Founding Principal Architect

Position Title: Founding Principal Architect Location: New York City (4 days/week in-office) Position Type: Full-Time (Permanent) Work Policy: In-Office (U.S. only) Start Timeline: ASAP Sponsorship: H1B Transfer Relocation Assistance: Up to $10K for NYC-based candidates Compensation

• Base Salary: $0 – $250,000 (based on experience, interview performance, and level)
• Equity: Competitive early-stage equity package Role Summary The Founding Principal Architect will lead full-system architecture and technical execution for a high-ownership, early-stage platform. You will scale core infrastructure and backend systems, design and implement full-stack features, and make high-leverage decisions across the stack. This role includes hands-on development, technical leadership, and mentoring of early engineering hires. Core Responsibilities
• Own architecture and scaling of backend infrastructure and application integrations
• Design and implement full-stack features alongside product and domain experts
• Lead and enforce engineering best practices across CI/CD, security, and code reviews
• Collaborate on product roadmap, technical strategy, and team growth
• Make high-stakes decisions on performance, scalability, and maintainability
• Guide DevOps workflows and establish robust operational infrastructure
• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers as the team grows Must-Have Qualifications
• 5–10 years of professional software engineering experience
• Proven end-to-end product delivery and/or technical leadership
• Strong expertise in: React (frontend focus is critical) Node.js, TypeScript, Postgres
• Experience designing and scaling complex backend systems
• Familiarity with DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, and production reliability
• Strong communication, ownership mentality, and decision-making ability
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, early-stage startup environment
• Startup hunger: high ownership, hard-working, and fast execution Preferred Qualifications
• Early-stage startup or hyper-growth company experience
• Legal-tech, reg-tech, or compliance-driven domain exposure
• Familiarity with enterprise security standards (e.g., OAuth, SOC2, GDPR) Candidate Red Flags – Do Not Submit If
• Experience only at legacy tech companies (e.g., Oracle, Intuit, Salesforce)
• Background solely in non-technical sectors (e.g., banking, insurance, retail)
• Only built internal tools rather than customer-facing products
• No startup or fast-paced product experience
• Primarily contract work Work Location Expectations
• NYC Preferred: 4 days/week in-office
• San Francisco: Must travel to NYC 1 week/month
• Remote: Must travel to NYC 2 weeks/month for first 6 months (may ease post-onboarding) Tech Stack
• Core: Node.js, React, TypeScript, Postgres
• Acceptable Backgrounds: JavaScript, React, Node, TypeScript, Postgres Interview Process Founder Intro Call (30 min): Background alignment and mutual interest Technical Interview (60 min): 30 min Architecture + system design discussion 30 min Coding exercise (candidate’s choice of language and IDE) Half-Dy Onsite: Final round (details TBD)