Founding Product Engineer

About the company

Our client is a YC-backed, fast-growing AI-native commerce startup building an alternative to the legacy e-commerce stack — every merchant tool bundled behind a single AI-agent interface. Founded in 2025, they are around ten people, have raised $7M, and have 30,000 users live with roughly 100% month-over-month growth. A Series A is expected in the next three to four months. The office is in SOMA, San Francisco.

The role

This is a founding hire, framed internally as “a founder who happens to also code.” You would own product surfaces end to end — frontend, backend, whatever the surface needs — talk to customers directly through calls and session replays, and make product calls rather than only implementation calls. The bar on craft is high: the client wants someone who can point to work where the interface itself, not just the functionality, was clearly well considered. The company is splitting its original founding-engineer posting into this role and a separate AI-focused one, and each hire is expected to eventually build a team underneath them. One thing to be clear-eyed about before applying: the team is working six days a week until the Series A closes, roughly three to four months out. It is time-boxed and it is paid for — the client scales an offer 6/5 against a competing five-day offer — but it is a real condition of the job, and it is the first question they ask.

What you'll do

• Own product surfaces end to end — problem definition through production, without a spec handed to you
• Build across the stack in TypeScript, React and Node, on both frontend and backend
• Work with customers directly — calls and session replays — and turn that into product decisions
• Hold a high bar on product and UI craft, not just on whether the feature works
• Grow into hiring and leading a team as the company scales past its Series A

What we're looking for

Nice to have

• Experience in e-commerce or the Shopify ecosystem — the client calls this the perfect candidate, but it is genuinely not required
• A background at a company known for a rigorous engineering bar
• Experience at a growth-stage, VC-backed startup
• Comfort with AI-assisted development workflows such as Cursor or Copilot
• Previous founder experience, alongside a strong company or educational background

Tech stack

TypeScript, React and Node.js. No other languages or frameworks are required — the client is explicit that AI-assisted tooling makes the specific stack matter less than it used to.

Compensation & logistics

• $150k–$350k base — the top of the band is genuinely reachable for an exceptional candidate
• 0.2%–0.8% equity
• On-site by default in the SOMA office in San Francisco, with one to two remote days a week workable on request — this is not a remote role
• Interim flexibility while you relocate, including the possibility of being flown to Toronto before the San Francisco move is complete
• Six-day working weeks for roughly three to four months, until the Series A closes, with compensation scaled 6/5 to match a competing five-day offer
• US citizens and Green Card holders only — no visa sponsorship and no transfers
• Around 4 to 8 years of experience as a product engineer
• 1 hire planned, with room for 2 to 3 if several exceptional people surface
• Three interview stages: an informal phone screen, a system-design interview (no live coding, and you are told in advance what to prepare), and a one-day on-site or one-to-two-day remote trial
• Full-time