Founding Engineer

Founding Engineer | Backend

$210,000–$260,000 + 1–2% equity

Union Square, New York | Onsite

If you’ve built systems where a mistake costs real money, you’ll understand why this company needs a good backend engineer.

I’m recruiting for a two-person startup changing how US employers pay for prescription drugs. They charge a transparent admin fee and pass medications through at cost, serving small and mid-sized employers the bigger players haven’t focused on.

They’ve raised $6.5M and are hiring employee number three.

The technical founder built the first version himself, including the member app, employer workspace, operations portal and pharmacy software. You’ll take ownership of the backend while he focuses on the frontend.

He specifically wants someone stronger than him in this area, who will challenge his decisions and explain what needs to change. Being agreeable is probably less useful here than being right (and being able to explain why).

What you’ll build

• Backend APIs, system architecture and database schemas.
• Real-time drug pricing across multiple sources.
• Claims processing that determines whether someone can collect their medication.
• Payments infrastructure moving millions of dollars, with a 99.99% uptime requirement.
• Systems that can grow from hundreds to tens of thousands of members.
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There’s also a wider API platform taking shape so healthcare businesses can process claims, access pricing and arrange medication delivery.

If a claim fails, there’s a person standing at a pharmacy counter waiting for it to work. Reliability matters for fairly obvious reasons.

What you’ll bring

You’ll likely have around 3–8 years’ experience in backend or backend-focused full-stack engineering, and you’ll have owned production systems.

They’re looking for:

• Strong architecture and database schema design experience.
• Experience building systems where downtime or incorrect behaviour affected revenue, payments or other critical operations.
• The judgement to make decisions and get things into production in a very small team.
• Proficiency with AI development tools such as Claude Code or Cursor.

Payments, ledgers, trading systems, fintech or infrastructure startup experience would be particularly relevant. A related technical degree is preferred.

The practical bits

Base salary is $210,000–$260,000, plus 1–2% equity, with flexibility around the cash/equity mix.

You’ll work onsite in Union Square, NYC.

The interview process includes a technical founder call, a 90-minute pairing session on a real ticket in the codebase, a claims reasoning exercise and references. Decisions can follow within days.

Interested? Send me your CV or a message about what you’ve built.

Sponsorship or visa transfer are not available.