Founding Engineer

People Hive HR Consultancies LLC; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited PTO

Health insurance

401(k)

Bay Club gym membership

Job summary

People Hive is assisting a San Francisco-based YC-backed startup in hiring its Founding Engineer—the first engineering hire. You will shape the technical direction, own architecture, and drive AI agent initiatives in a fast-moving environment.

The role requires 3–7 years of software experience, full-stack proficiency (TypeScript/Node.js/Express/React/Next.js), and a strong ownership mindset. This on-site, full-time position offers competitive salary and benefits in San Francisco.

Qualifications

• 3–7 years of professional software engineering experience.
• Experience at Series A/B or fast-moving technology company.
• Demonstrated experience building or working with AI agents and agent-based systems.

Responsibilities

• Own product architecture and full-stack development across the stack.
• Implement AI agent technologies and orchestrate context management.
• Ship features across the entire stack end-to-end.
• Collaborate with customers and translate feedback into shipped features.
• Build robust, scalable infrastructure from the ground up.

Skills

AI agent technologies

Ownership & initiative

Startup mindset

Independent feature shipping

Tools

TypeScript

Node.js

Express

React

Next.js

PostgreSQL

Redis

Job description

People Hive is supporting a client in San Francisco in the search for a highly skilled Founding Engineer to join the business as its first engineering hire.

This is an opportunity to shape the technical direction and engineering culture of a fast-moving, YC-backed startup focused on the future of AI-powered commerce.

The successful candidate will have significant ownership across product architecture, full-stack development and the implementation of AI agent technologies. The Founding Engineer will work directly with customers, translate feedback into shipped features, and build robust and scalable infrastructure from the ground up.

Critical Requirements

• 3–7 years of professional software engineering experience
• Proven experience at a Series A, Series B or fast-moving technology company
• Demonstrated experience building or working with AI agents and agent-based systems
• Strong full-stack proficiency with TypeScript, Node.js, Express, React and Next.js
• Ability to independently ship features across the entire stack
• High agency, strong sense of ownership and comfort with ambiguity
• Strong startup mindset with the willingness to wear multiple hats

Important Requirements

• Experience with PostgreSQL, Redis and asynchronous systems
• Experience with browser automation, scraping and retrieval infrastructure
• Experience with AI agent orchestration, context management and evaluations
• Experience with production systems, observability and workflow orchestration

Nice to Have

• Experience with MCP servers and developer tools
• Background in e-commerce, retail, search, attribution or analytics
• Degree from a top-50 university

Benefits

• Unlimited PTO
• Health insurance
• 401(k)
• Bay Club gym membership

Location: San Francisco, California, USA

Working arrangement: On-site

Employment: Full-time

Salary: $160,000–$200,000 per year

Job Reference: PH-ANS-105