Former Technical Founders

Encord; New York (NY); On-site; USD 150,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity in startup

Health, dental, and vision coverage

Flexible PTO

North Beach loft office

Travel opportunities across U.S., UK,/

Job summary

Encord, a US-based AI data platform, seeks a former founder to re-enter the startup world and help shape the company’s trajectory. You will work directly with the founding team, tackle high-stakes, ambiguous problems, and own meaningful initiatives from concept to ship.

This role values entrepreneurial drive, ownership, and the ability to move fast with limited resources. You’ll build internal tools and processes that enable scaling, influencing product, engineering, GTM, and operations with

Qualifications

• Proven experience founding or co-founding a technology company.
• Strong technical background with production code experience.
• Track record of building and shipping user-loved products.
• Experience hiring, leading, and inspiring small, high-performing teams.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Identify and drive high-leverage opportunities across product, engineering, GTM, or operations.
• Own ambitious, ambiguous problems and ship them from zero to shipped.
• Bring an entrepreneurial mindset, move fast, and create impact with limited resources.
• Build internal tools, processes, and systems to enable scale.
• Act as a force multiplier across teams with founder-level energy and judgment.

Skills

Founding experience

Technical background

Product development

Leadership

Job description

About Us

Encord is the universal data layer for AI that helps 300+ AI teams train and run models on the right data. Our platform indexes, curates, annotates, and evaluates data across the full AI lifecycle, from development through production.

About Us

Encord is the universal data layer for AI that helps 300+ AI teams train and run models on the right data. Our platform indexes, curates, annotates, and evaluates data across the full AI lifecycle, from development through production.

Trusted by Woven by Toyota, AXA, UiPath, Zipline, and more. We're an ambitious team of 100+ working at the frontier of AI and have raised $60M in Series C funding from Wellington Management, CRV, Next47 and Y Combinator.

The role

We're looking for former technical founders who want to get back to building. If you've experienced the thrill of 0 to 1 — the chaos, the ownership, the outsized impact — and you're hungry to do it again inside a rocketship, this is the role for you. At Encord, you won't be a cog in a machine. You'll work directly with the founding team, take on high-stakes problems, and help shape the trajectory of the company. We don't care which box you fit into — we care about what you're capable of building.

What You'll Do

• Work closely with the cofounders to identify and drive some of the highest-leverage opportunities across product, engineering, GTM, or operations
• Take ownership of ambitious, ambiguous problems and drive them from zero to shipped
• Bring an entrepreneurial mindset to everything — spotting gaps, moving fast, and making things happen with limited resources
• Build internal tools, processes, and systems that help Encord scale
• Act as a force multiplier across teams, bringing founder-level energy and judgment to whatever you tackle

Who We're Looking For

• A former founder — ideally technical — who has built and scaled a product or company, and is eager to get back to the early days of 0 to 1
• You may have started and exited your business and are ready to experience the journey again in a new context
• You may not have AI or B2B experience, but you will have excelled at something incredibly challenging that demonstrates your grit and ability to overachieve
• Deeply comfortable with ambiguity — you don't need a job spec to know what needs doing
• A builder at heart who thinks from first principles and moves fast without sacrificing quality
• Someone who takes extreme ownership and thrives without a safety net

Experience Requirements

• Proven experience founding or co-founding a technology company
• Strong technical background — you've written production code and understand engineering trade-offs
• Track record of building and shipping products that users love
• Experience hiring, leading, and inspiring small, high-performing teams
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills

Why Encord

• Competitive salary, commission, and meaningful equity in a high-growth startup
• Clear, accelerated growth opportunities as the company scales rapidly
• Strong in-person culture: 4–5 days/week in our newly launched North Beach loft office
• Flexible PTO to fully recharge
• 18 paid vacation days in the U.S. plus federal holidays
• Annual learning & development budget
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage
• Frequent travel opportunities across the U.S., London, and Europe
• Bi-annual company offsites, twice-weekly team lunches, and monthly socials

Compensation Range: $150K - $250K