Titlesby GlyphFull Stack Engineer job title trend since Apr 2011
Engineering · Established · in 14% of HN hiring posts · 294 open roles at 102 companies · median $196k
Works across the browser, the API and the database; the default startup hire.
first seen before 2011, Hacker Newstook off Apr 2013
Why it exists
Written by rule from our own data
Already in the first Who is hiring thread we have (April 2011), so it is older than our data. It took off in April 2013, when its share of Who is hiring posts first reached a quarter of its best year. Today 294 open roles use the title at 102 companies, most of them in data platforms. Closest tracked titles: Product Engineer, Founding Engineer.
- PostingAsk HN: Who is hiring? (April 2011)Hacker News, Apr 2011 · backs: first sighting
- PostingStaff Software Engineer, Fullstack (Account Management)Affirm, Nov 2026 · backs: an open posting with the title
Where it is posted
Sectors
- Data platform41
- Fintech40
- AI lab23
- Developer tools15
- Security14
- AI application13
- AI data8
- Consumer7
Cities
- San Francisco50
- New York31
- Palo Alto15
- Toronto, Canada13
- Washington11
- London, United Kingdom10
- Seattle6
- Bengaluru, India6
- Vancouver, Canada2
- Tel Aviv, Israel1
Countries and remote
- United States158
- Canada31
- United Kingdom18
- India9
- Poland5
- Spain5
- Portugal3
- Ireland3
- Brazil2
- Czechia2
Remote option42%
Posted pay
Middle half $165k to $226k, median $196k from 153 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 | 22 | ||
| 2 | 19 | ||
| 3 | 18 | ||
| 4 | 15 | ||
| 5 | 13 | ||
| 6 | 11 | ||
| 7 | 10 | ||
| 8 | 9 | ||
| 9 | 9 | ||
| 10 | 9 | ||
| 11 | Anduril IndustriesA company hiring most for Systems Engineer and Test Engineer. | 7 | |
| 12 | Black Canyon ConsultingA company hiring most for Full Stack Engineer and Data Engineer. | 7 |
Open roles
8 of 294; company pages list the restSenior Full-Stack Software Engineer (Arsenal 2)
Santa Ana, California, United States
Intermediate Fullstack Engineer, Subscription Lifecycle
Remote, Canada; Remote, United States
Senior Full Stack Engineer (Agentic Search) - Platform
New York City, New York, United States
| Role | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Staff Software Engineer, Fullstack (Account Management) | Remote US | $230k to $290k | |
| Founding Full Stack Software Engineer, Consulting | San Francisco | $347k to $445k | |
| Senior FullStack Engineer - Grafana Catalog | Canada| Remote | Canada (Remote) | $170k to $204k | |
| Full Stack Software EngineerTwo Six TechnologiesArlington, Virginia$81k to $120k | Two Six Technologies | Arlington, Virginia | $81k to $120k |
| Senior Full-Stack Software Engineer (Arsenal 2)Anduril IndustriesSanta Ana, California, United States$191k to $254k | Anduril Industries | Santa Ana, California, United States | $191k to $254k |
| Intermediate Fullstack Engineer, Subscription Lifecycle | Remote, Canada; Remote, United States | $115k to $194k | |
| Senior Full Stack Engineer (Agentic Search) - Platform | New York City, New York, United States | $147k to $224k | |
| Senior / Staff Full-Stack Engineer, AI Visuals | NYC | $228k to $363k |
Lineage
full-stack plus product ownership · from how the titles are used
Share of Hacker News hiring posts
14,395 posts since Apr 2011 · -22% in 6 monthsNovember 2026 23 of 207 postings, 11%
Related titles
Product EngineerA full-stack engineer who owns product decisions too, not just tickets.7.8% of HN posts, 12 mo · 109 open · $220k median · since May 2011Founding EngineerOne of a startup's first engineers, usually with equity and a wide remit.5.9% of HN posts, 12 mo · 25 open · $194k median · since Jul 2011AI EngineerA software engineer who builds products on top of models rather than training them.6.4% of HN posts, 12 mo · 244 open · $240k median · since Jun 2011Platform EngineerBuilds the internal platform other engineers deploy on: clusters, CI, paved roads.5.8% of HN posts, 12 mo · 206 open · $185k median · since Apr 2011Machine Learning EngineerTrains, ships and maintains machine learning models in production.4.3% of HN posts, 12 mo · 331 open · $255k median · since Apr 2011Forward Deployed EngineerAn engineer who ships software inside a customer's environment, part builder and part consultant; Palantir coined it, AI labs made it common.3.7% of HN posts, 12 mo · 437 open · $216k median · since Sep 2011
About this title
Works across the browser, the API and the database; the default startup hire.
Also counted: fullstack, full-stack developer
First sighting
Seattle Thinkfuse.com A bit about you: - Full-stack developer who really gives a shit - Preference for Rails & Javascript - You'd...
Median posted salary $196k from 153 postings that state a base pay range (the median of their midpoints, USD a year). Not a survey of what people earn.