About the Role
This is a high-ownership engineering role on a small, fast-moving product team building real-world AI and automation products. You'll own customer-facing features end-to-end — from design through shipping and iteration — making both product and engineering decisions with speed and strong judgment, with minimal PM overhead.
What You'll Do
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Own features end-to-end across design, shipping, and iteration.
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Make independent product and engineering decisions without heavy process support.
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Build and maintain backend systems, APIs, data models, and automation pipelines.
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Integrate with external tools, legacy systems, and messy third-party services.
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Design workflows and orchestration for AI/automation-driven products.
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Debug production issues and apply strong engineering judgment under pressure.
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Collaborate closely with founders, customers, and cross-functional stakeholders in a hybrid SF setting.
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Contribute across the full stack when needed, with a clear emphasis on backend ownership.
What We're Looking For
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Background as an early or founding engineer, startup generalist, or strong product/backend engineer at a scaling startup.
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Demonstrated track record of shipping real products, ideally in 0-to-1 or ambiguous, messy environments.
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Solid experience with backend systems, APIs, data modeling, automation, and third-party integrations.
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Experience designing, implementing, and maintaining data models and automation pipelines.
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Strong debugging instincts and production troubleshooting skills.
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Applied AI or workflow/orchestration experience (e.g. agentic workflows, RAG, LLM-enabled features) is a plus.
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Python experience is a plus; modern web/backend stacks are acceptable — engineering quality matters more than specific stack.
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Genuine motivation for early-stage startup work and comfort with ambiguity and pace.
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Based in San Francisco or willing to relocate; on-site presence in SF required.
Compensation & Benefits
Base salary up to $275,000 USD annually, plus meaningful equity. Visa sponsorship is not available.
Location
On-site in San Francisco, CA. Candidates must be based locally or willing to relocate.
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