Founding Engineer — Build Core AI Product (SF Onsite)

Digital Waffle; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Digital Waffle in San Francisco is seeking a Founding Engineer to join our first engineering hires and shape the architecture, culture and standards of what comes next. You’ll ship production code from day one and sit with the founders on every product decision.

This role offers wide scope and ownership: build core features, define tooling and infrastructure, own reliability and cost, and help grow the team as we scale while staying hands-on with AI tools.

Qualifications

• Proven experience as an early hire at a fast-growing startup.
• Strong production experience with Python, TypeScript, React and Next.js.
• Able to make architectural calls with incomplete information and revisit them when needed.
• Experience shipping end-to-end product and ownership mindset.

Responsibilities

• Build core product features end to end across Python, TypeScript, React and Next.js.
• Make foundational architecture, tooling and infrastructure decisions that will carry the product for years.
• Ship fast, iterate on real user feedback and maintain a high bar for production releases.
• Work directly with the founders on product direction, prioritisation and technical trade-offs.
• Own reliability, performance and cost from the start, not as later problems.
• Shape hiring, engineering culture and standards as the team grows behind you.
• Use AI tooling across every part of your workflow.

Skills

Python

TypeScript

React

Next.js

Job description

Digital Waffle in San Francisco is seeking a Founding Engineer to join our first engineering hires and shape the architecture, culture and standards of what comes next. You’ll ship production code from day one and sit with the founders on every product decision.

This role offers wide scope and ownership: build core features, define tooling and infrastructure, own reliability and cost, and help grow the team as we scale while staying hands-on with AI tools.