Remote Founding Engineer for AI-Native Education Platform

Checksum; United States; On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Athena is building the world's first AI tutor that teaches instead of waiting to be asked. We aim to personalize education, helping every student learn with an AI tutor that adapts to their needs.

As the first Founding Engineer, you will shape the product and technical foundation, define engineering culture, and partner with the founder on roadmap and hiring. You’ll work across frontend, backend, AI systems, and infrastructure to deliver impactful learning experiences.

Qualifications

• Production software across multiple layers of the stack.
• Strong product instincts and engineering judgment.
• Exceptional attention to user experience.
• Ability to turn ambiguous ideas into polished products.
• Experience talking directly with users and incorporating feedback.
• Track record of operating independently in early-stage environments.
• AI makes you faster, not less rigorous.
• You want to spend the next several years building something from zero.

Responsibilities

• Define Athena as much as the founder does and help build both the product and the technical foundation.
• Shape the product roadmap and establish engineering culture and standards.
• Own learning experiences that students genuinely enjoy using and scale the platform.
• Design and implement scalable architecture for AI-native education.
• Collaborate with the founder on product direction and engineering strategy.
• Work across frontend, backend, AI systems, and infrastructure.

Skills

Full-stack

Product sense

UX focus

AI systems

Engineering judgment

User feedback

Tools

LLMs

Retrieval systems

AI infrastructure

Job description

Athena is building the world's first AI tutor that teaches instead of waiting to be asked. We aim to personalize education, helping every student learn with an AI tutor that adapts to their needs.

As the first Founding Engineer, you will shape the product and technical foundation, define engineering culture, and partner with the founder on roadmap and hiring. You’ll work across frontend, backend, AI systems, and infrastructure to deliver impactful learning experiences.