Full-Stack Engineer (Music Industry)

CGS; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision and life insur

Paid time off

In-office gym

Meals provided

Visa sponsorship

Job summary

CGS is seeking a Full-Stack Engineer with a strong backend focus to maintain, scale, and improve its growing AI-powered music platform in San Francisco. The role starts with keeping the web application reliable, fixing bugs, and delivering practical product improvements, then expands into contributing more to product development alongside the existing product engineer.

This hands-on engineer should enjoy solving backend challenges and take responsibility for code quality while aligning with a

Qualifications

• Proven experience in backend-focused full-stack roles.
• Strong debugging and live-site support skills.
• Ability to reason through technical problems independently.

Responsibilities

• Support the backend and infrastructure of a web application serving hundreds of thousands of monthly users.
• Investigate, debug and resolve issues in a live, high-traffic product.
• Deliver bug fixes and practical product improvements during your first month.
• Help maintain system stability, performance and reliability as the platform grows.
• Develop and improve backend services, APIs and database functionality.
• Contribute to new product features and improvements alongside the existing product engineer.
• Take increasing responsibility for shared product development over time.
• Identify technical issues independently and implement effective solutions.
• Use AI coding tools where appropriate while maintaining strong independent coding and problem-solving skills.

Skills

Backend engineering

Full-stack development

Bug fixing

Problem solving

Job description

Experience: Approximately 2-4 years

Company stage: Seed-stage AI startup

About the Company

A seed-stage AI music-learning company founded in 2024 is making music transcription and learning more accessible through innovative AI technology. Spun out of a university accelerator and backed by education-focused investors, the company was founded by a team whose research helped solve the complex challenge of converting audio into MIDI.

Its flagship product allows users to upload audio or video links and receive accurate sheet music, MIDI, MusicXML, guitar tabs or an interactive piano roll in minutes, supporting nine different instruments. A second product, an iOS app, enables users to learn songs through an interactive piano roll with real-time feedback.

With fewer than ten people on the team and growth driven entirely by organic acquisition, the company is building technology for a rapidly expanding community of music enthusiasts.

The Role

The company is looking for a Full-Stack Engineer with a strong backend focus to help maintain, scale and improve its growing AI-powered music platform. Initially, your focus will be on keeping the web application reliable, fixing bugs and delivering practical product improvements. As you become familiar with the platform, you'll gradually contribute more to product development, working alongside the existing product engineer.

This is an opportunity for a dependable, hands-on engineer who enjoys solving backend challenges and wants to build technology around a genuine personal passion for music. You don't need to own the product vision, but you should care about what you're building, think independently about technical problems and take responsibility for the quality of your work.

What You'll Do

• Support the backend and infrastructure of a web application serving hundreds of thousands of monthly users.
• Investigate, debug and resolve issues in a live, high-traffic product.
• Deliver bug fixes and practical product improvements during your first month.
• Help maintain system stability, performance and reliability as the platform continues to grow.
• Develop and improve backend services, APIs and database functionality.
• Contribute to new product features and improvements alongside the existing product engineer.
• Take increasing responsibility for shared product development over time.
• Identify technical issues independently and implement effective solutions.
• Use AI coding tools where appropriate while maintaining strong independent coding and problem-solving skills.

What We're Looking For

• Approximately 2-4 years of professional software engineering experience, with strong practical skills. Exceptional candidates with less experience may be considered if they have outstanding internships or projects.
• Full-stack development experience with a clear preference for backend engineering.
• Experience building, maintaining or improving production applications.
• The ability to get up to speed quickly, investigate bugs and deliver reliable fixes.
• Strong coding fundamentals and the ability to reason through technical problems independently.
• A genuine passion for music, ideally demonstrated by playing an instrument and having an interest in music theory.
• A collaborative mindset and an interest in contributing to product development without needing to own the entire product vision.
• Willingness to work in person in San Francisco five days per week.

What Will Make You Stand Out?

• You've built a music-related application, tool or side project because you were personally interested in solving a problem.
• You play an instrument, compose music, perform or have a strong interest in music theory.
• You can share a GitHub repository, demo or portfolio of something you've built.
• You have experience maintaining backend systems in production and can explain how you've diagnosed and resolved technical issues.
• You have worked on consumer-facing applications or products with significant user traffic.
• You enjoy combining strong engineering fundamentals with a product that connects to your personal interests.

Previous employment in the music industry is not required. The key is genuine musical interest combined with strong engineering ability.

Why Join?

• Build around your passion: Work on products designed to help people create, understand and learn music.
• Meaningful user impact: Contribute to a platform serving hundreds of thousands of monthly users.
• A growing product: Join a company experiencing approximately 30% monthly growth.
• Room to develop: Start with backend maintenance and reliability before expanding into shared product development.
• Small, collaborative team: Work closely with a team of fewer than ten people.
• Comprehensive benefits: Medical, dental, vision and life insurance, plus paid time off.
• Great office environment: Access an in-office gym, with all meals and snacks provided.
• Visa sponsorship: Available for eligible candidates.

Location & Working Arrangements

This is an in-office position in San Francisco, California, five days per week, with a working rhythm of approximately 9 am to 9 pm. Candidates already based in the Bay Area and those willing to relocate are welcome.