About the company
Our client is a fast-growing software company.
The role
Raydar is recruiting for this role on behalf of our client. Join as an early engineering hire building a production software platform from scratch, spanning backend services and web interfaces. You will shape technical direction alongside company leadership and own features from initial design through release. The work also includes integrating large language model capabilities into production systems and talking with users directly.
What you'll do
- Design, build and operate backend services and web frontends for a new production platform.
- Shape the technical direction and conventions of a young codebase.
- Build and ship systems that integrate LLM APIs, including orchestration and tool calling.
- Own features end to end, from design through deployment and monitoring.
- Work directly with founders and speak with customers to refine features based on their feedback.
- Weigh refactoring against delivery speed, and manage technical debt deliberately.
- Use AI-assisted development tools to work faster.
Requirements
What we're looking for
- 5+ years building production software, with experience across the stack and sustained ownership of meaningful systems.
- Production experience in a typed backend language such as Go, Java, Scala, C++ or C.
- Proficiency in Python, including async patterns and integration with AI/ML tooling.
- Solid PostgreSQL skills: schema design, migrations and production operations.
- Ability to build and maintain a modern React and TypeScript frontend.
- Hands-on experience designing and shipping production systems built on LLM APIs, beyond prototyping.
- Clear written and verbal communication with users and customers, and a record of refining features from their feedback.
- Experience leading larger projects, judged by scope, complexity and business importance.
- A pragmatic mindset, with good judgment on when to build versus buy.
- Comfort with ambiguity and shifting priorities in an early-stage environment.
- An understanding of what it means to be a founding engineer.
- A bachelor's degree or higher in a technical discipline such as computer science or engineering.
Bonus points
- Early-stage startup experience, or a mix of large tech company and startup experience.
- Experience with infrastructure as code and cloud deployment.
- Familiarity with vector search, embeddings and retrieval patterns.
- Experience with real-time systems such as streaming APIs or WebSockets.
- Strong testing discipline, including building test frameworks and coverage standards.
- Production operations experience: observability, incident response and reliability.
Benefits
Compensation and benefits
- Base salary: USD 180,000 to 280,000 per year
- Equity
- Benefits package
Location and work model
- San Francisco, CA, United States
- On-site, 5 days per week in office
- Full-time
Skills Required
- 5+ years building production software across the stack with sustained ownership of meaningful systems
- Production experience with a typed backend language such as Go, Java, Scala, C++, or C
- Proficiency in Python, including asynchronous programming patterns and AI/ML tooling integration
- Strong PostgreSQL skills, including schema design, migrations, and production operations
- Ability to build and maintain modern React and TypeScript frontends
- Hands-on experience designing and shipping production systems using LLM APIs
- Clear written and verbal communication with users and customers, including refining features from feedback
- Experience leading larger projects based on scope, complexity, and business importance
- Pragmatic judgment about when to build versus buy
- Comfort with ambiguity and shifting priorities in an early-stage environment
- Understanding of the responsibilities of a founding engineer
- Bachelor's degree or higher in a technical discipline such as computer science or engineering
- Early-stage startup experience or a combination of large technology company and startup experience
- Experience with infrastructure as code and cloud deployment
- Familiarity with vector search, embeddings, and retrieval patterns
- Experience with real-time systems such as streaming APIs or WebSockets
- Strong testing discipline, including test frameworks and coverage standards
- Production operations experience with observability, incident response, and reliability
What We Do
Raydar is a talent acquisition and business consulting firm that connects world-class and emerging talent with growing organizations. It supports companies through team development, strategic hiring, and customized growth solutions, helping clients recruit roles such as engineers, product managers, executives, legal counsel, and quantitative traders. Raydar focuses on understanding each organization’s needs, culture, and long-term goals to build high-impact teams.
