Founding Engineer (AI-Native) $160k-$260k + Meaningful Equity | Relocation Support

New York City skyline with Empire State Building

πŸ“ New York City β€” Where Your Career Takes Flight

Most startups talk about building the future of AI. This team is building the infrastructure that makes AI reliable.

Backed by a multi-million dollar pre-seed round and already working with active design partners, they’re looking for one of their first engineering hires to help shape the product, culture and technical direction from day one.

This isn’t a role where you’ll spend months refining internal systems or sitting behind a Jira board. You’ll talk directly to customers, identify problems worth solving, build solutions, ship them to production and see the impact immediately.

If your long-term goal is to start a company, become a technical founder, or learn how elite early-stage teams operate, this is the type of opportunity that rarely comes along.

Aerial view of Manhattan Empire State Building

Manhattan from above

Empire State Building at night New York

New York City at night

πŸš€ What You’ll Be Doing

  • Building product end-to-end from idea through production
  • Working directly with founders and design partners
  • Shipping customer-facing features at high velocity
  • Building backend systems and platform infrastructure
  • Influencing product direction through direct customer feedback
  • Solving complex technical problems in an AI-first environment
  • Helping define engineering culture as one of the earliest hires

🎯 What They’re Looking For

  • 1–5 years of software engineering experience, or an exceptional recent graduate from a top university
  • Strong full-stack engineering skills with a backend bias
  • Production experience shipping real products used by customers
  • AI-native mindset and daily use of tools such as Claude, Cursor or similar
  • Strong product instincts and comfort operating in ambiguity
  • Excellent communication skills and willingness to work directly with customers
  • High ownership, high agency and a genuine desire to learn quickly

Central Park New York City aerial view

New York City β€” Central Park from above

⚑ Strong Signals

  • Founder or founding engineer experience
  • Side projects, open-source contributions or products you’ve shipped independently
  • Experience at high-bar engineering organisations or ambitious startups
  • Evidence of rapid career growth and intentional career decisions
  • Clear motivation for joining a pre-seed company
  • Strong academic background from a leading university

❌ Not The Right Fit If

  • You prefer highly structured environments and clearly defined requirements
  • You’re applying to every startup regardless of stage or mission
  • You’ve changed jobs frequently without clear reasoning
  • You aren’t excited about working closely with customers
  • You aren’t willing to work in-person with a highly collaborative team

πŸ’° What’s On Offer

$160K–$260K
Annual Salary
πŸš€
Meaningful Equity
✈️
Relocation Support
🌍
Visa Sponsorship
πŸ₯
Health, Dental & Vision
🍱
Daily Meal Perks + 401(k)

New York City skyline at night

The city that never sleeps β€” join us in New York

This is a rare opportunity to join a well-funded startup at the earliest stage, work directly alongside experienced founders, and have an outsized impact on both the product and the business.

Photos courtesy of Unsplash (Unsplash License) | Posted by Big Wave Digital

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