Founding Engineer
Email Infrastructure for AI Agents · San Francisco, CA (On-site)
- Compensation
- $150k – $250k
- Equity
- Competitive equity
- Location
- San Francisco, CA (On-site)
- Work mode
- On-site
The process
- Step 1Application readA recruiter replies within seven days
- Step 2If it is a yesA recruiter contacts you about next steps
- Step 3Company interviewsEach company sets its own
A recruiter replies within seven days. Yes or no.
About the company
Our client is an early-stage startup building the email infrastructure and APIs that AI agents use to communicate, authenticate and operate in the real world. Its core systems already process hundreds of thousands of emails a day.
The role
This is a backend-leaning founding engineer seat (about 80% backend). You would own 0-to-1 projects end to end, from scoping customer requirements through system design to production rollout, and you would be expected to bring ideas rather than wait for tickets. Big-tech-to-startup and founder backgrounds are especially welcome.
What you'll do
- Design and build the APIs and backend infrastructure AI agents use — this is the core product
- Own 0-to-1 projects end to end, such as protocol integrations and usage-based pricing systems
- Work across distributed systems, databases and developer tooling, with some frontend
- Pitch growth experiments and product ideas
- Be the frontline for customer feedback and support enterprise deployments
Nice to have
- Cloud infrastructure, distributed systems or developer tooling, especially for AI agents
- Email, messaging or protocol-heavy systems
- Evidence of doing hard things outside engineering
Tech stack
TypeScript, REST APIs, distributed systems, databases, cloud infrastructure and email protocols (SMTP, IMAP).
Compensation & logistics
- $150k–$250k base + competitive equity
- On-site five days a week in San Francisco
- No visa sponsorship: open only to candidates already authorized to work in the US who will not need sponsorship now or in the future
- 0–5 years of experience (flexible for exceptional candidates)
- 5 hires planned
- Full-time
Similar roles
- Forward Deployed EngineerSeries B Healthcare AI Startup$180k – $285kSan Francisco, CA (Hybrid)View role →
- Founding Forward Deployed EngineerSeed-Stage Insurance AI Startup$130k – $150kSan Francisco, CA (On-site)View role →
- Founding Product EngineerVenture-Backed AI Startup$165k – $210kSan Francisco, CA (On-site)View role →