Founding Engineer
Founding engineer builds APIs, distributed infrastructure, and low-latency systems for AI agent email inboxes and identity. Owns end-to-end projects bridging AI with email primitives at a hypergrowth startup.
About the job
What you'll do
- Design APIs and abstractions that are intuitive for both humans and AI Agents
- Build high-performant, low-latency systems with the idea that agents are the end-users in mind
- Get your hands dirty by touching our core infrastructure that processes hundreds of thousands of emails per day
- Think creatively about being the bridge between cutting edge AI capabilities with something as primitive as email
- Own projects end-to-end, from system design to production rollout
- Write clear, maintainable code and strong technical documentation
- Be the frontline for feedback from our customers - we’ll trust you to be our spokesperson
What we’re looking for
- You want to solve problems end-to-end: every engineer owns a part of the product and needs to make decisions across the frontend, infrastructure, backend, and UX
- You have a high bar for quality: At a startup, speed is the only advantage we have over big-tech companies. But even more important is to care about your output and obsess about details
- You are a clear thinker and communicator: We have daily standups and weekly syncs in which we expect you to communicate tradeoffs, problems, and blockers directly
- You are highly technical: preferred you have prior experience shipping production software by real users as a software engineer at a tech company or startup. But hustlers are always appreciated
Bonus points
- Experience with cloud infrastructure, distributed systems, or developer tools
- Experience with messaging, email, auth, or protocol-heavy systems
- Experience building for AI/LLM use cases
Compensation
- $150k - $250k base
- 0.5% - 1.5% equity
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance
- All employees get Equinox memberships
- Breakfast, lunch, and dinner (Free Doordash)
Skills
APIs, Distributed Systems, Cloud Infrastructure, Email Protocols, Authentication, Developer Tools, Low-Latency Systems, Ai/Llm, Infrastructure, Production Software
Similar jobs
Backend Engineering jobs
Postman
Cupertino, CA
Build secure, scalable identity and access management platforms, APIs, and internal tooling using JavaScript, Node.js, React.js, and distributed-systems expertise. The role requires 5+ years of backend or distributed-systems experience and familiarity with authentication protocols is a plus.
Cribl
United States
Build backend systems and APIs that ingest, process, and route large-scale telemetry data in real time. The role requires strong computer science fundamentals, Node.js/TypeScript experience, distributed-systems knowledge, and ownership of reliable cloud software.
Censys
United StatesBuild and maintain highly available, scalable distributed systems, data pipelines, messaging systems, and services powering Internet intelligence products. The role requires 5+ years of distributed-systems experience and proficiency with Go, cloud platforms, databases, and messaging technologies.
Square
New York, NY
Build and maintain backend systems powering Cash App Taxes, translating complex federal and state tax requirements into reliable filing and e-file functionality. The role requires 4+ years of software development experience, strong system design skills, and a bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
Figma
San Francisco, CABuild shared Ruby backend foundations for APIs, asynchronous jobs, workflow orchestration, and developer tooling. The role requires 5+ years of software engineering experience, including 3+ years with production Ruby systems, plus expertise in distributed systems and large codebases.