Staff Software Engineer
About The Position
Gitwit is an AI-first venture studio focused on identifying and solving significant problems through systematic exploration, validation, and rapid cross-functional building. This role is for an experienced engineer who is passionate about not only how to build but also what to build, seeking genuine ownership and influence over product direction, technical strategy, user experience, and business decisions. Unlike traditional roles, this position offers the opportunity to be involved in the earliest stages of venture creation, shaping products from concept to launch and contributing to multiple ventures over time. The environment is fast-paced, with small teams, minimal process, and a focus on daily progress, appealing to those who thrive on ambiguity and rapid iteration.
Requirements
- Proven experience in building something from scratch, far enough to make meaningful product, technical, and speed-versus-quality tradeoffs.
- Ability to think like a product builder, caring about what should be built, user needs, simplification, and what is not worth building.
- Comfort working in ambiguity, creating clarity while building without needing every variable resolved.
- Strong technical judgment for making sound architectural and tooling decisions suitable for the stage.
- Voracious learning with sharp judgment about emerging technology, especially AI capabilities, tools, interfaces, and product patterns.
- Ability to evaluate new technology quickly, apply it selectively, and use it where it provides leverage.
- Strong sense of taste, caring about whether something is sharp, usable, coherent, and worth a user’s time.
- Ability to communicate clearly and collaborate well within a real venture team.
- Desire for real ownership, including authorship over what gets built and how it earns traction.
Nice To Haves
- Experience as an early engineer at a startup.
- Experience building a new product or system from scratch inside a larger company.
- Experience creating something independently and carrying it far enough to learn from real users and constraints.
Responsibilities
- Shaping products from the beginning, defining what should be built, what should wait, and what should be cut.
- Building from zero and shipping fast, taking ideas from early concept to prototype to real product in users’ hands.
- Making foundational technical decisions, including choosing the right tools and architecture.
- Working close to the truth by learning directly from users, pressure-testing assumptions, and adjusting quickly.
- Building across the full product reality, considering usefulness, usability, differentiation, and economic soundness.
- Operating at a pace that keeps things fun, with small teams and minimal process.
- Helping shape ventures, not just software, by contributing to decisions about features, products, or companies.
Benefits
- Competitive salary
- Meaningful equity in every venture the studio builds
- 8 weeks off per year (5 weeks vacation + 3 weeks paid holidays)
- Excellent health, vision, and dental insurance (99% of employee premiums paid)
- 401(k) with 4% match
- Life insurance
- Paid parental leave
- Cell phone reimbursement
- Monthly parking stipend
- Weekly team lunches
- Dog-friendly office
- High-trust, high-autonomy culture
- The chance to work on multiple high-impact ventures each year
- Private office and collaborative workspaces
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
