Founding Backend Engineer

Plaud • San Francisco, CA

3d • $260,000 - $340,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

We’re hiring a highly motivated and entrepreneurial Founding Backend Engineer to lead the technical execution of our "Plaud for Teams" product experience across all professions. In this role, you'll be at the forefront of shaping the architecture, systems, and interfaces of our AI-native product experience and agentic AI platforms, with a strong focus on fostering privacy-minded collaboration among humans, and human-with-agents, powered by large language models (LLMs). You’ll take ownership of critical backend systems while partnering with global teams spanning product, design, research, hardware, and go-to-market functions. Together, you'll transform ambitious ideas into scalable solutions for consumers and business alike.

Requirements

• Hands-on builder: 3+ years of experience in building and scaling productivity SaaS tools.
• Our tech stack: Experience with Python, FastAPI, Go, PostgreSQL, or similar technology.
• Infrastructure: Familiar with cloud-based infrastructure like Azure, AWS, or GCP.
• Proven track record: Experience envisioning and delivering an effectively zero-to-one product to global customers.
• Passionate about AI: A deep understanding of LLMs, their capabilities, limitations, and potential applications.
• Technical depth: Demonstrated proficiency in a variety of technologies with the ability to quickly learn and adapt to new tools and languages.
• Ownership: Ideal candidate will have previously been the first technical lead at an early-stage high-growth startup, with an emphasis on owning a project from conception to deployment.
• Inspirational vision: Strong leadership and team-building skills with a collaborative approach.
• Structured thinker: Excellent strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities.
• Academic achievement: Bachelor's or Master’s degree in a technical field (Computer Science, Engineering or a related discipline).
• Interested in agentic team collaboration software, SaaS, AI, and LLMs.
• Solid understanding of core application security concepts and threat mitigation strategies.
• Solid understanding of permission systems and design principles.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, startup environment.
• Experience managing or collaborating with international teams.
• "Always Day 1" entrepreneurship drive.

Responsibilities

• Take full ownership of the technical strategy and execution for our "Plaud for Teams" product roadmap, ensuring it stays tightly aligned with business goals and evolving customer needs.
• Guide the complete lifecycle of our "for Team" stack—from initial vision through to product launch—by setting clear, measurable milestones guided by Product Led Growth (PLG) principles.
• Architect and deliver scalable permission and collaboration systems and API integrations that enrich functionality and user experience, all while upholding the highest standards for privacy, security, and quality.
• Continuously explore, evaluate, and implement cutting-edge AI technologies that advance the capabilities of our agentic platforms.
• Clearly communicate technical direction, tradeoffs, and progress to leadership, cross-functional collaborators, and stakeholders across all levels of technical fluency.
• Build and lead a top-tier engineering team by recruiting, mentoring, and inspiring a culture of innovation, ownership, and hands-on problem solving.
• Foster seamless collaboration and alignment across U.S. and international teams to ensure fast, focused execution across disciplines.

Benefits

• Founding Team: Opportunity to join the founding team of this new initiative, with meaningful ownership and impact on a fast-growing startup.
• Competitive Compensation: $260K-$340K base salary+performance bonus+Equity.
• Comprehensive Benefits: Top-tier healthcare for employees and dependents, including dental and vision, and a generous employer subsidy.
• Retirement Planning: 401(k) plan for full time employees with company matching.
• Paid Time Off: Unlimited PTO, plus 13 paid holidays.
• New Parent Leave: 12 weeks of paid time off to spend time with your new family, regardless of gender.
• Hybrid Office: Minimum of 3x in office per week.
• Gear: New hires are equipped with their choice of new top-of-the-line laptops and workstation setups.
• Perks: Best office equipment. Annual offsites. Free office drinks and snacks.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 251-500 employees