Founding engineer

Company Description As a venture-funded startup, Swarm offers team members the opportunity to shape products and culture from the ground up. The company is focused on building scalable, high-impact software solutions and values experimentation, ownership, and rapid iteration. Joining Swarm means working closely with founders and investors to drive long-term growth and innovation.

Role Description The Founding Engineer will design, build, and maintain core product features, infrastructure, and internal tools from early prototypes through production-ready systems. Day-to-day responsibilities include architecting and implementing software solutions, reviewing code, setting engineering best practices, and collaborating with founders on product strategy and technical roadmap. The role also involves diagnosing and resolving performance and reliability issues, contributing to hiring and mentoring future team members, and helping define the engineering culture and processes. As a founding team member, this role includes significant ownership, autonomy, and direct influence on technical and business decisions.

Qualifications

• Strong software engineering skills, including experience designing, implementing, testing, and deploying production systems.
• Proficiency in at least one modern programming language (e.g., Python, TypeScript/JavaScript, Go, Rust, or similar) and comfort learning new technologies as needed.
• Experience with system design, APIs, and data modeling, including building scalable and maintainable architectures.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms and devops practices (e.g., AWS, GCP, or Azure; CI/CD pipelines; containerization and monitoring).
• Ability to work in an early-stage startup environment, including comfort with ambiguity, rapid iteration, and shifting priorities.
• Strong problem-solving, debugging, and analytical skills, with attention to code quality and reliability.
• Effective collaboration and communication skills, including working closely with non-technical stakeholders on product requirements.
• Prior experience in a founding or early engineering role at a startup, or demonstrable ownership of significant projects, is highly beneficial.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field, or equivalent practical experience.