Founding Product Engineer

Job description

### About the Role This is a founding engineering role at a seed-stage legaltech startup building AI-native contract review and negotiation software. You will work directly alongside attorneys and AI engineers to shape the core product from scratch, setting the engineering culture and standards for everyone who follows. The work is high-ownership and high-impact: real customers depend on what you ship every day. ### What You'll Do - Build and own core product features across the full stack, from data models and backend systems to the interfaces attorneys and clients use daily. - Partner with AI engineers and attorneys to translate legal workflows and review playbooks into reliable, production-grade software. - Make pragmatic architecture and tooling decisions that balance speed now with long-term maintainability. - Write clean, maintainable code and take complete ownership of what you ship in production. - Help define engineering culture, standards, and hiring practices as the team scales. - Collaborate directly with domain experts to turn real legal judgment into software that ships fast and holds a high bar. ### What We're Looking For - 1 to 3 years of experience building and shipping production software, ideally at an early-stage company or as a founder. - Strong full-stack ability: TypeScript and React on the front end, a modern backend stack, and relational databases. - Hands-on experience building with AI and LLMs, whether professionally or in personal projects. - A track record of owning features end-to-end, from conception through production deployment. - Comfort with ambiguity and a proven ability to thrive in fast-moving, high-ownership environments with minimal process. - Sound engineering judgment, strong communication skills, and a high bar for your own work. - Product instincts and an entrepreneurial, owner-oriented mindset; you move with urgency and find another way when initial approaches fail. - Experience in legaltech, contract management, or document processing is a plus, as is experience with DevOps, CI/CD, and production monitoring. ### Compensation & Benefits Salary range: **$140,000 to $180,000 USD annually.** Visa sponsorship is not available for this role. ### Location This is a full-time, on-site role based in **San Francisco, California**. In-person attendance six days per week is expected.