Titlesby GlyphFounding Engineer job title trend since Apr 2011
Engineering · Established · in 5.7% of HN hiring posts · 25 open roles at 9 companies · median $194k
One of a startup's first engineers, usually with equity and a wide remit.
Why it exists
Written by rule from our own data
First seen in our data in July 2011, in a Hacker News Who is hiring post from San Francisco. It took off in September 2022, when its share of Who is hiring posts first reached a quarter of its best year. Today 25 open roles use the title at 9 companies, most of them in AI labs. Closest tracked titles: Full Stack Engineer, Product Engineer.
- PostingAsk HN: Who is hiring? (July 2011)Hacker News, Jul 2011 · backs: first sighting
- PostingFounding Software Engineer, Physical EngineeringOpenAI, Oct 2026 · backs: an open posting with the title
Where it is posted
Sectors
- AI lab1
Cities
- San Francisco12
- New York6
- London, United Kingdom2
- Bengaluru, India1
Countries and remote
- United States18
- United Kingdom2
- India1
Posted pay
Middle half $165k to $245k, median $194k from 8 postings that state a base range (USD a year).
Pay by level and city on SalariesWho is hiring for it
Open postings on their own job boards, read 5h ago| # | Company | Open roles | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pear VCA company hiring most for Founding Engineer and Full Stack Engineer. | 16 | |
| 2 | Glass HealthA company hiring most for Founding Engineer and Data Engineer. | 2 | |
| 3 | AmebaA company hiring most for Founding Engineer. | 1 | |
| 4 | EliseAIA company hiring most for Solutions Engineer and Research Scientist. | 1 | |
| 5 | Fig AIA company hiring most for Founding Engineer. | 1 | |
| 6 | GigaA company hiring most for Forward Deployed Engineer and Staff Engineer. | 1 | |
| 7 | KiloforgeA company hiring most for Founding Engineer. | 1 | |
| 8 | MubitA company hiring most for Founding Engineer. | 1 | |
| 9 | 1 |
Open roles
8 of 25; company pages list the rest| Role | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founding Software Engineer, Physical Engineering | San Francisco | $347k to $445k | |
| Founding EngineerFig AISan Francisco$220k to $270k | Fig AI | San Francisco | $220k to $270k |
| Founding EngineerPear VCSan Francisco Bay Area$140k to $200k | Pear VC | San Francisco Bay Area | $140k to $200k |
| Founding EngineerKiloforgeSan Francisco$185k to $250k | Kiloforge | San Francisco | $185k to $250k |
| Founding Engineering ManagerGigaNew York$210k to $400k | Giga | New York | $210k to $400k |
| Founding Software Engineer (Backend, Remote)Glass HealthRemote$120k to $210k | Glass Health | Remote | $120k to $210k |
| Founding Software Engineer (Senior Software Engineer)AmebaLondon | Ameba | London | Not stated |
| Founding EngineerMubitLondon | Mubit | London | Not stated |
Share of Hacker News hiring posts
1,278 posts since Apr 2011 · -7% in 6 monthsRelated titles
About this title
One of a startup's first engineers, usually with equity and a wide remit.
Also counted: first engineer, early engineer
San Francisco (Founding Engineer, H1B, Full-Time) rippleQ: we're applying social and game mechanics...
Median posted salary $194k from 8 postings that state a base pay range (the median of their midpoints, USD a year). Not a survey of what people earn.