Founding Principal Engineer

Global Placement Firm; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 200,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

GPF Staffing is recruiting a Founding Principal Engineer for a rapidly growing healthcare technology company transforming pediatric mental health care. This is a hands-on, architecture-focused role reporting directly to the CEO and shaping the engineering foundation.

The position is based in New York, NY with a hybrid model (in-office three days per week). We seek a leader with 6+ years of software experience, strong product sense, and a desire to drive AI adoption across the platform.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of professional software engineering experience.
• Experience in an early-stage or startup environment.
• Ownership of technical and architectural decisions from concept to production.
• Strong product mindset when requirements are not fully defined.
• Ability to work autonomously in a fast-moving environment.
• Experience establishing engineering standards and improving development processes.
• Excellent communication across technical, clinical, operational, and business teams.
• Interest in applying AI to products and workflows.

Responsibilities

• Write production code and tackle the company's most complex problems.
• Own architecture across telehealth, EHR integrations, dashboards, and AI features.
• Collaborate with the CEO to translate objectives into technical solutions.
• Make independent product and engineering decisions without detailed PRDs.
• Lead the transition from offshore engineering to in-house teams.
• Establish engineering standards, code reviews, and quality practices.
• Drive responsible AI adoption to accelerate product development.
• Help build a small, high-caliber U.S.-based engineering organization.

Skills

Hands-on coding

Founding/startup experience

Architectural decisions

Product mindset

Autonomy

Cross-functional communication

Leadership

Tools

TypeScript

Node.js

React

AWS

Job description

Founding Principal Engineer - HealthTech / AI

New York, NY | Hybrid - 3 Days In-Office
$200K-$250K Base + 0.2%-0.4% Equity | Full-Time

GPF Staffing is recruiting a Founding Principal Engineer for a rapidly growing, Series B healthcare technology company transforming pediatric mental health care.

This is a highly influential, hands‑on engineering role for an experienced builder who wants to work directly with the CEO, own major technical decisions, and establish the engineering foundation for a growing healthcare platform.

The company is transitioning from an offshore development model to a small, high‑caliber in‑house engineering organization. The Founding Principal Engineer will play a central role in determining how the platform, engineering practices, and future team are built.

What You'll Do

• Write production code and solve the company's most complex technical problems.
• Own architecture across telehealth, EHR integrations, patient‑facing dashboards, and emerging AI capabilities.
• Work directly with the CEO to translate clinical, operational, and growth objectives into technical solutions.
• Make independent product and engineering decisions without relying on highly detailed PRDs.
• Lead the technical transition from the existing offshore engineering team.
• Establish engineering standards, code‑review processes, development practices, and quality expectations.
• Drive responsible AI adoption across the organization to accelerate product development and internal capabilities.
• Help establish and grow a small, exceptional U.S.-based engineering organization over the next 6-12 months.

What We're Looking For

• 6+ years of professional software engineering experience.
• Strong hands‑on experience building and shipping complex production applications.
• Previous experience in an early‑stage or startup environment, ideally working directly with founders or executive leadership.
• Demonstrated ownership of technical and architectural decisions from concept through production.
• Strong product mindset with the ability to make sound product decisions when requirements are not fully defined.
• Comfortable operating with significant autonomy in a fast‑moving environment.
• Experience establishing engineering standards and improving development processes.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work across technical, clinical, operational, and business teams.
• Interest in applying AI to products, engineering workflows, and organizational processes.

Tech Stack

TypeScript | Node.js | React | AWS

Compensation & Equity

Base Salary: $200,000-250,000
Equity: 0.2%-0.4%

Location

New York, NY - Union Square

This is a hybrid position requiring candidates to work in-office three days per week. Candidates who are not currently located in New York should be willing to relocate.

Visa Sponsorship

The company is open to eligible visa transfers, including H-1B transfers and qualifying OPT candidates.

Hiring

The company expects to hire 1-2 engineers for this opportunity.

This opportunity is best suited for a hands‑on technical leader who still wants to build, rather than someone looking for a primarily people‑management role. You'll have the opportunity to influence architecture, product direction, engineering culture, AI adoption, and the development of the future engineering organization.