The Founding Engineer will develop full-stack applications, shape product direction, and work in ambiguous environments from concept to validation.
About the Role
What You’ll Do
How You’ll Operate
You Should Have
What Sets You Apart
This Role Is Not For You If
At UP.Labs, we partner with leading organizations to build entirely new software businesses from the ground up. This is not a traditional engineering role - you won’t be joining a single product or inheriting a defined roadmap. You’ll work across multiple ventures partnering with one of the world's leading industrial manufacturing companies, helping turn early concepts into real, working products that can stand on their own.
As a Founding Engineer, you’ll operate in high-ambiguity environments where both the problem and solution are evolving. You’ll be responsible for taking ideas from initial concept through to working product and real-world validation. Owning decisions across the stack along the way.
This is a hands-on role with meaningful ownership. Your work will directly shape product direction, technical foundations, and whether a venture gains traction.
- Take concepts from zero to a working product and real-world validation
- Own full-stack development: frontend, backend, APIs, and data layers
- Shape product direction alongside venture leads and PMs, not just execute against specs
- Design and build rapid validation loops to test assumptions and de-risk ideas early
- Architect and implement core systems, models, and integrations from scratch
- Use AI as a force multiplier across development and product capabilities
- Make deliberate tradeoffs between speed and durability based on venture stage
- Operate effectively with incomplete, evolving, or imperfect inputs to get to working solutions quickly
- Work directly with stakeholders to validate workflows and refine solutions
- Identify and mitigate technical and product risks early
- Contribute across multiple ventures, applying patterns and learnings to accelerate future builds
- Maintain a high bar for technical quality while moving with urgency
- You move fluidly across the stack and don’t rely on narrowly defined ownership boundaries
- You turn unclear ideas into concrete implementations without waiting for full direction
- You know when to prioritize speed and when to invest in structure
- You bias toward action – building, testing, and iterating to create clarity
- You’re comfortable abandoning approaches that don’t show signal and redirecting quickly
- You think in terms of outcomes and user impact, not just technical output
- You can context switch across multiple problems without losing momentum
- 6+ years of software engineering experience, including time in early-stage 0→1 environments
- Proven ability to build and ship full-stack applications end-to-end
- Strong judgment around speed vs scalability tradeoffs in early-stage systems
- Demonstrated use of AI to accelerate development or product capabilities
- Comfort operating in ambiguous environments where both the problem and solution are evolving
- Ability to work with incomplete or messy inputs to arrive at practical solutions
- Strong communication skills and the ability to influence decisions
- You’ve operated in environments where there was no clear playbook
- You’re comfortable owning entire systems rather than components
- You identify leverage – reusable patterns, shortcuts, and ways to move faster across efforts
- You focus on building things that work in real-world conditions, not just ideal ones
- You take responsibility for outcomes, not just implementation
- You prefer strictly defined ownership (frontend-only, backend-only, etc.)
- You need well-defined requirements and stable roadmaps
- You want to focus on maintaining and scaling existing systems
- You rely on structured environments to do your best work
Location: Strong preference for candidates local to our HQ in Santa Monica
Work Environment: Hybrid schedule
Top Skills
AI
Full-Stack Development
UP.Labs Santa Monica, California, USA Office
3100 Donald Douglas Loop N, Santa Monica, CA, United States, 90405
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