Founding Engineer

Department: Engineering

Location: San Francisco

Employment Type: FullTime

About the Role

This is a rare, high-impact founding engineer opportunity at an early-stage consumer AI startup building real-time, human-like conversational experiences. You'll work directly alongside the founder as one of the first engineers, owning meaningful pieces of a technically ambitious product and helping shape both the codebase and the engineering culture from the ground up. The company is small (under 10 people), moves fast, and is looking for someone who thrives in that environment.

What You'll Do

• Build across the full application stack — frontend, backend, and everything in between — in close collaboration with the founder, designers, and fellow engineers.

• Design and implement novel systems for memory, retrieval, proactivity, and AI responsiveness.

• Integrate and advance real-time video generation and audio synthesis models (both internal and third-party).

• Set the bar for engineering quality and play an active role in recruiting world-class technical talent.

• Use the product extensively yourself — you genuinely care about the user experience and quality.

What We're Looking For

Required:

• 2–7 years of professional software engineering experience; not a new grad — some real production experience is essential.

• Strong computer science fundamentals: data structures, algorithms, and system design.

• Degree in Computer Science or equivalent technical background (top university preferred).

• Proven track record building technically complex projects end-to-end (professional, open source, or side projects).

• Full-stack development experience across both frontend and backend systems.

• Experience integrating external APIs and third-party services.

• Prior experience in an early-stage startup or fast-moving, high-ambiguity environment.

• High energy, intellectual horsepower, and an entrepreneurial drive.

Nice to Have:

• Experience with real-time media systems — video streaming, live communication, or audio processing.

• Experience building or integrating vision or video generation models.

• Experience with memory, caching, or retrieval systems.

• Experience with audio synthesis or audio-focused applications.

• Proficiency in typed scientific Python (e.g., NumPy, PyTorch ecosystems).

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary: $175,000 – $225,000 USD annually

• Early equity as a founding team member

• Visa sponsorship available

Location

This role is fully on-site in San Francisco, CA. Candidates must be willing and able to work in-person full time. Remote work is not available for this position.