Design-Focused Software Engineer

Firstmate; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

An innovative tech company in San Francisco is seeking a Design-Focused Software Engineer to accelerate development in an AI-first environment. The ideal candidate thrives in fast-paced settings and possesses a strong design aesthetic. Responsibilities include full stack development, rapid feature delivery, and leveraging AI techniques. A compensation range of $100K - $140K is offered, balancing speed with quality in product delivery.

Qualifications

• Strong proficiency in JavaScript, PHP, and React Native for full-stack development.
• Experience with AI coding techniques beyond the basics.
• Aesthetic sense for designing user-friendly interfaces.

Responsibilities

• Deliver features at an accelerated pace compared to industry standards.
• Handle full stack development across multiple layers.
• Utilize raw data to inform development and design decisions.

Skills

AI development

UI design

JavaScript

PHP

React Native

Job description

Job Title:

Design-Focused Software Engineer

We need an AI‑first developer to help us revolutionize the service economy in the US. You should be an outlier who has fully bought into AI‑first development. You should be able to ship a feature in 3 hours that takes a traditional senior engineer 3 days, so if you’re used to waiting three days for a code review, you won't survive here.

Who You Are

• The "Cheater": You use every tool available to move faster. Your sense of pride comes from shipping great products fast, no matter what it takes.
• Visual Thinker: You can intuitively understand and reason around UI design and customer experience to build beautiful software that “just works”.
• AI Native: You aren't just "familiar" with LLMs. You know what they can and can’t do, you know the limits of their APIs, and you never stop optimizing your development workflows.

What You Will Do

• Ship at Breakneck Speed: You will be expected to deliver results twice as fast as the industry would consider possible.
• Full Stack & Beyond: You’ll touch everything. Frontend, backend, database, infrastructure. You solve the problem, whatever the stack requires.
• Listen to the End User: You aren’t afraid or uncomfortable working with raw data and using it to build the spec for yourself.

Requirements

• Excellent Design Aesthetic: You know how to build beautiful products that “just work”.
• Know these Languages: JavaScript, PHP, React Native.
• Deep AI Fluency: Fluent in the latest AI coding techniques beyond just the top level wrappers like Cursor or Copilot.
• Startup DNA: You thrive in chaos. You don't need a manager to tell you what to do today. You see a fire, you put it out, or you build a robot to put it out.

Compensation Range: $100K - $140K