AI Product Engineer

Hyper Startup Studio; Melbourne; Hybrid; AUD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Mac laptop provided

Claude Max plan access

Hybrid work model (Melbourne)

Job summary

Hyper Startup Studio in Melbourne is seeking an AI product engineer to lead the AI development of founders' products. You will own the Claude Code-driven build across web, iOS and Android, from design handoff to live releases, while collaborating with designers and product managers.

You’ll shape the architecture, ensure security and quality, and guide the PMs as they ship updates. This role is hybrid from our Melbourne office, with end-to-end ownership of product deliveries.

Qualifications

• Ship products used by real people in a startup focus.
• Launches on App Store and Google Play and web platforms.

Responsibilities

• Lead the AI development of every founder's product using Claude Code.
• Set up codebase, databases, hosting, and app store accounts.
• Build across web, iOS and Android from Figma screens using Claude Code.
• Walk founders and PMs through versions, gather feedback and refine.
• Guide product through TestFlight, Google Play testing and app store approval.
• Coach PMs on prompting and reviewing pull requests to ship updates.

Skills

5+ years startup product shipping

App Store & Google Play launches

Claude Code ownership

iOS & Android app feel

Figma familiarity

Mac OS proficiency

Architecture & security judgement

Effective communicator with founders

Tools

Claude Code

Expo / React Native

Figma

n8n

Zapier

GitHub

Sentry

PostHog

Stripe

Resend

Job description

Build an exciting new startup idea every week!

One week it's a carpenter like Luke, who built TradeCraft with us and now has it live on the App Store and Google Play. The next, it's a law firm owner building a platform for their clients, or a sales leader who wants every client meeting debriefed and synced straight into their CRM.

Every founder who walks through our door knows their problem inside out. Your job is to work out the smartest way to solve it, build it with Claude Code and put it in their hands on the web, iPhone and Android. Then you pick up the next one.

You'll be the engineer founders trust with their idea. You'll help shape it, build it with Claude Code alongside our designers and product managers, and stand beside them when it goes live on the web, the App Store and Google Play.

AI product engineer

Melbourne, hybrid

Hyper is an Australian startup studio for first-time tech founders. Since 2015, we've worked with 1,528 founders, who have gone on to raise $482 million.

Our Launch Ready process gets a founder from designed screens to a live product in weeks. Our designers create the screens, our product managers write the PRDs, and you bring it to life. You'll lead the AI development of every founder's product and take full ownership of everything we ship. As our lead engineer, you'll also set up how our product managers ship updates themselves, and you'll guide them as they learn.

Your part in a Launch Ready project

• Shape the idea. Join founder calls with our sales team, answer technical questions in plain English and make recommendations on creative ways to solve early problems.
• Set it up properly. Create the codebase, database, hosting, app store accounts and the CLAUDE.md file that keeps Claude on track. Claude should be automating most of this but it's evolving this process that you'll own.
• Build it with Claude Code. Bring our designers' Figma screens to life across web, iOS and Android, with a standard project taking a few days. You'll make sure the obvious issues with vibe coded projects are solved and the project looks great, works well and is secure. All of the code is written through Claude Code. You steer it with clear prompts and a deep understanding of how the architecture should fit together, so everything works and makes sense.
• Show the founder. Walk them and their PM through each version, gather feedback and refine.
• Launch. Guide the product through TestFlight, Google Play testing and app store approval.
• Hand over to the PM. Our product managers ship updates and features through Claude Code. You review their pull requests, coach their prompting and help them diagnose issues.

Alongside projects, you'll own our templates, guardrails and playbooks, so every build gets smoother than the one before. You'll also help us automate our internal processes, including moving key workflows from Zapier to n8n.

Our toolkit

We build in TypeScript, with one codebase for web, iOS and Android, hosted in Sydney. Every tool has a visual dashboard, so PMs and designers can see what's happening too. You'll help us improve it.

• Building: Claude Code (with MCP connections to the tools below)
• Web, iOS and Android app: Expo (React Native), Expo Router, NativeWind (Tailwind)
• App builds and store submissions: Expo EAS (Build, Submit, Update)
• Database, sign-in and file storage: Supabase (Sydney)
• Source control and reviews: GitHub
• Errors and analytics: Sentry and PostHog
• Payments and email: Stripe and Resend
• Design and specs: Figma designs and PRDs from our designers and PMs

About you

You've been building software long enough to trust your instincts. You can glance at what Claude has written and know whether it's right, and you can explain your thinking to a founder in a sentence.

• Around 5 or more years of experience shipping products used by real people with a startup focus.
• Apps launched on the App Store and Google Play, plus web products (Expo or React Native is a big plus)
• Claude Code is how you build day to day, and you take full ownership of what it produces
• A designer's eye: you notice when spacing, flow or feel is off and fix it
• At home on a Mac, with a strong feel for how iOS apps should look and behave, plus a solid working knowledge of Android
• Confident in Figma, since every design you'll build from lives there
• Comfortable with the tools we run on: Slack, Notion and Google Workspace
• Sound judgement on architecture, security and scope, and the confidence to recommend a simpler path
• You enjoy being in the room with founders, presenting your work and fielding questions
• You move quickly, keep several projects moving at once and stay calm doing it
• A self-starter: you plan your own day, hit your deadlines and keep founders and the team updated without being chased
• You like helping others learn and get a kick out of watching a PM ship their first feature
• High EQ: you read people quickly, connect with founders from all walks of life and adapt to get the best out of them
• Familiarity with the Australian startup ecosystem and how early-stage products become fundable businesses (optional but a big plus)
• Experience building automations in n8n or Zapier (a big plus)

What we offer

• Work style: Full time, hybrid from our Melbourne office
• Founders: Work with ambitious founders and new ideas before they hit the market
• Influence: Shape how AI is used across our product team and set the standard for how we build
• Network: Connections across the Australian startup ecosystem
• Team: Product managers, designers and advisors who've supported founders for over a decade
• Reports to: Head of Delivery and Operations
• Tools: Mac laptop + Claude Max plan and the kit you need

Our hiring process

• Coffee chat. 30 minutes, in person or on a call, to get to know each other.
• Meet a founder. We share a real-style brief and play the founder. You talk them through what you'd build first and why.
• Show us how you build. Take a PRD and Figma design and build a working product with Claude Code in 1 hour, then walk us through it. This is ambitious but achievable. Bring your portfolio too, so we can see more of what you've built.
• Meet the team. Time with our PMs and designers at the Melbourne office.