Founding Principal Engineer

Barker Staffing Solutions LLC; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Barker Staffing Solutions LLC is recruiting a Founding Principal Engineer for a pediatric mental health platform. You will work directly with the CEO to set the technical foundation for a regulated healthcare product, taking ownership of architecture and end‑to‑end systems in an early-stage environment.

The role is hybrid with three days in the NYC office. You will lead offshore/onsite teams, drive AI adoption, and help shape a small onshore engineering group in the near term.

Qualifications

• 6–15 years of experience in full‑stack engineering.
• Recent startup experience as a senior or founding engineer.
• Staff/Principal‑level IC owning end‑to‑end systems.
• Led or directed offshore/distributed engineering teams.
• Production full‑stack TypeScript (Node + React + AWS).
• Built software in regulated environments (fintech, healthcare, HIPAA).
• Hands-on AI/LLM implementation in production systems.
• Product‑minded; makes UX/feature decisions without detailed PRDs.

Responsibilities

• Write production code on hard problems; own architecture across telehealth, EHR, patient dashboard, AI adoption.
• Collaborate with CEO to translate clinical/growth needs into technical plans; make independent product decisions without PRDs.
• Lead and transition offshore engineering; establish engineering standards, code reviews, and quality practices.
• Drive AI adoption across the organization to accelerate the roadmap.
• Lay groundwork for a small onshore engineering team in 6–12 months.

Skills

Full-stack engineering

TypeScript

Node.js

React

AWS

Healthcare/regulatory

AI/LLM in production

Product-minded

Tools

Node.js

React

AWS

Job description

My client is seekinga Founding Principal Engineer with Healthcare experience, who will be working directly alongside the CEO to set the technical foundation for a pediatric mental health platform that's rebuilding care from the ground up. You'll be a product-minded, hands-on builder who thrives in early-stage environments and takes ownership of complex consumer products in a regulated space. We just raised our Series B and are replacing our offshore team with a small, exceptional in-house engineering org, and you'll be the one to define how it's built.

This position is Hybrid/3 Days in NYC Office

What will you be doing?

• Writing production code on the hardest problems while owning architecture across telehealth, EHR, patient dashboard, and AI adoption
• Working directly with the CEO to translate clinical, growth, and operations needs into technical plans: making independent product decisions without detailed PRDs
• Leading and transitioning the offshore engineering team while establishing engineering standards, code review, and quality practices
• Driving AI adoption across the organization to accelerate the product roadmap
• Laying the groundwork for a small, high-caliber onshore engineering team over the next 6–12 months

Requirements

• 6 - 15 years of experience in full-stack engineering
• Recent early-stage/startup experience as senior or founding engineer (Bigtech background is ok as long as supplemented with recent startup experience)
• Staff/Principal-level IC owning systems end-to-end
• Led or directed offshore/distributed engineering teams
• Production full-stack TypeScript (Node + React + AWS)
• Built software in regulated environments (fintech, healthcare, HIPAA)
• Hands-on AI/LLM implementation in production systems
• Product-minded: makes UX/feature decisions without detailed PRDs