Forward Deployed Engineer

ABOUT THE ROLE This is a founding engineer position at an early-stage AI infrastructure startup building an agentic integration platform. You will own core systems end-to-end alongside the founding team, setting the engineering patterns that every future hire builds on. The work is hands-on, high-stakes, and directly shapes the product from day one. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Own the agent platform, infrastructure, and integrations runtime end-to-end. - Set engineering patterns and standards that the entire future engineering org will build on. - Ship to production constantly, working directly with the founding team. - Help shape the full system architecture across agent orchestration, durable execution, self-healing systems, and a growing integration knowledge base. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR - 2 to 9 years of professional software engineering experience; staff, principal, lead, or manager titles at large companies are not the right fit for this hands-on IC role. - A completed or in-progress engineering, computer science, or quantitative degree from a strong technical university. - Prior experience as a founder of a funded startup or as an early engineer at a well-backed seed or Series A startup; a career spent exclusively at large tech companies, enterprise, or consulting does not meet the bar. - Proven track record of shipping and owning real production systems end-to-end, multiple times. - Proficiency across the stack: TypeScript, React, PostgreSQL, Kubernetes, and AWS; experience with Bun or Effect-TS is a plus. - Comfortable working with and directing multiple AI coding agents while exercising strong judgment over production quality. - Broad end-to-end engineering ability spanning agent platforms, infrastructure, and integration runtimes. - Genuine motivation for a fast-paced, high-intensity, in-person early-stage environment. COMPENSATION & BENEFITS - Salary range: $150,000 to $250,000 USD annually. - Visa sponsorship is available where an O-1 visa is a realistic path. LOCATION On-site, five days a week in San Francisco, CA. Candidates based elsewhere in the US are welcome with a concrete, dated relocation plan to San Francisco.