Founding Full-Stack Engineer
$150,000–$200,000 year
On-siteSan Francisco, California, United States
Job Summary
Collaborate daily with the founding team in San Francisco to own large swaths of the codebase across mobile, web, backend, infrastructure, and AI. Ship full end-to-end product features from backend logic and data models in Go and PostgreSQL through React Native mobile UI and deployment. Implement video streaming pipelines using HLS and develop AI-driven learning experiences with LLMs and audio/video models. Improve developer tooling, CI/CD pipelines, and observability while influencing foundational architecture and engineering culture. Move fast while maintaining a strong commitment to quality, craftsmanship, and reliability. Join a Y Combinator–backed EdTech startup on a mission to help people acquire languages and connect across cultures.
Required Qualifications
- 3+ years of professional software engineering experience delivering end-to-end features across mobile, web, and backend systems
- Strong experience building backend services in Go (Golang) with PostgreSQL, including data modeling and performance optimization
- Experience delivering mobile apps using React Native (Expo) or native iOS/Android development
- Strong TypeScript fundamentals and solid foundations in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and REST APIs
- Deep understanding of at least two compiled languages, including Go and one other (e.g., Swift, Kotlin, C++, Java, C#)
- Writes testable code with unit, integration, and end-to-end tests (mocks, pure functions)
- Experience with at least one scripting language (Python or Ruby) for tooling and automation
- Comfortable with Unix-based systems, Git, and terminal workflows
- Excellent debugging skills using Chrome DevTools, RN profiler, or Xcode Instruments
- Familiarity with video streaming (HLS) and building AI/LLM-driven features
- Must be willing and able to commit to full-time, in-person work in San Francisco
Desired Qualifications
- Cloud provider experience (AWS, GCP, Azure, or DigitalOcean)
- CI/CD experience with GitHub Actions
- Profiling and performance optimization experience
- Prior startup or founder experience
- Comfortable using AI development tools (Cursor, Copilot, GPT, Claude, etc.)
- Speaks multiple languages or is actively learning one; familiarity with immersion-first language learning is a big plus
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