Software Engineer

Lava; New York (NY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Lava, the connector to every LLM, API, and MCP, is hiring a Software Engineer for our NYC office. You’ll help shape how developers build, monetize, and work with AI through our Gateway and monetization stack.

We’re looking for engineers with 1–3 years of professional experience, strong TypeScript/Node.js skills, and a practical mindset. You’ll ship production code, write tests, and pair with founding engineers, owning increasingly independent responsibilities as we move quickly.

Qualifications

• 1–3 years of professional software engineering experience.
• Comfortable with TypeScript/Node.js and shipping production code.
• Strong API design, data modeling, and testing fundamentals.
• Hands-on AI user with experience using an LLM API.
• Experience with payments or developer tooling is a plus.
• Resourceful and self-motivated in an early-stage environment.

Responsibilities

• Ship features and fix bugs across Lava’s surfaces.
• Extend the Gateway and monetization systems (metering, billing, payouts).
• Write tests and keep products reliable as usage grows.
• Pair with founding engineers to learn codebase.
• Move fast and shape culture and processes from day one.

Skills

TypeScript

Node.js

API design

Data modeling

Testing

LLM API

Payments

Developer tooling

Tools

Git

Job description

Software Engineer (NYC)

Lava: the connector to every LLM, API, and MCP.

Join Lava's team in shaping how people and AI build, monetize, and work together.

About Lava

Lava is a universal connector to every LLM, API, and MCP, powering an integrated workspace and productivity with no key sprawl to manage. Lava also gives developers and businesses a way to get paid for the agents and services they list in the gateway, with no billing stack to build.

• The Lava app puts an agent inside the real apps people already use, so it can act across them instead of just describing what to do.
• You describe the task in plain language and the agent handles the workflow.
• Lava MCP drops that same access into AI tools.
• One connection to 200+ providers.

Build is Lava's monetization tool. Developers plug into the Gateway to route calls and set flexible pricing strategies. Lava handles the entire revenue lifecycle, metering, access control, and payouts, with zero code required on the merchant's side.

Our mission is to make it effortless for people and AI to work together. We're looking for early engineering hires to help define how and what we build.

What You’ll Do

• Ship features and fix bugs across the Lava’s surfaces.
• Help extend the Gateway and monetization systems (metering, billing, payouts).
• Write tests, clean up rough edges, and help keep the products reliable as more people use them daily.
• Pair with founding engineers to learn the codebase and take on more independent ownership over time.
• Move fast, adapt to ambiguity, and help shape the culture and processes from day one.

What We’re Looking For

• 1–3 years of professional software engineering experience, or equivalent depth from internships and independent projects.
• Comfortable with TypeScript/Node.js and able to ship production code with guidance from more senior engineers.
• Solid grasp of API design, data modeling, and testing, deep systems design experience isn't expected yet.
• Hands‑on AI user who experiments with AI tools and has used an LLM API at least once.
• Experience with payments, infrastructure, or developer tooling is a plus, not a requirement.
• Resourceful and self‑motivated, and comfortable in an early‑stage, fast‑changing environment.

Why You’ll Love This Role

• You'll be solving one of the hardest and most important problems in AI: building the infrastructure that connects and monetizes AI‑native products.
• Work in a small, tight‑knit, and highly motivated team that stays focused on outcomes, without unnecessary process or distractions.
• Work directly with a founder who's built and sold a fintech company before, now doing it again at the center of the AI shift.
• Be part of a company operating at the cutting edge of AI, where speed, ownership, and impact matter more than process.
• The media is already excited about what we’re building: read our TechCrunch feature here.
• Significant influence over technical and product decisions from day one.
• Help shape how the trust layer, access layer, and financial backbone of the AI web get built.

Location & Work Authorization

• This is an in‑person role based out of Lava’s New York City office.
• Candidates must currently be authorized to work in the United States; Lava is unable to sponsor visas at this time.

If you’re excited about owning big problems, building products people need, and having a direct hand in how the future of AI commerce works, we’d love to talk.