Rama — Founding Engineer

davidjoseph-co; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 165,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

davidjoseph-co is recruiting an early engineering hire to build robust data pipelines and product streams for major industrial customers in a seed-stage AI-enabled startup. You will collaborate with the CTO, own core data infrastructure, and contribute to AI-enabled ingestion features.

You will ship backend systems with Python and TypeScript, interact with non-technical customers, and share ownership with a founding team as the company scales.

Qualifications

• Strong Python and TypeScript skills.
• Proven ability to ship backend systems to production (SaaS, services, or data infra).
• Hands-on experience designing or maintaining data pipelines at scale.
• Clear, concise communicator capable of explaining technical concepts to non-tech stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Build and harden data pipelines processing live production data from legacy enterprise systems for large industrial customers.
• Own a product stream from inception to shipping features.
• Deploy and customize data-ingestion tools across customers with varied file formats and ERPs.
• Engage directly with non-technical customers to gather requirements and feedback.
• Contribute to AI agent development, including voice AI and LLM-powered ingestion.

Skills

Python

TypeScript

SQL

Data pipelines

Backend systems

Education

Degree in CS, physics, math, or engineering

Tools

Claude Code

Cursor

Codex

Job description

Type: Full-time | On-site | San Francisco, CACompensation: $165K-$190K + meaningful early-stage equityVisa sponsorship: Open to transfers (OPT, H1B) and new sponsorships (new H1B, TN)

About the Company

Our client is a well-funded, seed-stage startup using AI to modernize a large, traditionally underserved corner of the global supply chain. Their platform is already live in production with significant industry customers and is growing quickly through word-of-mouth. You'd join as one of the first engineers, working directly with the founding team.

Stage: seed-stage · Small founding team · Industry: AI, B2B, Data, Enterprise, Logistics, Software

Why Join

• Big market, real traction: live in production with major customers in a huge, traditional industry, and growing quickly through word-of-mouth.
• Well-backed early-stage team: recently closed a seed round led by respected investors.
• Strong founding team: a technically deep founder from the AI world alongside a co-founder with extensive domain expertise in the industry.
• True founding-engineer ownership: own your product streams and customer relationships from week one, with a clear path to leading your own engineering team as the company grows.

The Role

Join as one of the first engineers at a fast-growing startup using AI to modernize a large, traditional supply-chain industry. You'll work directly with the CTO, own entire product streams from day one, and build the data infrastructure that powers the product for major industry customers.

What you'll be doing

• Building and hardening robust data pipelines that process live production data from legacy enterprise systems (some decades old) for large industrial customers
• Owning a product stream end-to-end - from customer conversations to shipped features - early in your tenure
• Deploying and customizing data-ingestion tools across customers with different file formats, ERPs, and integration requirements
• Communicating directly with non-technical customers to learn the industry and gather requirements
• Contributing to AI agent development, including voice AI applications and LLM-powered data ingestion

Tech stack: Python, TypeScript, SQL, .NET, AI Agent SDKs, Claude Code, Cursor, Codex

Requirements

• 1-5 years building full-stack or backend systems, with strong Python and TypeScript
• A track record of shipping backend systems to production (SaaS, services, or data infrastructure)
• Hands-on experience building or maintaining data pipelines at scale
• Evidence of a steep growth curve - early promotions, side projects, or open-source work you can point to
• A clear, concise communicator who can explain technical concepts to non-technical people - this is a genuinely customer-facing engineering role
• A degree in a quantitative or problem-solving field (CS, physics, math, engineering), or equivalent hands-on experience backed by a strong record of shipping

Nice to Haves

• Experience at a high-bar startup or fast-moving company
• Built integrations with legacy or enterprise systems (ERP, EDI)
• An AI-native developer who actively uses modern AI coding tools (Cursor, Claude Code, Codex) and has real opinions on them
• Non-traditional or self-taught backgrounds are welcome where backed by real, shipped work
• Evidence of high-level competitiveness outside engineering (e.g. competitive athletics, martial arts, music at the highest grades)

Role Details

• Salary: $165K - $190K
• Equity: Meaningful early-stage equity
• On-site policy: 5 days/week in-office, San Francisco
• Visa sponsorship: Open to transfers (OPT, H1B) and new sponsorships (new H1B, TN)
• Employment type: Full-time
• Location: San Francisco, CA