Full-stack Engineer

Better Stack, Inc.; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Better Stack, Inc. is building tools for engineers who ship. We’re an early stage startup that moves with urgency and values real products over process.

You’ll write end-to-end software, improving backend, frontend, and UX, with a focus on performance and security. You’ll work with a close-knit team, ship rapidly, and have the freedom to work remotely while contributing to ambitious goals.

Qualifications

• Experience delivering end-to-end software across frontend and backend.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted tooling and modern development workflows.
• Solid understanding of database queries and performance.

Responsibilities

• Shape product UX and polish UI while shipping end-to-end features.
• Optimize backend performance and ensure secure software delivery.
• Collaborate with CTO/CEO and design to implement features quickly.

Skills

End-to-end development

AI-powered engineering

Frontend and backend

Performance optimization

Security awareness

SQL databases

Code deployment

Async collaboration

Tools

Claude Code

Cursor

OpenCode

Job description

We are engineers, making the tools we always wanted

No 60 min meetings. 26 min 1:1 quick syncs instead.

Smart & talented colleagues. Challenging tasks & rapid pace.

Our goal is to get out of your way and let you do your best work.

Cozy office. Prefer to work remotely? Fine by us! It’s not about how much time you spend working, it’s about what you ship.

Delicious lunch every day. Great coffee. Bartender in-house.

Off-sites & parties, moments to remember.

Get things done

We care about winning. We’re an early stage startup, and we move with urgency. We don’t whiteboard, brainstorm ideas or waste time in endless meetings.

We ship things, we fix things, we make things happen.

We are working on exceptionally challenging tasks at a rapid pace. We care about results, not efforts. We don’t keep slackers around, and we don’t prioritize seniority over great ideas. We’re in the details.

A great workplace is not about having the best gym, sleeping pods, or frequent parties. It’s about working as a team on some of the most ambitious goals. It’s a place where we learn the most and do the work we can be proud of.

Be the person who executes the “deploy” command. Be the one who organizes a customer conference. Take charge. Real artists ship.

01

Do a lot with little

We’re a small team and we can’t do what years-old big-tech corporations do — and we believe that’s a good thing. We can’t buy an F1 sponsorship or a Super Bowl ad, but we can sponsor a tech blogger to start their side hustle.

Doing a lot with little is our think different. It means we have to find original and better ways of doing things, not replicating how they have always been done. It’s this David-like approach that makes us succeed even in the Goliath-like challenges.

02

Be nice, do the right thing

Being nice to each other is a vital value of the company we all want to work at. There is no space for “brilliant jerks”. You have to be kind. Well-meant feedback is always delivered with respect.

We nurture a culture of quiet confidence and open humbleness. There is no space for selfishness on our team. We appreciate the privilege of working with each other and lift each other up.

We won’t compromise on what we believe in to cut corners. We’re in this for the long run and want to win right, even if that means taking the harder path. This applies to not just treating our people well but also to how we do business with everyone outside the company.

03

We hire A players and let them make the decisions independently without asking for a permission first.

Our goal isn’t to micromanage. Our goal is to get out of your way and let you do your best work.

04

Reason from first principles

We don’t let the anecdotal evidence of how things have been done until now limit us in thinking what’s possible. We ask why. We question the requirements.

We get inspiration from others to learn from their mistakes, but we always prioritize the common sense over anecdotes. The only true limitations are the laws of physics.

05

Work at a fast-growing startup in a team of super-talented colleagues (Y Combinator alumni, ex-Google & ex-Shopify engineers, and… you?).

Work 1.5x the hours, earn 2x the compensation

We’re designing a product by engineers, for engineers. Our CTO, CEO, and COO are all software builders who understand what it takes to craft elegant, efficient, and delightful products. And we’re continuously looking for more amazing engineers to help us create high-quality software with exceptional UX—end to end.

You’ll do more than write code. You’ll shape the product user experience , polish user interface, optimize backend performance, benchmark database queries, and ship secure, scalable software. We’re looking for software engineers who, if given enough time, could build Better Stack on their own. This role is not about filling a narrow niche but taking ownership and shipping impactful software that users love.

• Use AI to aggressively ship high-quality code. We expect you to be on top of the latest tools , models and trends in AI-assisted software engineering. We think that using AI is no longer optional. We expect you to be amazing at prompting, to know when to leverage different models, and to have first-hand experience with Claude Code, Cursor, and opencode among others. At the same time, we expect you know when not to use LLMs and instead debug or design an algorithm by hand. We’re not looking for vibe coders.
• You’ll implement, test, and deploy secure, fast, and scalable code in production—independently or with lightweight collaboration.
• Work directly with our CTO, CEO, and our designer to deliver end-to-end features, from backend to frontend, within a single day.
• Keep our frontend fast and consider SEO & AEO.
• Ship software while maintaining security and performance across the stack—understanding basic web security principles without over-relying on frameworks.
• Collaborate asynchronouslywhile avoiding unnecessary meetings.
  We trust youto manage your time and ship.

This might be for you if

• Software is your hobby.You’ve written web scrapers for fun, built apps for personal use, or explored side projects to learn new tech.
• You love shipping things end-to-end.Styling buttons in the morning, adjusting the database schema at noon, and deploying toproduction in the afternoon? You’ll like it here.
• You take security very seriously,without blindly relying on modern frameworks.
• You write fast software.From optimizing SQL queries to reducing frontend reflows and choosing the right number of threads,you’re always looking for ways to keep applications fast.
• You’re a generalist.You don’t need to be an expert in every area of software engineering, but you’re comfortable wearing multiple hats and learning quickly.
• You care about UI and UX.Pixel-perfect designs and seamless user flows aren’t “just for designers.”Refactoring UI is/would be your go-to guide.
• You prefer fewer meetings and more doing instead.Team stand-ups? No thanks. Async tools and clear communication? Yes, please.
• It’s great if you’ve worked with our stackbut it’s definitely not a requirement.We need you to be flexible about the tools you use. Great software engineers can pick up new stack fast.As far as you worked with some web technologies and at least some SQL databases, you’re just fine!
• We consider our team to be a professional sports team. Everyone aims to be the best in the world in what they do.From YC alumni to ex-Google and ex-Shopify colleagues, you’ll be in great company.
• Our founders Juraj (CEO) and Veronika (COO), and Tomas (CTO) who remain hands-on and ship code.
• Our 1-man design team Juraj jr., and Simon, engineer turned technical product manager,who ensure that every feature you build looks and feels incredible and consistent with the rest of the product.