Summary
✨ AI‑Generated
An early-stage technology company is seeking a principal-level engineer to own architecture decisions, build scalable systems, and lead technical direction. The role combines hands-on coding with mentorship and solving complex challenges in AI-powered platforms and distributed infrastructure.
Highlights
Opportunity to shape core architecture at an early-stage technology company, work on challenging AI and infrastructure problems, and receive meaningful equity upside.
Description
San Francisco, CA - Hybrid (on-site) - Full-time
Compensation: $220K-$280K + equity
About The Company
Our client is a seed-stage (pre-Series A) AI company reimagining how organizations put artificial intelligence to work.
Their platform brings enterprise-grade AI across dozens of workplace applications at a fraction of typical inference cost, with no custom engineering required, and is already gaining traction with real enterprise customers.
You would join a small, fast-moving team early enough that your work shapes the core of the product and your equity carries meaningful upside.
Founded 2023 - approximately 25 people - Industry: AI, Enterprise, B2B
The Role
We are hiring a Principal Software Engineer to own the architecture and technical roadmap for a core domain of the product.
This is a hands-on role: you will ship high-quality code daily while providing technical leadership and mentorship, and tackle the hardest problems across distributed systems and AI infrastructure.
What You Will Be Doing
Ship code daily and own products from zero to one, from system design through deploymentOwn the architecture and technical roadmap for a core domainDrive cross-team technical initiatives with measurable business impact, including incident response and post-mortemsRepresent the company externally through talks, writing, or open-source, and help shape the engineering culture
Tech stack: GoLang, TypeScript, Python
Requirements
10+ years of full-stack software engineering experience, with a track record of building 0-to-1 in productionDemonstrated ownership of a product end to end, from system design through deploymentExperience leading technical initiatives across teams without formal authorityExperience defining SLAs and running production systems at scaleDeep expertise in at least two of: AI/ML infrastructure, distributed systems, data pipelines, security, or frontend architectureProfessional experience with GoLang, TypeScript, or PythonBachelor's or Master's degree, Computer Science preferredHigh autonomy and comfort operating in ambiguous, fast-paced startup environmentsAble to work on-site in San Francisco
Nice to Haves
Regular use of AI tools to accelerate development velocityA visible external presence through talks, blog posts, or open-source contributions
Why Join
Hands-on Principal role: ship code daily while owning the technical roadmap for a core domainJoin pre-Series A, when equity is most valuableDeep technical ownership of the hardest distributed systems and AI infrastructure problemsBuild an AI-native platform reaching dozens of enterprise applications at a dramatically lower cost profile
Details
Location: San Francisco, CAWork policy: Hybrid - on-site in San Francisco (approximately 3 days/week in office)Compensation: $220,000-$280,000 + equityVisa sponsorship: Not available (US citizens / Green Card holders only)Employment type: Full-time
