Simula — Founding Engineer

davidjoseph-co; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity (~0.5%)

Lunch and dinner stipend

Office gym

Job summary

Simula is seeking a Founding Engineer to blend backend, ML, and traditional system design in a fast-moving startup environment in San Francisco, CA. You will be one of the earliest engineers shaping the engineering culture and building core infrastructure as the company scales.

The role requires a strong portfolio of side projects, a bias for action, and comfort with ownership and cross-functional collaboration with founders and the team.

Qualifications

• 0-3 years engineering.
• Backend + ML + systems.
• Side project track record.

Responsibilities

• Backend systems work with a mix of ML and traditional system design / infrastructure.
• Build features end-to-end across whatever the team is shipping.
• Cross-functional work with the rest of the engineering team and founders.
• Help shape the engineering culture as one of the early hires.

Skills

Backend

ML

Systems

Side projects

Job description

Simula — Founding Engineer

Type: Full-time | On-site | San Francisco, CACompensation: $160,000–$220,000 + ~0.5% equityHiring count: 1Visa sponsorship: None available — US citizens or visa holders onlyReports to: Yizhen, Co-Founder (LinkedIn not provided)

About Simula

Simula is building the ad network for AI. The team partners with consumer AI entertainment and character platforms to create immersive, personalized ad formats — playable ads, animated character ads, sponsored experiences, and creative units that feel native to AI companions rather than disruptive to users. The work sits at the intersection of advertising, consumer products, AI-generated media, and mobile entertainment. Backed by a16z and other notable investors; the team moves fast and ships often.

Founded: N/A | Team size: N/A | Total funding: N/A (a16z-backed)Industry: AI advertising / consumer AI (not specified on page)Website: simula.adOffice: San Francisco, CA

Why Candidates Should Join

• Founding seat: One of the earliest engineering hires at "the ad network for AI," with direct influence over the engineering culture.
• Direct founder access: Reports to Yizhen (Co-Founder) with cross-functional work alongside the founding team.
• Backing + momentum: a16z-backed, fast-moving, ships often.
• Perks: Meaningful equity, free lunch and dinner ($35 Uber Eats / DoorDash stipend), office gym.

Intake Call Summary

No intake transcript was provided — an intake video exists on the role page but is not transcribed. The points below are drawn from the role description, which reflects the intake.

• This is an opportunistic, profile-driven hire — Yizhen wants to meet generally "cracked" profiles passed through opportunistically, not a high-priority targeted search.
• The proxy Yizhen uses for the right candidate: someone who has built a bunch of projects on the side, not just worked their day job as an engineer.
• Tech-stack agnostic — filtered on profile and slope, not a narrow stack requirement.
• Role blends backend + ML + traditional system design / infrastructure.
• Reports to Yizhen with cross-functional work across the team.

The Role

A Founding Engineer who can blend backend, ML, and traditional system design / infrastructure — a high-agency, high-slope builder, not a candidate filtered through a narrow tech-stack requirement.

What You'll Be Doing

• Backend systems work with a mix of ML and traditional system design / infrastructure
• Build features end-to-end across whatever the team is shipping
• Cross-functional work with the rest of the engineering team and founders
• Help shape the engineering culture as one of the early hires

Tech stack: Tech-stack agnostic. PyTorch fluency is a nice-to-have.

Requirements

• 0-3 years engineering
• Backend + ML + systems
• Side project track record

Green Flags

• Strong side project portfolio that demonstrates building outside of day-job scope. Yizhen direct primary proxy.
• Recent grad or 0-3 YOE with exceptional signal (top engineering school, notable internships, or notable side projects)
• Background at Roblox, Meta, Amazon, or comparable consumer / ad infra companies with side-project signal

Red Flags

• Day-job-only engineer with no signal of building outside of work.
• Mid-career operator (5+ YOE) wanting Senior or Staff title. This is a founding-tier early hire.
• Pure ML research background without shipping production systems

The Requirements, Green Flags, and Red Flags cards were all collapsed ("Show More") in the copied page — these lists are likely incomplete. Re-copy with all three expanded to capture the full criteria.

Role Details

Salary$160,000–$220,000Equity~0.5% (page lists "Competitive Equity"; ~0.5% per outreach template)On-site policySF, 5 days in personVisa sponsorshipNone available — US citizens or visa holders onlyEmployment typeFull-timeLocationSan Francisco, CA

Screening Questions

None provided on the role page.

Interview Process

Stage 1 — Pending Approval — Candidates awaiting initial approval.Stage 2 — First chat with Yizhen (Co-Founder)Stage 3 — In-person meetup with Yizhen — Lunch or dinner.Stage 4 — Meet the CTO and the teamStage 5 — Offer ExtendedStage 6 — Candidate Hired — Candidate accepts and starts.

Ideal Companies & Backgrounds

Updated June 24, 2026

Consumer / ad infra — Roblox, Meta, Amazon, or comparable consumer/ad infra companies (with side-project signal)

No dedicated "Ideal Companies" list with expandable companies was present on the page; the above are the companies named in the Green Flags / Nice-to-Have.

Ideal Candidate Profiles

For reference only — do not source these specific profiles. None provided on the role page (no candidate profiles with LinkedIn links).

Rejected Candidate Feedback

None provided on the role page.