Founding Product Engineer

Wintermeyer Ventures; New York (NY); On-site; USD 175,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Wintermeyer Ventures is seeking a hands-on product partner to own features end-to-end on an early-stage AI/ML product team in New York.

You will talk with customers, prototype ideas, and ship frontend and backend work while shaping what the team builds next. A STEM degree and strong communication are valued, and visa sponsorship is not offered.

Join a small, ambitious team and help define the product direction, meeting customers where they are and delivering meaningful user value from day one.

Qualifications

• 0–3 years software/engineering experience, preferably at an early-stage startup or B2B SaaS.
• Experience building and launching a project used by real users or paying customers.
• Experience shipping full-stack user-facing products (UI and backend).
• Product ownership experience with direct user conversations to guide builds.
• STEM degree and strong communication and initiative.
• Familiarity with full-stack web development, AI agents, CI/CD, and PR workflows; security or DevOps experience is a plus.
• Authorized to work in the United States without visa sponsorship.

Responsibilities

• Speak with customers to explore directions and prototype early ideas.
• Engage with customers in shared channels, answer questions, identify needs.
• Develop and ship frontend and backend features with engineering leadership.
• Define success metrics for launches and verify problem-solving impact.
• Contribute to product direction as an early, small team member.

Skills

Customer discovery

Product ownership

Full-stack development

Communication skills

UX/UI awareness

Education

STEM degree

Tools

CI/CD

Authentication

Encryption

Observability

Job description

About the Role

Join an early-stage AI/ML product team building a tool that reviews user experiences in CI by navigating applications and surfacing video, UX issues, and redesign suggestions on UI pull requests. You will own product features end to end, from customer conversations and prototypes through launch, and help shape what the team builds next.

What You'll Do

• Spend most of your time speaking with customers, exploring product directions, and building early versions of promising ideas.
• Work directly with customers in shared communication channels, respond to questions, and identify patterns in their needs and reported issues.
• Develop and ship user-facing features across the frontend and backend, collaborating with technical leadership on complex engineering challenges.
• Define success measures for launches, follow up with customers, and take ownership of whether features solve their problems.
• Contribute to product direction as an early member of a small, flat team.

What We're Looking For

• Zero to three years of experience as a software or founding engineer, preferably at an early-stage startup or B2B SaaS company.
• Experience building and launching a project independently that real people used or paid for, such as a side project, startup, college project, or freelance build.
• Experience shipping user-facing products across the full stack, including both UI and backend work.
• Product ownership experience and a track record of speaking directly with users to understand what to build.
• A STEM degree and strong product instincts, initiative, and communication skills.
• Familiarity with full-stack web development, AI coding agents, CI/CD, and pull request workflows; security or DevOps experience with areas such as authentication, encryption, observability, or CI/CD is useful.
• Authorization to work in the United States without visa sponsorship.

Compensation & Benefits

Base salary: $175,000 to $250,000 annually. Visa sponsorship is not available.

Location

On-site in New York, New York, United States.