Founding Engineer

Recruiting From Scratch • San Francisco, NY

5d • $150,000 - $300,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Recruiting from Scratch is hiring a full-time Founding Engineer for a seed-stage fintech and insurance technology startup in Tribeca, New York City. The company has raised $7.5 million, has approximately 12 employees, and is building an insurance platform that uses AI and predictive modeling to help homeowners manage rising home insurance costs. Its models analyze tens of millions of U.S. home insurance renewals to predict premium changes and support a three-year price guarantee. The platform operates in all 50 states and works with thousands of distributors; the company is preparing to expand its product offering, including bringing auto insurance out of beta.

This is a backend-heavy full-stack role for an engineer who can build products from the ground up, take ownership from product discussions and technical design through production support, and work effectively amid ambiguity. The engineer will work closely with the CTO and early team members, influencing architecture, product direction, and engineering practices. The position is hybrid, with four days per week in the Tribeca office. Compensation is $150,000–$300,000 base salary plus competitive equity. Relocation support is available. Eligible OPT and H-1B transfers are supported; new visa sponsorship is not available.

Requirements

• 4–12 years of professional software engineering experience, with strong backend or full-stack experience.
• Experience building and shipping production software products.
• Demonstrated ownership of features from initial design through production.
• Strong proficiency in Python and/or TypeScript.
• Experience designing APIs and working with relational databases.
• Experience at an early-stage startup or evidence of building zero-to-one products within a larger organization.
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to work independently with minimal direction.
• Product-oriented mindset and interest in contributing to decisions beyond implementation.
• Comfort working across backend systems, frontend features, and architecture as needed.
• Willingness to work on-site in Tribeca, New York City, four days per week.

Nice To Haves

• Experience building B2B2C products or platforms serving businesses and consumers.
• Experience as an early engineering hire at an early-stage startup.
• Experience launching new products or expanding products from beta to broader adoption.
• Experience building scalable APIs, internal tooling, and integrations.
• Frequent use of AI-assisted coding tools in day-to-day engineering.
• Experience in fintech, insurance technology, payments, or another regulated industry.
• Interest in insurance affordability, predictive modeling, or technology-driven financial products.
• Experience working closely with a CTO or founding team on architecture and product decisions.
• Familiarity with FastAPI, PostgreSQL, Next.js, React, Tailwind, Stripe, Auth0, or Canopy Connect; candidates need not have used every listed technology.

Responsibilities

• Own features end-to-end, from product discussions and technical design through implementation, testing, deployment, and production support.
• Build and maintain backend systems, APIs, and data workflows for insurance products and customer-facing experiences.
• Help launch the auto insurance product beyond beta and integrate new products into the platform.
• Make decisions about backend architecture, infrastructure, scalability, and long-term system design.
• Contribute across the full stack, primarily on backend systems and occasionally on frontend development.
• Improve system scalability and reliability to support growing customer demand, new products, and expanding distribution.
• Build internal tools that help non-engineering teammates resolve common issues independently and reduce engineering support work.
• Use AI-assisted coding tools to accelerate development and improve productivity.
• Work autonomously, identify problems proactively, and make pragmatic technical decisions.
• Collaborate with the CTO and broader team to influence product direction and establish engineering practices.

Benefits

• Competitive equity.
• Relocation support available.
• Opportunity to influence product direction, architecture, and engineering practices as an early team member.
• Career growth through helping shape the technical foundation of a growing company.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed