Founding Engineer (YC-backed AI start-up)

Rise Technical; New York (NY); On-site; USD 160,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Rise Technical is seeking a Founding Engineer for a YC-backed AI startup in NYC. You will own end-to-end feature delivery and work directly with customers to rapidly improve the product.

You will shape engineering standards and architecture alongside the CTO and founders, with potential to grow into a leadership role as the team scales, in a high-ownership, high-trust environment.

Qualifications

• Software engineer capable of owning features end-to-end (design, build, ship, operate)
• Excellent communication: comfortable working directly with customers
• Startup experience or degree from a top university

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end feature delivery (design → build → ship → operate) across core product surfaces.
• Work directly with customers/users to understand pain points and rapidly deliver improvements.
• Shape engineering standards, architecture, and culture with CTO/founders.
• Support production systems and iterate quickly based on usage and feedback.

Job description

Founding Engineer (YC-backed AI start-up)

$160,000–$210,000 base + equity + health benefits + unlimited PTO

NYC (fully onsite)

Are you a full-stack engineer looking for a high-impact role at an early-stage startup where you’ll ship quickly, influence core architecture, and work directly with customers?

This is an exciting opportunity to join a young, YC-backed, revenue-generating technology company as an early member of the engineering team, working closely with the founders and technical leadership in a high-ownership, high-trust environment, with the opportunity to grow into a leadership role as the team scales.

This company is building an AI-powered platform designed to improve how organizations train, develop, and evaluate their people through realistic, interactive simulations and feedback.

In this role, you will own major areas of the product end-to-end - designing, building, shipping, and operating features used by customers on a daily basis. You’ll have significant influence over the technical direction while working closely with users to continuously improve the product.

The Role:

• Own end-to-end feature delivery (design > build > ship > operate) across core product surfaces.
• Work directly with customers/users to understand pain points and rapidly deliver improvements.
• Shape engineering standards, architecture, and engineering culture alongside the CTO/founders.
• Support production systems and iterate quickly based on real usage and feedback loops.

The Person:

• Software engineer comfortable owning features end-to-end (Open to new grads).
• Good Communication: confident working directly with customers (requirements, iteration, troubleshooting, delivery).
• Start-up experience at a standout company or degree from a top university.