Engineering Lead

Elsewhere; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Benefits

Startup environment

Part-time to full-time transition

Job summary

A creative gaming studio based in San Francisco is seeking an Engineering Lead to write code and build infrastructure for their upcoming project. This role involves collaborating with the founding team and contributing to both technical and game design aspects. Ideal candidates will have experience in full-stack development using TypeScript, React, and Node, and a passion for games. This contract-to-hire position allows for part-time initial collaboration before moving to a full-time role with benefits.

Qualifications

• Experience building full-stack web applications using TypeScript, React, Node.
• Experience working with relational databases like PostgreSQL.
• Experience in game development as indie or side projects.
• Strong interest in games and gaming culture.
• A love for games and knowledge of indie and AAA titles.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with the Founder & CEO and creative team.
• Build a cross-platform game using web technologies.
• Contribute technical and game design ideas.

Skills

Full-stack web applications

TypeScript

React

Node

PostgreSQL

Game development

Team collaboration

Tools

Figma

ComfyUI

Job description

San Francisco, CA

Elsewhere is hiring an Engineering Lead to write code, build infrastructure, and inform game design for our upcoming game. We’re a venture-backed studio with big ambitions, combining the cutting edge technology of a San Francisco-based AI startup with the soul and creativity of indie games.

Our current project combines elements of collectable card games and deckbuilding roguelikes, aiming to ultimately becoming a forever-game that reaches millions of players.

As our Engineering Lead, you’ll work closely with our Founder & CEO to build a cross-platform game on web technologies, as well as working directly with our creative team which includes artists, game designers, and more. You’ll be expected to contribute technical as well as game design ideas.

This is a contract-to-hire role. We’d start working together part-time for 2-4 weeks to assess mutual fit. If all goes well, we’d love to bring you on for a full-time salaried role, including benefits.

Your Qualifications:

• Experience building full-stack web applications using TypeScript, React, Node, and other web technologies.
• Experience working with databases, especially relational databases (we use PostgreSQL).
• Experience building games, even as indie or side projects.
• Eagerness to share rough prototypes and in-progress builds.
• A love for games in general. You’re well-versed in everything from modern indie and AAA hits to the old school pioneers that inspired them.

Bonus points for:

• Demonstrated ability to multiply productivity using the latest coding agents (eg, Claude Code, OpenAI Codex).
• Experience working with creative generative AI tooling and workflows, such as ComfyUI.
• Deep knowledge of front-end development and CSS.
• Strong product design intuition and knowledge of Figma
• Experience working on a small team, ideally in a startup environment.

About us:

We have a deep bench of talent from diverse backgrounds and have been backed by top Silicon Valley investors. We’re an idealistic team that loves video games and deeply believes in their potential: both as a creative medium and as a way for us to socialize and play together.