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Palo Alto, United States

Founding Software Engineer

Raydar · Palo Alto · United States

Salary
$165,000–$210,000 per year
Contract
Full time
Occupation
Software Engineer

Posted: 10/12/2026 · Last checked: 10/28/2026

Job description

Quoted in full from Raydar's job posting. Gavroche does not edit it.

About the company

Our client is an early-stage software company.

The role

Raydar is recruiting for this role on behalf of our client. Join a very small engineering group as an early hire, owning large parts of a business software product from design through production release. The work blends engineering with product thinking and direct customer contact, and suits someone who enjoys ambiguity and fast iteration.

What you'll do

- Ship and iterate quickly while making deliberate trade-offs on quality.

- Work closely with the founders to design solutions to customer problems.

- Speak directly with customers to diagnose and resolve product issues.

- Own major areas of the product independently, from technical design to production release.

- Take on a mix of engineering, product and customer support duties.

Requirements

What we're looking for

- Strong empathy for users and product, thinking beyond code to how people work with data.

- Degree in Computer Science or Engineering.

- Experience at a startup, ideally as a founder or founding engineer, or equivalent experience owning projects from zero to one at a larger company.

- Expertise in systems design and data modeling.

- Demonstrated initiative, such as owning and delivering a project outside the roadmap or building notable side projects.

- Ability to pick up new technology stacks quickly.

- Comfort in a tiny team where responsibilities regularly cross functional lines.

- About 2 or more years of relevant experience.

Bonus points

- Prior exposure to shaping a product through close work with users or colleagues.

- Familiarity with business software in a related domain.

- Degree from a top university.

Benefits

Compensation and benefits

- Base salary: USD 165,000 to 210,000 per year

- Equity

- Health, dental and vision coverage

- Retirement plan

Location and work model

- Palo Alto, CA, United States

- On-site, 5 days per week in office

- Full-time

From Gavroche data

Figures computed from live adverts on Gavroche; the job text above is the employer's.

Similar roles in Palo Alto

200 open roles like this one; at most three per employer shown.

What software engineer adverts in the United States state

Middle half: 157,500 – 222,000 USD a year; median 193,000 USD.

From 2229 adverts by 381 employers that state a salary, annualised.

How software engineer roles in the United States are worked

3% fully remote · 2% hybrid · 95% do not say

Of 647 adverts. An advert that does not state a work mode is counted as not saying, not as on-site.

New openings in Palo Alto, by week

  1. 8/3/2026 33
  2. 8/10/2026 22
  3. 8/17/2026 22
  4. 8/24/2026 30
  5. 8/31/2026 28
  6. 9/7/2026 24
  7. 9/14/2026 29
  8. 9/21/2026 39
  9. 9/28/2026 52
  10. 10/5/2026 44
  11. 10/12/2026 53
  12. 10/19/2026 60
  13. 10/26/2026 19

455 openings over 12 weeks, by the week they were published.

Other roles at Raydar

749 open, including roles outside the United States.