Founding Engineer

ABOUT THE ROLE This is a rare, one-of-a-kind founding engineer position at an early-stage consumer AI startup building a real-time platform designed to digitize human connection. Working directly alongside the founder, you'll help shape the technical foundation, engineering culture, and product direction from day one. The team is small, the ambition is large, and the work is genuinely novel — sitting at the intersection of real-time AI, video, audio, and memory systems. This role is fully on-site in San Francisco. Visa sponsorship is available. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Build across the full application stack alongside the founder, designers, and other engineers. - Design and implement systems for memory, retrieval, proactivity, and AI responsiveness. - Integrate and extend cutting-edge real-time video generation and audio synthesis models — both internal and third-party. - Set the bar for engineering quality and actively participate in recruiting world-class talent. - Dogfood the product relentlessly, because you genuinely care about the user experience. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR Required: - 2–7 years of software engineering experience (not a new grad — some professional experience is required). - Computer Science degree from a top university. - Strong CS fundamentals across algorithms, systems, and architecture. - Proven entrepreneurial spirit — startup exposure or experience in fast-moving, high-ambiguity environments. - A track record of technically complex side projects. - High energy, sharp intellect, and genuine drive to build something meaningful. - Comfortable with Python, including typed scientific Python. Nice to Have: - Experience training or deploying vision or video models. - Background in real-time media, audio synthesis, or voice systems. - Experience building memory or retrieval systems for AI applications. - Familiarity with agentic coding or AI-assisted development workflows. COMPENSATION & BENEFITS - Salary: $175,000 – $225,000 USD annually - Early equity in a high-conviction, early-stage company - Visa sponsorship available LOCATION This role is fully on-site in San Francisco, CA. Candidates must be willing and able to work in-person full time. Remote or hybrid arrangements are not available for this position.