Founding Product Engineer

Founding Product Engineer

📍 San Mateo, California (Hybrid)

About the Role

We are looking for a Founding Product Engineer with 7–10 years of experience to join a seed-stage, AI-native startup tackling a massive underbuilt corner of the insurance industry.

This is a high-ownership opportunity for a builder who wants to do more than execute against a backlog.

You will play a critical role in deciding what should be built, why it matters, and how it should be implemented.

The founding team brings 20+ years of engineering and AI leadership experience across high-stakes domains, alongside deep insurance expertise through scale and IPO.

You’ll be joining for the long-term journey of building a complex, high-impact product from the ground up within one of the largest and least automated sectors of the economy.

What You’ll Do

• Build and ship AI-powered products end-to-end across the full stack using Python/FastAPI and TypeScript/React

• Make architectural and product decisions autonomously

• Operate in a flat, fast-moving environment with strong ownership over outcomes

• Iterate quickly while working within a complex and regulated domain

• Design scalable systems and infrastructure for production-grade AI applications

• Collaborate closely with founders and engineers to shape both product direction and technical strategy

Requirements

Experience

• 7–10 years of experience in full-stack engineering with Python and TypeScript/React

• Experience building AI/LLM-powered products in production environments

• Experience as a founding engineer or one of the first engineering hires at a startup

• Proven track record of shipping products end-to-end with architectural ownership

• Experience working at a larger technology company with exposure to building systems at scale

• Background in fintech, insurance, or other regulated/complex industries preferred

Technical Skills

• Strong full-stack engineering experience across:

• Python backend development (FastAPI)

• TypeScript/React frontend development

• Experience building and deploying production systems on AWS

• Hands-on experience working with LLMs such as Claude or Gemini in production

• Strong understanding of system architecture, infrastructure design, and engineering tradeoffs

Soft Skills

• Strong product judgment with the ability to decide what should be built, not just how to build it

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills

• Comfortable operating in a fast-moving startup environment with high autonomy

Additional Information

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary: $160K – $250K

• Equity: 0.3% – 0.8%

Work Policy

• Hybrid schedule: 4 days/week in-office

• Location: San Mateo, California

Ideal Background

• Founding or early-stage startup engineering experience

• Strong ownership mindset and adaptability

• Experience building scalable AI-native products in production