Staff Engineer (Founding Team)

About the Role

What You’ll Do

• Take concepts from zero to a working product and real-world validation
• Own full-stack development: frontend, backend, APIs, and data layers
• Shape product direction alongside venture leads and PMs, not just execute against specs
• Design and build rapid validation loops to test assumptions and de-risk ideas early
• Architect and implement core systems, models, and integrations from scratch
• Use AI as a force multiplier across development and product capabilities
• Make deliberate tradeoffs between speed and durability based on venture stage
• Operate effectively with incomplete, evolving, or imperfect inputs to get to working solutions quickly
• Work directly with stakeholders to validate workflows and refine solutions
• Identify and mitigate technical and product risks early
• Contribute across multiple ventures, applying patterns and learnings to accelerate future builds
• Maintain a high bar for technical quality while moving with urgency

How You’ll Operate

• You move fluidly across the stack and don’t rely on narrowly defined ownership boundaries
• You turn unclear ideas into concrete implementations without waiting for full direction
• You know when to prioritize speed and when to invest in structure
• You bias toward action – building, testing, and iterating to create clarity
• You’re comfortable abandoning approaches that don’t show signal and redirecting quickly
• You think in terms of outcomes and user impact, not just technical output
• You can context switch across multiple problems without losing momentum

You Should Have

• 6+ years of software engineering experience, including time in early-stage 0→1 environments
• Proven ability to build and ship full-stack applications end-to-end
• Strong judgment around speed vs scalability tradeoffs in early-stage systems
• Demonstrated use of AI to accelerate development or product capabilities
• Comfort operating in ambiguous environments where both the problem and solution are evolving
• Ability to work with incomplete or messy inputs to arrive at practical solutions
• Strong communication skills and the ability to influence decisions

What Sets You Apart

• You’ve operated in environments where there was no clear playbook
• You’re comfortable owning entire systems rather than components
• You identify leverage – reusable patterns, shortcuts, and ways to move faster across efforts
• You focus on building things that work in real-world conditions, not just ideal ones
• You take responsibility for outcomes, not just implementation

This Role Is Not For You If

• You prefer strictly defined ownership (frontend-only, backend-only, etc.)
• You need well-defined requirements and stable roadmaps
• You want to focus on maintaining and scaling existing systems
• You rely on structured environments to do your best work