Software Engineer

San Francisco, CA
July 19, 2025
$130000 - $240000 / year
Apply Now

Job Description

If this blog helped you, spread the word!

* Role: Software Engineer (Back-end / Full-stack)
* Location: On-site, San Francisco, CA
* Level: Early Career (1–5 YOE)
* Headcount: 3–4 Engineers Start
* Date: ASAP
* Compensation:
* Base: $130k – $240k
* Equity: 0.05% – 0.20%
* Visa: H1B, TN, OPT transfers welcome (US/Canada only)

Ideal Candidate Profile

Education

● Bachelor’s in Computer Science required (no bootcamps)

● Top 30 U.S. or Canadian university (e.g., MIT, Stanford, CMU, Waterloo, Berkeley, etc.)

Experience

● 1–5 years in back-end or full-stack roles

● Strong startup experience required (Seed to Series C) ○ Prefer companies backed by YC, Accel, a16z, etc.

● Must be comfortable with ambiguity and able to operate independently

● Strong cloud infrastructure familiarity (AWS stack)

Not a Fit If:

● Primarily AI/LLM focused

● 2+ years at Big Tech with no startup experience

● Consulting/finance/banking experience

● Bootcamp background

● Job-hopping (<1 year at any job)

● Seeking hybrid/remote roles

● Graduate degree holders (PhD/MS not targeted unless exceptional)

Technical Focus Areas

● API-first backend engineering: handle fragmented legacy systems

● High-scale infra: millions of API reqs/day; Redis, Postgres, AWS (CDK/EC2)

● On-prem integrations: DLLs, SQL, proprietary APIs—build reliability into fragile environments

● Unification layer: normalize data across 100+ legacy systems

● Dogfooding: build UIs using own APIs (e.g., Sync, Analytics)

● Performance: caching, pagination, low-latency design, scalable testing infra

Team & Culture

● Fully in-person: 5 days/week in SF, office in West Portal

● Tight-knit, intense, ambitious team (many relocated just for this)

● Built by Graphiq/Amazon alums

● Most team members are technical—even in business roles

● 90% of hires have prior startup experience

Selling Points

● Early-stage with strong fundamentals: ○ 2XX+ paying customers ○ Cash-flow positive ○ $Xm ARR ○ No current need for more fundraising, despite high investor interest

● Unique market opportunity: ○ Construction = $12T/year industry ○ Extremely fragmented tech landscape = high pain, low competition

● Real customer feedback loop and shipping velocity

● Team culture: onsite gym, daily DoorDash, team events (sports, escape rooms, movie nights)

● Visa sponsorship + relocation support ⚙ Tech Stack

● Infra: Redis, Postgres, AWS (CDK, EC2)

● Front-end: React (for internal tools)

● APIs: REST, webhooks, real-time integrations Interview Process

Screen 1: Background chat (15 min)

Screen 2: Coding interview (45 min)

Screen 3: Deep dive / experience chat (60 min)

.

Onsite: In-person day in SF with team

Submission Checklist for Candidates

✅ CS undergrad degree from Top 30 school

✅ 1–5 years experience

✅ Startup experience (Seed–Series C)

✅ Hands-on AWS/infra/backend work

✅ Ready to relocate + work in-person in SF

✅ Not AI-focused, no bootcamp, not Big Tech-only

✅ Strong interest in ownership and product impact

If this blog helped you, spread the word!