Founding Engineer

Work Arrangement: On-site, 5 days per week
Employment Type: Full-time
Experience: 3 to 5 years
Salary: $160,000 to $210,000 per year
Exceptional candidates: Up to $230,000
Equity: 0.5% to 1.5%
Visa Sponsorship: Not available
Citizenship: U.S. citizenship required
Travel: Approximately once per month to military bases

About the Company
An early-stage AI startup building AI agents that automate administrative workflows for military units. .

About the Role
We are looking for a Founding Engineer to join a small, high-impact team and take ownership of the full product development lifecycle. You will work directly with the founders to build AI-powered products used by mission-critical military customers.
You will have significant influence over the technical direction and product roadmap. The role combines full-stack engineering, AI development, customer interaction, and product ownership.
Responsibilities
You will own end-to-end development of the core platform, including architecture, implementation, deployment, and ongoing improvement.
You will build the knowledge graph, AI agent workflows, and customer-facing features using TypeScript.
You will develop tools that allow customers to configure and manage their own AI agents and workflows.
You will integrate LLMs into production applications and develop reliable AI-powered workflows.
You will work directly with customers to understand operational requirements and translate feedback into production-ready features.
You will support customer launches by identifying technical requirements, resolving issues, and rapidly delivering product improvements.
You will contribute to AWS and cloud infrastructure, including Kubernetes, monitoring, logging, and platform reliability.
You will help shape product direction by evaluating customer feedback, prioritizing features, and making technical decisions.
You will occasionally travel to military bases, primarily around the San Francisco area, to work directly with users and understand their operational needs.

Requirements
3 to 5 years of full-stack software engineering experience.
Experience shipping production software end-to-end.
Technical degree from a U.S. university in Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, or a related field.
Strong engineering fundamentals.
Strong experience with TypeScript, Python, Next.js, Express, and PostgreSQL.
U.S. citizenship required for security-clearance eligibility.
Ability to work on-site in Downtown San Francisco 5 days per week.
Willingness to travel to military bases approximately once per month.
Collaborative, low-ego approach to engineering and product development.
Strong customer orientation and ability to translate user needs into product features.
Comfort working in an early-stage environment with significant ambiguity and ownership.

Preferred Qualifications
Experience working at a Seed or Series A startup.
Experience integrating LLMs into production applications.
Experience working in defense technology or with DoD customers.
AWS or other cloud deployment experience.
Kubernetes experience.

What Makes This Role Different
This is a true founding-engineer opportunity. You will work directly with the founders, own meaningful parts of the product, interact with real customers, and influence both engineering and product decisions.
You will be joining at an early stage, with significant responsibility and 0.5% to 1.5% equity.