Product Engineer

Who is Recruiting from Scratch: Recruiting from Scratch is a specialized talent firm dedicated to helping companies build exceptional teams. We partner closely with our clients to deeply understand their needs, then connect them with top-tier candidates who are not only highly skilled but also the right fit for the company’s culture and vision. Our mission is simple: place the best people in the right roles to drive long-term success for both clients and candidates. https://www.recruitingfromscratch.com/ Title of the Role: Product Engineer Location - San Francisco, CA (Hybrid) - Hybrid role requiring three days per week in-office in Downtown San Francisco. Compensation - $185,000 – $230,000 Base + Competitive Early-Stage Equity Visa - Open to Visa Transfers (OPT, H1B Transfers) + TN, J1, and O-1 Sponsorship Company Stage - Early Stage – Seed / Approaching Series A Industry - Artificial Intelligence, Global Trade, Customs Technology, Fintech, Enterprise SaaS, Trade Automation, Agentic AI About the Company Our client is building an AI-powered global trade platform designed to help importers navigate the increasingly complex world of tariffs, customs, and international trade. The company is transforming fragmented trade data, documents, and operational systems into actionable intelligence that helps businesses uncover duty refunds, tariff exemptions, and other cost-saving opportunities. The company has already reached significant early traction with more than 80 customers in production and strong recent revenue growth, while preparing for its next major funding milestone. As a Product Engineer, you'll join a small, high-impact engineering team where every engineer has significant influence over product direction, technical architecture, and engineering culture. This is an opportunity to work directly with founders and customers while building full-stack product experiences, data infrastructure, AI-powered workflows, and systems for a compliance-heavy domain where accuracy and reliability have real-world financial consequences. What You'll Do Build full-stack product features across the platform from initial concept through production deploymentWork directly with customer data to connect product capabilities with real-world use casesProcess and transform messy, fragmented trade data from documents, CSVs, APIs, and other sourcesBuild systems that convert unstructured and semi-structured trade data into clean, structured, actionable informationDesign and model PostgreSQL databases supporting complex global trade workflowsBuild reliable data models that can evolve as the company's customs-centric data graph expandsShape product direction alongside founders and technical leadershipWork directly with users to understand operational problems and customer requirementsPush back on product specifications when necessary and help determine the best technical and product approachOwn features end-to-end from ambiguous requirements through architecture, implementation, deployment, and iterationBuild customer-facing applications and workflows for importers and trade professionalsDevelop agentic AI workflows on top of the customs-centric data graphBuild AI-powered systems that help customers identify duty recovery, tariff, and trade opportunitiesDesign reliable AI workflows with appropriate safeguards for a compliance-heavy domainBuild APIs, backend services, frontend experiences, and data workflows across the full product stackIntegrate external APIs, customer systems, and third-party data sourcesWork with large volumes of documents and structured trade dataBuild systems that maintain accuracy, reliability, transparency, and traceabilityCollaborate closely with founders and the small engineering team on technical strategyOperate effectively in an ambiguous environment where requirements are not always fully definedMake pragmatic technical decisions balancing product velocity, correctness, and maintainabilityIdentify product opportunities based on customer feedback and operational needsImprove system performance, reliability, scalability, and user experienceHelp establish engineering practices, technical standards, and product development workflowsContinuously evolve the platform as the company expands into new trade advisory products Ideal Candidate Background Experience Requirements 2–5 years of professional experience in full-stack product engineeringStrong product engineering backgroundStrong full-stack software development experienceExperience building and shipping customer-facing productsExperience owning features end-to-endExperience working in startup or high-growth environments preferredExperience working within strong engineering cultures preferredExperience taking ambiguous product requirements through implementation and productionExperience working directly with customers or end users preferredExperience working with complex data or operational workflowsStrong ownership mentality with demonstrated execution abilityStrong product mindset and customer orientationComfortable making technical decisions independentlyComfortable working closely with founders and senior technical leadershipAbility to operate effectively in a small engineering teamStrong interest in AI-powered products and modern software developmentExperience with fintech, trade, logistics, compliance, or other complex operational domains preferred Technical Requirements Strong full-stack engineering experienceStrong backend engineering fundamentalsStrong TypeScript experienceStrong Node.js experienceExperience with NestJS or comparable backend frameworksStrong React experienceStrong PostgreSQL experienceExperience with Prisma, MikroORM, or comparable ORM technologiesExperience building production APIs and backend servicesExperience with GraphQL or comparable API technologiesExperience building modern customer-facing web applicationsExperience working with Redis or comparable caching/data systemsExperience with background processing or job queues such as BullMQ preferredExperience integrating external APIs and third-party systemsExperience working with structured and unstructured dataExperience building data-heavy product workflowsExperience with AI agents, LLMs, or AI-powered applications preferredExperience building agentic workflows preferredStrong software architecture and system design skillsStrong understanding of production reliability and scalabilityStrong debugging and production troubleshooting capabilitiesAbility to reason across frontend, backend, data, AI, infrastructure, and product systemsAbility to design systems where correctness and reliability are criticalAbility to learn unfamiliar technical and business domains quickly Education Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or related technical field preferredEquivalent practical engineering experience acceptedStrong computer science and software engineering fundamentals Soft Skills Exceptional technical ownershipStrong product judgmentStrong analytical and problem-solving abilityStrong customer orientationStrong communication skillsComfortable working directly with foundersComfortable working directly with customers and usersStrong ability to understand complex business workflowsComfortable challenging product requirements when appropriateHigh execution velocityStrong bias toward shippingStrong ability to reason from first principlesComfortable making technical decisions independentlyStrong architectural judgmentPragmatic approach to technical tradeoffsStrong attention to correctness and reliabilityLow-ego collaborative mentalityStrong builder mentalityComfortable working across multiple technical areasComfortable operating in ambiguityComfortable managing multiple priorities simultaneouslyStrong ownership of production outcomesStrong product and business orientationStrong interest in AI-native product developmentComfortable working three days per week in San FranciscoStrong willingness to operate in a fast-moving early-stage environment Compensation & Benefits Base Salary: $185,000 – $230,000Competitive early-stage equityOpportunity to join a small, high-impact engineering teamSignificant ownership over product development and technical directionOpportunity to build AI-powered global trade infrastructureDirect collaboration with founders and technical leadershipOpportunity to work on complex data and compliance-heavy workflowsExposure to agentic AI, customs technology, and enterprise softwareOpportunity to work with real customer data and high-impact operational problemsOpportunity to shape product architecture and engineering cultureHigh-growth environment with significant career and equity upsideVisa transfer supportTN, J1, and O-1 sponsorship available Why Join This is an opportunity to join a small, high-impact team building a new category of AI-powered global trade software.You'll work directly with founders and customers while owning product features from ambiguous requirements through production, giving you an unusually high level of influence over both what gets built and how it gets built.You'll solve challenging problems across full-stack engineering, messy real-world data, AI agents, and compliance-heavy workflows where technical accuracy directly impacts customer outcomes.If you enjoy product engineering, building from ambiguity, working closely with customers, solving complex data problems, and operating with high ownership in a fast-moving startup, this role offers exceptional technical and product scope.