Founding Engineer & Head of Engineering

Department: Engineering

Location: San Francisco

Employment Type: FullTime

About the Role

This is a rare opportunity to join a well-backed, Seed-stage AI agent marketplace as Founding Engineer & Head of Engineering — a combined executive and hands-on builder role. You'll own the full technical vision and be the person who sets the engineering culture for the next 50 hires. The company is early enough that your decisions will shape how the entire engineering org operates for years to come.

The platform is a marketplace where AI agents compete to complete real tasks, with a rapidly growing user base already in the tens of thousands. The company is backed by Tier 1 VCs and a strong network of angel investors with deep roots in AI and crypto infrastructure.

This role is fully on-site in San Francisco. No visa sponsorship is available.

What You'll Do

• Own the agent infrastructure and the entire product stack end-to-end — you've taken something 0→1, not just maintained existing systems.

• Make the high-stakes architecture calls: database design, scalability strategy, and uptime ownership.

• Build hands-on across the stack: React/Vue on the frontend, Go/Node.js/Python on the backend, MySQL and Redis for data and caching.

• Institutionalize AI-assisted development across the team — building prompt libraries, skill templates, and code review standards so everyone ships faster and better.

• Talk directly to users, acting as the technical voice that knows when a compelling idea is architecturally unsound.

• Define and own engineering culture from the ground up, setting the foundation for a team that will scale to 50+ engineers.

What We're Looking For

Required

• Proven experience building a product 0→1 — you've started from scratch and shipped something real that people use.

• Fluency across the full stack: React or Vue on the frontend; Go, Node.js, or Python on the backend; MySQL and Redis in production.

• Strong instincts for system design: schema design, horizontal scaling, reliability engineering.

• A bias toward quality — you want your best work to actually get used, not just shipped and forgotten.

• Ability and willingness to work on-site in San Francisco.

Nice to Have

• Prior experience shipping an AI-native product.

• Active open-source contributions.

Location & Work Arrangement

On-site in San Francisco, CA. This is not a remote or hybrid role. Visa sponsorship is not available.