Principal Engineer: Platform & Architecture

Different Technologies Pty Ltd.; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 200,000 - 320,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Founding-team equity (2-4%)

Job summary

Intellus Build is building the nervous system for construction—an AI-native operating system that connects dirt to dollars. As Founding Engineering Lead, you'll architect and build the foundation of our entire platform, partnering with our founder and construction industry veterans to ship impactful AI features to real sites, iterating on field feedback.

This role offers true ownership: define the tech stack, culture, and growth path while shaping an AI infrastructure for a multi-trillion-dollar

Qualifications

• 4–7 years building production systems (exceptional cases reviewed).
• Deep in one area (frontend / backend / infra / mobile) but capable across stack.
• Ship a prototype this weekend when hearing new ideas and ships fast.
• Pragmatic, but with strong architectural opinions.
• Experienced building systems used by 1,000+ users.

Responsibilities

• Design our entire technical architecture from scratch and scale to millions of users.
• Build the core platform that other engineers will build on top of.
• Ship our first AI features to real construction sites and iterate based on field feedback.
• Set up CI/CD, monitoring, and infra for rapid daily deploys.
• Recruit and mentor the next engineers and define our engineering culture.
• Architect systems that scale from single-site contractors to 100+ location portfolio operations.

Skills

Production systems

Full-stack capability

Rapid prototyping

Architectural rigor

Scale to 1k+ users

Job description

Intellus Build · Make Construction Intelligent

Work with ex-Narvar Founding CTO (Unicorn, $1B+). 6 AI patents. Enterprise AI pedigree: Google DCDE, Oracle, Macy's, Walmart Labs.

We're hiring founding team members to transform how the $12T global construction industry builds—from residential to mission-critical infrastructure.

Principal Engineer: Platform & Architecture

Architect the Platform That Transforms Construction!

Location: Hybrid (San Francisco Bay Area Preferred) or Remote-US

Type: Full-time

Compensation: Founding-team equity (2-4%) + base salary

Construction creates the world around us—yet still runs on WhatsApp, spreadsheets, and gut feel. Sites generate terabytes of data daily—yet none of it tells anyone what to do next.

This isn't a data problem. It's an Intelligence problem.

We're building the nervous system for construction. Think Palantir meets Procore, but actually usable by contractors. Our first customers are already begging for access.

You'll be Founding Engineering Lead, building alongside our founder and construction industry veterans. Async-first. Remote-friendly. Zero bureaucracy. No meetings about meetings. Just ship code that moves dirt and dollars.

You'll set the architecture, standards, and velocity that define Intellus Build's engineering DNA.

Your growth path: You'll start hands-on, architecting and coding. As we scale, you'll build and lead the engineering team. First mover advantage: define the technical culture and the role you want to grow into.

About the Role

Intellus Build is the Infrastructure of Truth—the AI-native operating system that connects dirt to dollars.

What You'll Build

As Founding Engineering Lead, you'll architect and build the foundation of our entire platform:

• Design our entire technical architecture from scratch — make decisions that scale to millions of users
• Build the core platform that other engineers will build on top of
• Ship our first AI features to real construction sites and iterate based on field feedback
• Set up CI/CD, monitoring, and infra for 10× daily deploys
• Recruit and mentor the next engineers and define our engineering culture
• Architect systems that scale from single-site contractors to 100+ location portfolio operations

Requirements

You are:

• 4–7 years building production systems (exceptional cases reviewed)
• Deep in one area (frontend / backend / infra / mobile) but capable across stack
• Someone who thinks 'I'll build a prototype this weekend' when hearing new ideas and ships fast
• Pragmatic, but with strong architectural opinions
• Experienced building systems used by 1,000+ users

Nice to Have

• Built AI/LLM applications that people actually use (not just demos)
• Built systems at scale at a top-tier tech company (FAANG, Stripe, Uber, Airbnb, or similar)
• Open source contributions we can review
• Strong opinions about construction industry inefficiencies

Why This Role Matters

• Massive market: Construction is 13% of global GDP — $12T globally
• Real AI application: Not another chatbot — AI that prevents workplace accidents and saves lives
• True ownership: You're not employee #500. You define everything from tech stack to culture
• Explosive growth vertical: AI infrastructure is the fastest-growing construction segment—we're building the platform to power it
• Pedigree: A Stanford StartX company (elite sub-1% accelerator)

Ready to Build?

You'll complete two quick assessments to show us what you can do.

Top scorers get interviewed. We move fast. No bureaucracy.

Intellus Build is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome candidates from all backgrounds.