns fal's core product systems - the connected tissue the whole business runs on: usage, pricing, accounts, access, API keys, and model discovery. You'll join early, own these systems end-to-end (from data model through rollout to operational health), and design the APIs and product surfaces other teams and customers depend on. These are backend systems where
correctness underpins real revenue and customer trust.You won't inherit five finished systems - you'll prioritize and build. Your
first focus is billing and pricing: it's our current flagship priority and one of the most-requested things our customers ask for. From there the portfolio grows into accounts, access and identity, API keys, and model discovery. If you like owning the systems that quietly keep a company running - and shipping the product surfaces that make them trustworthy - this is that role.
What you'll do- Own billing and pricing first - metering, usage roll-ups, pricing logic, and the customer/admin surfaces that make cost understandable and trustworthy.
- Design APIs, data models, and product contracts other teams safely build on.
- Grow into the broader portfolio - accounts, access/identity, API keys, and model discovery - and the surfaces that expose usage, cost, and access.
- Engineer for correctness and resilience: source of truth, idempotency, auditability, permissions, observability, graceful failure.
- Own operational health, including on-call for the systems you build.
- Partner across product, infra, finance, revenue, security, and customer-facing teams - turning messy, manual workflows into durable systems.
What we're looking for- 5+ years building reliable, production backend systems (Python and/or TypeScript).
- Strong PostgreSQL - schema design, queries, migrations, performance.
- API & data-model design for complex product or business domains.
- Can ship product and internal surfaces in React / Next.js / TypeScript.
- Strong systems judgment (source of truth, idempotency, auditability, permissions, observability) and product judgment (workflows, edge cases, customer trust).
- Thrives in ambiguous, cross-functional work where product, business logic, and infra overlap; ships a pragmatic v1 that can evolve. Priorities move fast - you're comfortable with that.
Nice-to-have (the likely differentiators)- Usage-based billing / metering / pricing - Stripe, Orb, Metronome, or similar.
- Identity & access - permissions, SSO, API keys, org/account hierarchy.
- Developer platforms, model registries, or usage/observability dashboards.
- Generative AI / inference APIs or other developer-facing AI products.
Our stackPython (primary backend) • TypeScript + React/Next.js (product surfaces) • PostgreSQL / SQL • with some migration to Rust underway.
The team & who you'll work withYou'll be an early member of a
small, high-leverage team (currently ~4) that owns fal's core product and billing systems. You'll work daily with
product and infra engineers, and partner closely with
finance, revenue, security, and customer-facing teams - this role lives at the seam of engineering and the business, so cross-functional partnership is core to the job, not a side task.
What fal offersInteresting, challenging work at the frontier of generative media • competitive salary and equity • learning and growth •
relocation assistance + visa sponsorship to San Francisco • health, dental, and vision • regular team events and offsites.What We Offer at fal
- Interesting and challenging work at the frontier of generative media.
- Competitive salary and equity.
- A lot of learning and growth opportunities.
- Relocation assistance to San Francisco.
- Health, dental, and vision insurance.
- Regular team events and offsites.
Compensation- $190,000 - $230,000 + equity + comprehensive benefits package
Location- We are currently hiring in downtown San Francisco.
