Founding Staff Engineer — Full-Stack, AI-Driven Ventures

Vantora (formerly UP.Labs); Los Angeles (CA); Remote; USD 190,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Vantora (formerly UP.Labs) seeks a Staff Engineer to join the founding team. You’ll move ideas from concepts to working products across multiple ventures, owning the full stack and driving real-world validation with AI support.

Expect high ambiguity, direct stakeholder interaction, and ownership of technical direction that shapes product strategy and venture success. You’ll operate across frontend, backend, APIs, and data layers, balancing speed and durability as projects evolve from 0→1.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of software engineering experience, including time in early-stage 0→1 environments.
• Proven ability to build and ship full-stack applications end-to-end.
• Strong judgment around speed vs scalability tradeoffs in early-stage systems.
• Demonstrated use of AI to accelerate development or product capabilities.
• Comfort operating in ambiguous environments where both the problem and solution are evolving.
• Ability to work with incomplete or messy inputs to arrive at practical solutions.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to influence decisions.

Responsibilities

• Take concepts from zero to a working product and real-world validation.
• Own full-stack development: frontend, backend, APIs, and data layers.
• Shape product direction alongside venture leads and PMs, not just execute against specs.
• Design and build rapid validation loops to test assumptions and de-risk ideas early.
• Architect and implement core systems, models, and integrations from scratch.
• Use AI as a force multiplier across development and product capabilities.
• Make deliberate tradeoffs between speed and durability based on venture stage.
• Operate effectively with incomplete, evolving, or imperfect inputs to get to working solutions quickly.
• Work directly with stakeholders to validate workflows and refine solutions.
• Identify and mitigate technical and product risks early.
• Contribute across multiple ventures, applying patterns and learnings to accelerate future builds.
• Maintain a high bar for technical quality while moving with urgency.

Skills

Full-stack development

AI in development

Ambiguity handling

End-to-end delivery

Strong communication

Stakeholder collaboration

Problem solving

Tools

APIs

Job description

Vantora (formerly UP.Labs) seeks a Staff Engineer to join the founding team. You’ll move ideas from concepts to working products across multiple ventures, owning the full stack and driving real-world validation with AI support.

Expect high ambiguity, direct stakeholder interaction, and ownership of technical direction that shapes product strategy and venture success. You’ll operate across frontend, backend, APIs, and data layers, balancing speed and durability as projects evolve from 0→1.