Founding Engineer, Full-Stack

About Orthogonal

Orthogonal (YC W26) is building the infrastructure layer for AI agents to discover, access, and pay for APIs. We're starting with go-to-market, the APIs that power outbound, enrichment, and growth. We're two technical cofounders in San Francisco.

The Role

As a Founding Engineer at Orthogonal, you will design, build, and ship across our entire stack, from the back‑end services that power the unified API to the front‑end product that developers use every day. On the back end, you will work on APIs and infrastructure that handle high‑throughput workloads, integrate with third‑party tools, and ensure reliability and performance. On the front end, you will build the dashboard, provider catalog, and developer experience in Next.js and React. You will move fluidly between front‑end polish and back‑end systems as the work demands, collaborate closely with the founders and other engineers, and help improve development practices, testing, and observability. This is a full‑time, on‑site role based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

What you’ll do

Write production‑quality code, review peers’ work, design technical solutions, and participate in architectural discussions

Own features end‑to‑end across the frontend (Next.js/React) and backend (TypeScript/Node.js, Postgres)

Build API integrations, developer tooling, and core platform features

Move fluidly between frontend polish and backend systems as the work demands

Collaborate closely with the founders to translate user needs into robust features

Help shape architecture and engineering culture as one of our first hires

Who you are

Strong foundation in Computer Science, including data structures, algorithms, and systems fundamentals

Full‑stack experience, comfortable owning features from the database to the user interface

Hands‑on experience with REST APIs, microservices, and database‑driven applications

Experience with modern front‑end development, including Next.js, React, and TypeScript

Experience with modern server‑side languages and frameworks (e.g., TypeScript/Node.js, Python, or similar)

Comfort with testing, debugging, monitoring, and performance optimization for distributed systems

Ability to work collaboratively in a fast‑paced startup environment

BS or higher in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience

Nice to have

Experience with AI/ML infrastructure, agent frameworks, or developer tooling platforms

Familiarity with cloud infrastructure (e.g., Vercel, Render) and CI/CD workflows

Built and shipped your own products or startups

Open source contributions

Details

Compensation $150K–$220K + equity

Stage YC W26, Seed

Reports to Founders directly

Apply

Are you legally authorized to work in the US?

Will you now or in the future require visa sponsorship?

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