Founding Engineer (Backend-Leaning)

Founding Engineer (Backend-Leaning)

Location: San Francisco, California, USA

Working model: Fully in-person, 9 AM–5 PM

Salary: $160,000–$180,000 base + 0.5–1% equity

Experience: 1+ years (typically 1–4 years; exceptional new graduates welcome)

Visa sponsorship: Not available at this time; candidates must be US-based and authorised to work without sponsorship

Open positions: 3

About the company

Join a seed-stage AI startup building an AI workforce for direct procurement at large manufacturing companies.

Direct procurement is a critical but often overlooked part of manufacturing, involving the sourcing and purchasing of the materials and components businesses need to operate. The company is building AI-powered solutions to automate complex workflows, improve efficiency and solve problems that traditional software has struggled to address.

The business is already closing enterprise contracts worth up to approximately $1 million, creating an opportunity to join at an early stage while the product and customer base are growing. You'll join a small, driven team where engineers have substantial ownership, work directly with customers and have the opportunity to grow into leadership as the company scales.

The role

As a Founding Engineer, you'll help build and deploy AI-powered software that transforms how large manufacturers manage procurement. This is a backend-leaning full-stack role for someone who enjoys solving difficult technical problems, building practical AI systems and taking responsibility for outcomes rather than simply completing assigned tickets.

You'll work across backend systems, LLM agents, tool use, evaluations and user-facing product features. Just as importantly, you'll be involved throughout the customer journey, from initial conversations and understanding business problems to implementation and deployment.

With three positions available, this is an opportunity to join early, shape the engineering culture and potentially grow into a team leadership role as the company expands.

What you'll do

• Build and deploy AI-powered systems that automate direct procurement workflows.
• Develop backend services and full-stack features using technologies such as Python, TypeScript, Java or C++.
• Implement LLM agents, tool integrations, evaluation frameworks and guardrails.
• Design reliable systems that can handle complex enterprise workflows and real-world customer requirements.
• Work directly with customers to understand their processes and translate business problems into technical solutions.
• Own enterprise accounts and implementations from initial discovery through deployment.
• Evaluate AI system performance, identify failure modes and improve reliability.
• Take ownership of technical challenges, make independent decisions and contribute to product direction.
• Help establish engineering standards and practices as the team grows.
• Develop towards greater responsibility, including the potential to lead engineers and technical projects.

What we're looking for

• At least 1 year of relevant engineering experience, although exceptional new graduates are encouraged to apply.
• Strong backend engineering skills and the ability to work across the full stack.
• Experience with one or more of Python, TypeScript, Java or C++.
• Practical experience with LLMs, AI agents, tool use or evaluation systems.
• Strong computer science fundamentals and the ability to solve unfamiliar problems independently.
• A track record of building things beyond narrowly defined assignments.
• The ability to translate complex technical concepts into practical solutions for customers.
• A proactive, ownership-driven approach suited to a small, fast-moving startup.
• Willingness to work in person in San Francisco.
• Existing US work authorisation that does not require employer sponsorship.

We're looking for demonstrated technical ability, not credentials alone. Competitive programming, quantitative work, entrepreneurial experience or an impressive product you've built independently can all provide evidence of exceptional problem-solving skills.

What will make you stand out?

• Competitive programming: Experience or strong results in competitions such as ICPC, USACO, IOI, programming olympiads or Codeforces.
• Quantitative background: Experience in quantitative finance or another environment that demands rigorous analytical thinking.
• Founder experience: You've started a company, taken a product to market or learned valuable lessons from a venture that didn't succeed.
• Independent building: You've created a product or tool without being asked, ideally with real users.
• Practical AI engineering: You've built LLM agents and can explain how you evaluate their performance, manage failure modes and implement guardrails.
• Backend depth: You can design and build reliable systems rather than focusing exclusively on frontend development.
• Customer ownership: You're comfortable speaking directly with customers and taking responsibility for successful implementations.

Why join?

• Founding-team ownership: Help shape the product, technical architecture and engineering culture from an early stage.
• Real enterprise impact: Build AI products for large manufacturers with significant operational challenges and commercial value.
• End-to-end responsibility: Work directly with customers and own projects through to deployment.
• Career growth: Develop the skills and experience to grow into a technical lead or engineering leadership position.
• Meaningful equity: Receive 0.5–1% equity alongside a $160,000–$180,000 base salary.
• A small, driven team: Work in an environment where individual contributions have a direct effect on the company's success.

Interview process

1. Co-founder introduction: Discuss your background, motivation and interest in the business.
2. Take-home assignment: Complete a short, screen-recorded technical assignment. AI tools are allowed, and you'll provide a short video explaining your work.
3. Technical conversation: Discuss your solution, engineering decisions, problem-solving approach and technical fundamentals.
4. Paid work trial: Work with the team for two to five days on practical projects.
5. Offer: Successful candidates receive an offer to join the founding team.

Interested?

If you're a backend-leaning engineer who enjoys building practical AI systems, solving difficult problems and taking ownership in an early-stage company, we'd love to hear from you.

Apply with your CV and links to relevant projects, GitHub repositories, competition results or products you've built.

As part of the process, be prepared to explain why you want to join a small company operating in an unglamorous but commercially important industry like direct procurement. An honest answer is encouraged.