Founding Engineer (Frontend)

Recruiting From Scratch•San Francisco, CA

6d•Onsite

About The Position

As a Founding Engineer (Frontend), you'll own the frontend architecture of the product while working directly alongside the founders to build the platform from the ground up. You'll help define engineering standards, influence product direction, and build customer-facing experiences that become the foundation of the business. This is an exceptional opportunity to join an AI-native startup at the earliest stage where Founding Engineers have direct ownership over product architecture, engineering decisions, customer experience, and company growth.

Requirements

0–5 years of frontend or full-stack engineering experience
Experience building customer-facing products from 0→1
Experience working at high-caliber technology companies or VC-backed startups
Experience owning frontend architecture or leading frontend initiatives
Strong startup ownership mentality with demonstrated engineering execution
Experience collaborating directly with product and leadership teams
Experience shipping production web applications
Previous startup experience strongly preferred
Strong React and TypeScript expertise
Strong frontend engineering fundamentals
Experience building scalable frontend architectures
Experience working with GraphQL APIs
Strong understanding of modern frontend tooling and frameworks
Experience designing reusable component systems
Strong product engineering mindset
Familiarity with full-stack development and backend APIs
Experience building highly interactive user experiences
Ability to rapidly prototype and ship production features
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or another technical discipline preferred
Strong engineering background with demonstrated frontend expertise
Top technical universities or exceptional engineering accomplishments strongly preferred
Outstanding product intuition
Strong engineering ownership
Excellent collaboration skills
High execution mentality
Comfortable operating with ambiguity
Strong communication skills
Startup mindset with high execution velocity
Structured problem solver
Passion for building exceptional user experiences
Continuous learner with strong technical curiosity

Nice To Haves

Experience as a founding engineer, early employee, founder, or product owner strongly preferred
Experience building products with strong product intuition

Responsibilities

Own the frontend architecture across the company's core AI platform
Design, build, and launch customer-facing product experiences from 0→1
Build highly performant React and TypeScript applications used by enterprise customers
Collaborate directly with founders on product strategy, architecture, and technical direction
Translate customer feedback into polished product experiences
Build reusable frontend systems, components, and design patterns
Develop GraphQL-powered interfaces supporting enterprise AI workflows
Make key architectural decisions across frontend systems
Partner closely with backend engineers to build seamless full-stack experiences
Improve product performance, scalability, reliability, and usability
Rapidly prototype and iterate new product ideas with customers
Champion engineering excellence across frontend development and product quality

Benefits

Base Salary: $180,000 – $220,000
0.5–0.75% Equity
Visa Sponsorship Available
On-site work model (5 days/week in San Francisco)
Opportunity to become one of the earliest engineers at a fast-growing AI startup
Direct collaboration with founders on product and engineering strategy
Significant ownership across product architecture and frontend engineering
High-impact engineering culture with exceptional career growth
Well-funded Seed company backed by top-tier investors
Opportunity to build foundational AI products used by Fortune 500 enterprises