Founding Full-Stack Engineer (contract-to-hire)

I'm the founder of CritPath. We turn monthly construction schedule updates (Primavera P6 files) into a dashboard and a written review for project controls teams. A large engineering consultancy has approved our prototype and a pilot is about to start. I need one engineer to build the product from scratch, working directly with me.

This is ongoing monthly work at $3,000 a month. The first 3 months build the pilot. After that the work continues with new features, and there's a path to a founding engineer role.

You don't need a construction background. I'm looking for someone who builds real products and learns a new field fast.

What you'll build

1. AWS setup and a live URL behind a login
2. File uploads with clear error messages for broken files
3. A parser for P6 schedule files, written in code, stored in Postgres
4. About 25 metrics calculated in the backend from our formula table
5. A dashboard that matches our approved prototype, on real data
6. An AI summary written only from the computed numbers. It must never invent a figure
7. Basic security and a short README

Stack: React + TypeScript, Node.js, Python/FastAPI for the AI part, PostgreSQL, AWS.

Must have

1. You've shipped a full-stack product, including the AWS setup
2. You've built a product that mixes regular code and AI, and you know which parts belong where
3. You check your own numbers before saying something is done

How we work: a short written update each day, two calls a week, code in our GitHub. Claude Code or Codex are welcome.

Monthly plan

1. Month 1: AWS live, login and uploads working, parser matches P6 on our test schedules
2. Month 2: all metrics calculated, dashboard on real data, numbers match our hand-checked results
3. Month 3: AI summary, security, README, then a demo where I click through everything

To apply, send a short note that answers these:

1. Tell me about a time you built something in a field you knew nothing about. How did you get up to speed, and how long did it take before you were useful?
2. You get a file in an old format with poor documentation, and some files break the rules. How would you build a parser you trust?
3. You've built an AI feature that writes a summary from data. How do you stop it from making up facts or numbers?
4. In a product that uses both regular code and AI, which parts would you build with code and which with AI, and why? Give an example from something you built.
5. Link one product you built. What did you personally build on it?

Also confirm you're open to $3,000 a month on an ongoing basis, and tell me how many hours a week you can commit.