What are the responsibilities and job description for the Founding Lead Engineer position at Empathy Talent?
Founding Staff Engineer
Location: San Mateo, CA (Hybrid)
Type: Full-Time
About the Company
We’re building an AI-native coordination layer for engineering teams — replacing manual status tracking and fragmented workflows with intelligent agents that operate in real time.
Our goal is simple: allow engineering teams to focus on building, while intelligent systems handle alignment, visibility, and execution flow.
We’re well-backed, early, and already working with large-scale organizations. Now we’re looking for a Founding Staff Engineer to help define the technical foundation of the company.
The Role
This is a foundational engineering role with meaningful ownership. You’ll partner closely with the founders to shape architecture, technical direction, and product evolution from the earliest stages.
This is a hybrid position based in San Mateo, CA, with in-person collaboration balanced with flexibility.
You will:
- Architect and build core platform systems
- Design scalable backend infrastructure and AI-driven workflows
- Balance rapid iteration with long-term durability
- Contribute to product direction and early customer feedback loops
- Help establish engineering standards and culture
This role blends systems thinking, product instinct, and execution.
What We Value
We’re looking for someone who:
- Has built and shipped complex systems in production
- Thinks architecturally, not just tactically
- Writes clean, maintainable, well-reasoned code
- Is comfortable operating in ambiguity
- Has strong product intuition and attention to detail
- Takes ownership naturally
Experience in one or more of the following is particularly valuable:
- AI agents or orchestration systems
- Real-time or distributed systems
- AI/ML infrastructure
- Graph databases
- Early-stage startup environments
Why This Role Is Different
- Direct collaboration with founders
- Significant architectural influence
- Early equity and long-term upside
- A product with real customer pull
- The opportunity to define how AI supports modern engineering teams
We’re building deliberately and thoughtfully. If you’re someone who cares about craft, leverage, and long-term impact, this could be a meaningful next chapter.
Salary : $175,000 - $230,000