Backend-Leaning Product Engineer

ABOUT THE ROLE We're a small, high-ownership product team building real-world AI and automation products. As a Backend-Leaning Product Engineer, you'll own customer-facing features end-to-end — from design through shipping and iteration. You'll navigate messy integrations, legacy systems, and third-party services, and you'll make product and engineering trade-offs with speed and strong judgment. This is an early-stage environment where your work has direct, visible impact. We're looking for someone who thrives with minimal structure, works closely with founders and customers, and is genuinely excited about building 0-to-1 products in a fast-moving hybrid SF setting. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Own features end-to-end — from design and implementation through shipping and iteration. - Make product and engineering decisions independently, without heavy PM oversight. - Build and maintain backend systems, APIs, data models, and automation pipelines. - Integrate with external tools, legacy systems, and messy third-party services. - Design workflows and orchestration for AI/automation-driven products. - Debug production issues and apply strong engineering judgment under pressure. - Balance full-stack work when required, with a clear emphasis on backend ownership. - Collaborate closely with founders, customers, and cross-functional stakeholders. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR Required: - Backend-focused engineering experience with the ability to design, implement, and ship customer-facing features end-to-end. - Track record of shipping real products — ideally in 0-to-1 or ambiguous/messy environments. - Experience owning the full lifecycle of customer-facing features: ideation, implementation, and feedback loops. - Strong cross-functional collaboration and communication skills. - Must be legally eligible to work in the US without employer sponsorship. - Based in San Francisco or willing to relocate — this role is hybrid/in-office in SF. Nice to Have: - Applied AI or workflow/orchestration experience (agentic workflows, RAG, LLM-enabled features). - Systems integration experience with external APIs and third-party services. - Python experience; modern web/backend stacks are acceptable — engineering quality matters more than stack fit. - Background as a founding engineer, early startup generalist, or product/backend engineer at a scaling startup. Not a fit: Frontend-only, data-only/internal-tools-only, pure DevOps/SRE without product ownership, pure research/ML without shipping experience, or candidates primarily motivated by corporate titles. COMPENSATION & BENEFITS - Base salary: Up to $275,000 depending on experience. - Equity: Meaningful equity package. - Visa sponsorship is not available — candidates must be authorized to work in the US. LOCATION - San Francisco, CA — hybrid/in-office required. - Open to candidates willing to relocate to SF.