Founding Engineer (AI-Native) $160k-$260k USD + Meaningful Equity | Relocation Support NYC , USA

This Founding Engineer role in New York City puts you at the very start of an AI-native company, owning core systems from day one. As the Founding Engineer, you will shape the architecture, the stack and the engineering culture.

📍 New York City — Where Your Career Takes Flight

Most startups talk about building the future of AI. This team is building the infrastructure that makes AI reliable.

Backed by a multi-million dollar pre-seed round and already working with active design partners, they're looking for one of their first engineering hires to help shape the product, culture and technical direction from day one.

This isn't a role where you'll spend months refining internal systems or sitting behind a Jira board. You'll talk directly to customers, identify problems worth solving, build solutions, ship them to production and see the impact immediately.

If your long-term goal is to start a company, become a technical founder, or learn how elite early-stage teams operate, this is the type of opportunity that rarely comes along.

Manhattan from above

New York City at night

🚀 What You’ll Do as a Founding Engineer

Building product end-to-end from idea through production

Working directly with founders and design partners

Shipping customer-facing features at high velocity

Building backend systems and platform infrastructure

Influencing product direction through direct customer feedback

Solving complex technical problems in an AI-first environment

Helping define engineering culture as one of the earliest hires

🎯 What They Want in a Founding Engineer

1–5 years of software engineering experience, or an exceptional recent graduate from a top university

Strong full-stack engineering skills with a backend bias

Production experience shipping real products used by customers

AI-native mindset and daily use of tools such as Claude, Cursor or similar

Strong product instincts and comfort operating in ambiguity

Excellent communication skills and willingness to work directly with customers

High ownership, high agency and a genuine desire to learn quickly

New York City — Central Park from above

⚡ Strong Signals

Founder or founding engineer experience

Side projects, open-source contributions or products you've shipped independently

Experience at high-bar engineering organisations or ambitious startups

Evidence of rapid career growth and intentional career decisions

Clear motivation for joining a pre-seed company

Strong academic background from a leading university

❌ Not The Right Fit If

You prefer highly structured environments and clearly defined requirements

You're applying to every startup regardless of stage or mission

You've changed jobs frequently without clear reasoning

You aren't excited about working closely with customers

You aren't willing to work in-person with a highly collaborative team

💰 What's On Offer

$160K–$260K

Annual Salary

🚀

Meaningful Equity

✈️

Relocation Support

🌍

Visa Sponsorship

🏥

Health, Dental & Vision

🍱

Daily Meal Perks + 401(k)

The city that never sleeps — join us in New York

This is a rare opportunity to join a well-funded startup at the earliest stage, work directly alongside experienced founders, and have an outsized impact on both the product and the business.

Photos courtesy of Unsplash (Unsplash License) | Posted by Big Wave Digital

Why this Founding Engineer role stands out

A Founding Engineer seat at an AI-native company is rare. You are not maintaining someone else’s decisions; you are making the foundational ones. You will choose the languages, frameworks and patterns the next ten engineers inherit, and you will see your work go straight into production. With relocation support to New York City, meaningful equity and a salary band of US$160k–$260k, this is built for an engineer who wants real ownership and real upside.

Apply through Big Wave Digital

Big Wave Digital partners directly with this team, so your application is reviewed by people who understand both the technology and the opportunity. We have placed engineers into high-growth, AI-first companies before, and we will give you honest guidance through every stage. If you are an engineer ready to step up and own the stack, this is a standout chance to make the leap. Explore more technology roles at Big Wave Digital and apply now to take the next step.