Software Engineer (Product)

Outtake; New York (NY); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision

Flexible PTO

Annual company retreats

Team retreats

Job summary

A tech startup in New York is seeking a Product Engineer to work closely with customers and directly influence product development. You'll thrive in ambiguity, ship products from scratch, and shape the roadmap based on real feedback and insights. This role requires a strong bias to action and a deep understanding of both customer needs and business success metrics. Join an exceptional team focused on creating meaningful impact through innovative products.

Qualifications

• Experience in shipping products that users actively used.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment.
• Deep understanding of customer needs and business metrics.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with customers to gather insights.
• Define and build solutions autonomously.
• Shape product direction by identifying and solving problems.

Skills

Product shipping

Bias to action

Customer insight

Ambiguity thriving

Collaboration

Job description

The Role

This is a product engineering role in the strongest sense of the term.

You work close to customers.

We believe customer proximity is a competitive advantage. Engineers talk directly to customers, join calls, and participate in tight feedback loops. Forward-deployed work is part of the job - not as support, but as the fastest path to product insight.

You shape what we build.

Engineers here don't wait for fully formed specs. If you see a problem worth solving, you're expected to make the case, design the experiment, and build the v0. Good product judgment is valued as highly as clean execution.

You ship across the stack.

You'll work wherever the problem is - backend systems processing TBs of internet-scale data, frontend workflows that make complex analysis feel intuitive, agent frameworks that automate what used to take weeks of manual work. Titles matter less than ownership.

You operate with clarity and focus.

Mondays we align. Fridays we retro. In between, you're trusted to prioritize what matters most - while staying sharp to signal from customers and the market.

The Team

"The team you build is the company you build." — Vinod Khosla

You'll work alongside engineers from Palantir, Notion, Meta, Microsoft, Slack, and Datadog. Several have founded startups.

But credentials aren't the point.

This team cares deeply about craft, slope, and truth-seeking. People pair on hard problems, challenge each other in code review, and give direct, thoughtful feedback in 1:1s. Mentorship is intentional, not accidental - you'll learn faster here because the bar is high and the coaching is real.

We're building Outtake to be a long-term network of builders: people who go on to lead teams, start companies, and back each other over decades. The goal is simple - working here should make you meaningfully better.

You

This role tends to excite people who've built something from scratch and want to do it again - with better tools, sharper teammates, and real distribution.

You might be a fit if:

• You've shipped products that users actually used - and at least one that failed, and you understand why that mattered

• You ramp quickly, thrive in ambiguity, and have a strong bias to action

• You care deeply about why something is being built, not just how

• You understand what success looks like for the customer and the business, not just the code

• You've done some form of forward-deployed or customer-embedded engineering and found it energizing

If you need a roadmap handed to you, this won't be a fit.

If you want to help write the roadmap, you'll feel at home.

Bonus if you've:

• Founded something (even if it didn't work)

• Worked in forward-deployed or customer-embedded roles

• Built with agents, LLMs, or large-scale data systems

What Success Looks Like

What will you have shipped by month 6 that customers are asking about by name?

The engineers who thrive here tend to find a problem early - something they heard on a customer call, noticed in the data, or couldn't stop thinking about - and make it theirs. Within a few months, they've built something real: a detection capability that catches what we were missing, a workflow that cuts hours of manual work, a system that makes the next ten features possible.

By month 12, you're not waiting for direction. You're the person others come to for a specific problem space. Customers know your work. Teammates trust your judgment. And you've shaped what Outtake builds next.

Why Outtake

If you're choosing between us and another AI startup:

• Foundation models are infrastructure. We're building what people actually use to stay safe.

• The impact is immediate and real - attacks stopped, fraud prevented, threats caught that humans miss.

• The company is working: real customers, real revenue, real momentum.

• The people are exceptional - not just in pedigree, but in how they think and build.

• The network compounds: your teammates become future founders, collaborators, and references.

• The upside is meaningful. Equity reflects impact, not title.

Life at Outtake

Outtake is backed by top-tier investors and operators who believe in our mission and our model: a lean, dense, exceptionally talented team building a category-defining product. With strong financial footing and a long runway, we prioritize creating an environment where people can do the best work of their careers.

• Office: We are an in-person team (5 days a week, with flexibility as needed) working out of a stunning waterfront office in Brooklyn. Collaboration, speed, and clarity matter.

• Health: 100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision for employees.

• Time Away: Flexible PTO. We trust adults to manage energy, not clock time.

• Culture & Team: Annual company retreats and regular in-person events.