Founding Engineer | AI / SYSTEMS / Full Stack Engineer San Francisco | $200K–$250K + Bonus + B[...]

Summit Resourcing; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 200,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Equity

Benefits

Job summary

Summit Resourcing is seeking a Founding Engineer to join at the ground floor and help design, build and scale the system — not just contribute to it. This zero-to-one engineering role places you at the core of architecture decisions and product direction, often in ambiguity where the right answer isn’t documented yet.

You’ll work across a Python + TypeScript stack, moving between backend services, APIs and frontend surfaces while shaping engineering culture from day one, with equity on the table

Qualifications

• 3+ years of engineering experience; systems built take priority over tenure.
• Experience with Python and TypeScript across backend and frontend interfaces.
• Ability to design scalable APIs and distributed systems.

Responsibilities

• Design scalable APIs, service layers and domain models
• Build distributed systems and core backend infrastructure
• Make calls on system design, trade-offs and architecture evolution
• Work with event-driven patterns, async workflows and data pipelines where needed
• Help shape CI/CD, observability, testing strategy and deployment flows
• Define what “good engineering” looks like here and scale it

Skills

Python

TypeScript

Distributed systems

APIs

CI/CD

Observability

Tools

Backend infrastructure

Job description

Founding Engineer | AI / SYSTEMS / Full Stack Engineer | $200K–$250K + Bonus + Benefits + Equity

Build it. Don’t inherit it.

We’re looking for a Founding Engineer / Full Stack Engineer to come in at the ground floor and help design, build and scale the system — not just contribute to it.

This is a zero-to-one engineering role.

You won’t be working inside a pre-defined architecture. You’ll be helping define it, from service boundaries to data models to deployment strategy.

You’ll work directly with the founders, often in ambiguity, where the right answer isn’t documented yet , because it doesn’t exist yet.

If you like ownership over certainty, keep reading.

What you’ll actually be building

You’ll be working across a Python + TypeScript stack, moving fluidly between backend systems, APIs and frontend surfaces.

Think:

• Designing scalable APIs, service layers and domain models
• Building distributed systems and core backend infrastructure
• Making calls on system design, trade-offs and architecture evolution
• Working with event-driven patterns, async workflows and data pipelines where needed
• Helping shape CI/CD, observability, testing strategy and deployment flows
• Defining what “good engineering” looks like here — then scaling it

This is not a “feature factory” environment.

You’ll be working close to the metal, where decisions around latency, reliability, scalability and maintainability actually matter.

What we’re looking for

You’ve got 3+ years of engineering experience, but we care far more about systems you’ve built than years you’ve accumulated.

Why this role?

Because you won’t be joining a team.

You’ll be helping define it.

You’ll have:

• Direct access to founders and product direction
• The ability to shape engineering culture from day one
• Significant equity in what you’re building
• The chance to work on systems where your decisions actually matter

This is the kind of role where your work doesn’t sit in a Jira board; it becomes the system.

Bonus + meaningful equity

Hybrid / Office 2 Days a week

Not actively looking? That’s fine.

The best engineers usually aren’t.

If you’re someone who wants to build systems, not just features — let’s talk.