Talent.com
Founding Engineer
Founding EngineerRec Gen • Hayward, CA, United States
[error_messages.no_longer_accepting]
Founding Engineer

Founding Engineer

Rec Gen • Hayward, CA, United States
[job_card.variable_days_ago]
[job_preview.job_type]
  • [job_card.full_time]
[job_card.job_description]

Senior Software Engineer / AI Engineer / ML Engineer / Founding Engineer

Location : San Francisco Bay Area

Compensation : Competitive salary plus healthy equity

You’ll be joining a top-tier VC backed startup led by repeat founders who have taken multiple companies from zero to IPO and acquisition. The company’s mission is bold, building products at the intersection of modern AI systems and large-scale web infrastructure. They’re solving problems most teams haven’t even thought about yet.

This is a rare 0 to 1 opportunity where you’ll work shoulder to shoulder with elite engineers, product leaders, and founders who care deeply about quality and speed of execution.

What You’ll Do

  • Design and build production-grade systems end to end, from APIs to frontend
  • Own architecture, deployment, monitoring, and incident response
  • Develop and evolve AI driven features, working hands-on with LLMs, embeddings, and retrieval layers
  • Ship and iterate quickly with short feedback loops and real autonomy
  • Partner closely with design and product to create seamless, reliable user experiences
  • Help shape engineering culture, tooling, and technical standards

You’ll Thrive Here If You

  • Have worked in a startup or fast-paced environment before
  • Think in systems, focusing on scalability, performance, and reliability
  • Care about clean APIs, honest documentation, and thoughtful design
  • Are comfortable experimenting with LLMs, retrieval systems, and modern AI tooling
  • Bring curiosity, initiative, and a drive to master new technologies quickly
  • Bonus Points

  • Built or integrated with vector databases such as FAISS, PGVector, or Milvus
  • Strong experience with TypeScript, modern frameworks, and cloud infrastructure
  • Familiarity with GPU inference, quantization, or retrieval optimization
  • Contributions to open source projects or experience in an early stage founding team
  • Why This Role

    This is not just another job. It’s a chance to help shape something genuinely next generation. The engineering bar is high, the product vision is ambitious, and the people you’ll build alongside know how to scale world-class technology.

    If you love ownership, creative problem solving, and building things that matter, this one’s for you.

    SHARE YOUR RESUME TO APPLY via Linkedin

    [job_alerts.create_a_job]

    Founding Engineer • Hayward, CA, United States

    [internal_linking.related_jobs]
    Sr Foundry Planner - ASIC, Silicon One

    Sr Foundry Planner - ASIC, Silicon One

    Cisco Systems, Inc. • San Jose, CA, United States
    [job_card.full_time]
    The application window is expected to close on : 12 / 30 / 2025.Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.Join Cisco's Silicon O...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_30] • [promoted]
    Full Stack Engineer (Hayward)

    Full Stack Engineer (Hayward)

    BioTalent • Hayward, CA, US
    [job_card.part_time]
    Join a fast-growing HealthTech company building an.This is a rare opportunity to contribute to technology that directly improves care outcomes and transforms how health plans and providers make dec...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]
    Staff Software Engineer - High-Growth AI / FinTech (Fremont)

    Staff Software Engineer - High-Growth AI / FinTech (Fremont)

    Ikuto • Fremont, CA, US
    [job_card.full_time] +1
    Staff Software Engineer (IC) High-Growth AI / FinTech Startup.Full-time Hybrid (San Francisco).A well-funded, rapidly scaling startup in the AI-driven fintech space is looking for an experienced St...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]
    Hardware Engineer (founding)

    Hardware Engineer (founding)

    Needl • Fremont, California, us
    [job_card.full_time]
    Founding Hardware Engineer (Stealth Robotics Startup) On-Site • San Francisco, CA About Us We're a tiny, fast-moving team building autonomous systems for heavy industrial machines.We retrofit exist...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]
    Staff Platform Engineer (Hybrid)

    Staff Platform Engineer (Hybrid)

    Fiddler AI • Palo Alto, California, USA
    [job_card.full_time]
    At Fiddler we understand the implications of AI and the impact that it has on human lives.Our company was born with the mission of building trust into AI. The rise of Generative AI and Agents has un...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]
    Senior Frontend Engineer : React, Micro‑Frontends

    Senior Frontend Engineer : React, Micro‑Frontends

    Samsung Research America • Mountain View, CA, United States
    [job_card.full_time]
    A global technology leader in California is seeking a Senior Frontend Engineer to develop scalable web applications.In this role, you will lead the design of modular frontend architectures and ensu...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]
    Founding Engineer - Applied AI (Hayward)

    Founding Engineer - Applied AI (Hayward)

    Strativ Group • Hayward, CA, United States
    [job_card.full_time]
    Founding Engineer - Applied AI.AI startup tackling a $100bn+ per year inefficiency in the physical world.Fresh off an 8 oversubscribed Seed round - with investors including Palantir and OpenAI - th...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]
    Firmware Engineering Lead (Founding Member)

    Firmware Engineering Lead (Founding Member)

    Applied Intuition Inc. • Mountain View, CA, US
    [job_card.full_time]
    Applied Intuition is the vehicle intelligence company that accelerates the global adoption of safe, AI-driven machines.Founded in 2017, Applied Intuition delivers the toolchain, Vehicle OS, and aut...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_30] • [promoted]
    Principal Platform Engineer : Kubernetes, CI / CD & Scale

    Principal Platform Engineer : Kubernetes, CI / CD & Scale

    Expedia, Inc. • San Jose, CA, United States
    [job_card.full_time]
    A leading travel technology company in San Jose seeks a Principal Software Development Engineer to lead the architecture of a Kubernetes platform. The ideal candidate will have over 8 years of exper...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]
    Hardware Reliability Engineer

    Hardware Reliability Engineer

    OSI Engineering • Cupertino, CA, US
    [job_card.full_time]
    Hardware Reliability Engineer Job Summary The Hardware Reliability Engineering team is seeking an initiative-taking individual to join our efforts in ensuring and improving the durability and relia...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]
    Software Engineer for AI Startup (Hayward)

    Software Engineer for AI Startup (Hayward)

    Xcede • Hayward, CA, United States
    [job_card.full_time]
    A cutting edge AI startup based in San Francisco is looking for a founding engineer to own backend of their code generation platform. Software should be beautiful, and this firm aims to provide gene...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]
    Senior Frontend Engineer - GenAI

    Senior Frontend Engineer - GenAI

    Fortinet • Sunnyvale, CA, United States
    [job_card.full_time]
    AI platform used across multiple product surfaces - from analyst workflows to internal operations tools.Senior Frontend Engineer with a strong frontend focus to design, build, and scale intuitive, ...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]
    Forward Deployed Engineer

    Forward Deployed Engineer

    Zania • Palo Alto, California, United States
    [job_card.full_time]
    Every enterprise spends millions of dollars on Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC).It's one of the most critical, yet universally painful, parts of running a business. For decades, this industry ...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_30] • [promoted]
    Founding AI Engineer

    Founding AI Engineer

    Polar Sky • Palo Alto, California, United States
    [job_card.full_time]
    We're looking for a Founding AI Engineer who loves building with AI crafting context pipelines, integrating and evaluating LLMs into production systems, and delivering AI-native product experien...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]
    Founding Full Stack Engineer (Frontend + UX Focus) (Hayward)

    Founding Full Stack Engineer (Frontend + UX Focus) (Hayward)

    HartleyCo • Hayward, CA, US
    [job_card.part_time]
    Founding Full Stack Engineer (Frontend + UX Focus).Were helping a YC-backed, seed-stage startup hire a Founding Engineer who can take full ownership of the products look, feel, and overall experien...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]
    Agent BuilderForward Deployed Engineer (FDE)

    Agent BuilderForward Deployed Engineer (FDE)

    Databook • Palo Alto, California, USA
    [job_card.full_time]
    Databook is the enterprise go-to platform for guided selling powered by AI.We help large complex revenue teams operate with the clarity and consistency of elite sellers by unifying strategic planni...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]
    Staff Full Stack Engineer, Tech Lead

    Staff Full Stack Engineer, Tech Lead

    Typeface • Palo Alto, CA, United States
    [job_card.full_time]
    Staff Fullstack Engineer, Tech Lead.Be among the first 25 applicants.Staff Fullstack Engineer, Tech Lead.We help the world’s biggest brands move from brief to fully personalized campaigns — in days...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]
    Founding Infrastructure / Platform Engineer

    Founding Infrastructure / Platform Engineer

    Key Technology • Hayward, California, United States
    [job_card.full_time]
    We’re hiring for our client, a fast-growing voice-AI company based in.Founding Infrastructure / Platform Engineer.You’ll design scalable AWS environments, implement Infrastructure-as-Code with Terr...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]