Founding Infrastructure Engineer

Generative Group; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Job summary

Generative Group in San Francisco is seeking a Founding AI Infrastructure Engineer to build the shared infrastructure powering its AI agents. This is one of the first three hires, in-person, full-time, with a base around $200K and 4% equity.

You will own the backend and distributed systems, design the coordination layer for cross-department workflows, and set engineering standards as the company grows. You’ll work directly with the founder and early engineers to turn initial customer workflows

Qualifications

• Extensive backend or distributed systems experience with production systems ownership.
• Ability to balance performance, reliability, and cost in AI infrastructure.
• Proven track record delivering from ambiguous brief to final product.
• Excited to join a small, fast-moving team and influence what gets built.

Responsibilities

• Design and build core backend and distributed systems powering AI agents.
• Create shared context and coordination layer for cross-department workflows.
• Make infrastructure decisions on execution, integrations, reliability, and compute efficiency.
• Collaborate with founder and early team to ship customer workflows.
• Set engineering standards and help scale the infrastructure team.

Skills

Backend development

Distributed systems

Production systems ownership

Performance & reliability

AI infrastructure interest

Job description

Founding AI Infrastructure Engineer

Seed-stage AI agents startup

Location: San Francisco (in person)

Type: Full time

Compensation: Base around $200K, plus 4% equity

About the company

Our client is building AI agents that run the day-to-day operations behind real-world commerce. Starting in logistics and distribution, the goal is to connect and automate workflows across customer onboarding, inventory, administration and billing. Agents share context and coordinate work across departments, while business owners monitor progress and step in for approvals or exceptions.

The company has raised $1.5M and has two signed customer agreements representing roughly $400K in potential ARR once the product is delivered. It was founded by a repeat YC founder with a product background at leading big tech companies.

The role

This is one of the company’s first three hires. You’ll build the shared infrastructure that powers the agents, own the technical foundations, and help shape the company from day one.

What you’ll do

• Design and build the core backend and distributed systems connecting business data, workflows and agents
• Create the shared context and coordination layer that lets work flow reliably between departments
• Make infrastructure decisions across execution, integrations, reliability and compute efficiency, including GPU usage where relevant
• Work directly with the founder, founding designer and forward deployed engineer to turn the first customer workflows into a working product
• Set engineering standards and help build out the infrastructure team as the company grows

What we’re looking for

• Strong hands-on backend or distributed systems experience, with clear examples of production systems you’ve owned
• Sound judgement in balancing performance, reliability and cost, and an interest in applying it to AI infrastructure
• A track record of building from an ambiguous brief and owning the outcome
• Enthusiasm for a small, fast-moving team where you help decide what gets built

Ownership and package

Target base salary of around $200K, negotiated alongside equity. Indicative equity is 4%, depending on the overall package and agreed terms. You’ll own the infrastructure function, with scope to hire and lead your own team.

Interview process

A conversation with the founder, one or two technical discussions, and a final mutual-fit conversation.