Founding Backend Engineer

Location: San Francisco (Onsite – 5 Days/Week)

Compensation: $180K – $235K Base + 0.10% – 1.25% Equity

Visa Sponsorship: Not Available

About the Role

A high-bar, fast-growing AI startup is hiring a Founding Backend Engineer to build the core systems behind an agentic AI product in the design space.

This is a true 0→1 role with full ownership from day one. You will work directly with founders to design and scale backend systems powering AI generation, orchestration, and product workflows.

The team is small, well-funded, and moving fast. Scope is unbounded.

What You’ll Do

Build backend systems for agentic AI workflows and code generation
Design infrastructure for parallel AI execution and complex state management
Own architecture across APIs, services, and core platform systems
Work with Puppeteer / Chromium for automation workflows
Integrate LLMs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini) into production systems
Ship end-to-end features with high ownership and speed

Who You Are

6+ years backend engineering experience (Senior II / Staff level)
Proven 0→1 builder (startup, founding engineer, or equivalent)
Experience building complex backend systems in production
Background in startup or high-intensity environments (e.g. Cruise, xAI)
Strong ownership and ability to operate with minimal structure
Willing to work onsite in San Francisco (5 days/week)

Tech Stack

Node.js / Express
Next.js (server actions)
AWS (Terraform, Pulumi)
Puppeteer / Chromium
LLM APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini)

Key Requirements (Non-Negotiable)

6+ years experience
Clear 0→1 ownership
Startup or equivalent high-intensity background
Hands-on with:
Express / backend systems
AWS infrastructure
Puppeteer / browser automation
LLM / agentic systems

Why This Role

Foundational hire — your work defines the system
Staff-level scope immediately
0→1 build in a frontier AI category
High ownership, no bureaucracy