Past Founder with Track Record and Experience

Sauna; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Sauna by Wordware, based in San Francisco, seeks a high-impact product/engineering leader for an in-person, full-time role. You must be based in the Bay Area or relocate before starting, and US work authorization with visa sponsorship options are considered for exceptional candidates.

The role is anchored at our San Francisco office, with a fast-moving interview process. We value people who can ship results, own critical product areas, and help shape our roadmap as we scale.

Qualifications

• You raised more than $5M as a founder.
• You shipped a product to $500k ARR or more.
• You were the main person responsible for a standout product at a bigger company.

Responsibilities

• Shape the role around your strengths and tell us what you would own in your first 90 days.
• Contribute to engineering, product, or growth initiatives and collaborate with cross-functional teams.
• Participate in the interview process and help move exceptional candidates through the funnel.

Job description

Please read first

• This is a full-time, in-person role based in San Francisco (Presidio) - we work from the office 5 days a week.




• You must be based in the Bay Area or willing to relocate before starting.




• We require US work authorisation, but are open to O-1 or J-1 visa sponsorship for exceptional candidates.

About Sauna by Wordware

Most AI products hand you a coworker on day one and hope you trust it. Sauna is the coworker you raise: it starts by learning how you work, earns autonomy task by task, and ends up running hours of work on its own while you keep taste, review, and the final say. Wordware is the ~20-person team behind it, backed by Spark Capital, Felicis, and Y Combinator with a $30M seed, the largest in YC history. We build from a San Francisco office in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge, and we work absurdly hard because we can see and feel the outcome every day.

Who We're Looking For

We want people who walk in with enough context that onboarding takes days, not months. Specifically, if one of these is true, we want to talk:

• You raised more than $5M as a founder




• You got a product to $500k ARR or more




• You were the main person responsible for a standout product at a bigger company (think: the person the team credits with actually shipping it)

What You'd Actually Do

Shape is flexible. We've hired past founders into engineering, product, and growth roles. Tell us where you're strongest and we'll build the scope around you. If you can describe the thing you'd own in your first 90 days, we can probably make it real.

The Process:

We keep our process simple. Exceptional candidates go from first touch to offer within 2 weeks.

1. 1. Application: Submit your resume and answer a few short questions.


2. 2. 15-minute intro call: Quick check to align on location, motivation, and logistics. If it's a go, we move fast from here.


3. 3. Deep dive call: A longer conversation about what you built, the decisions behind it, and where you'd plug in at Wordware.