Founding Engineer / Principal Architect - Legal AI (Seed Stage, Stealth)
Job Description
Job Description
Founding Engineer / Principal Architect – Legal AI (Seed Stage, Stealth)
About the Role:
Join a stealth-mode, venture-backed legal AI startup that's transforming the future of legal operations for in-house teams. Our next-generation platform serves as a dynamic bridge between business and legal, automating triage, contract redlining, document drafting, and intelligent Q&A through customizable AI agents. With strong early traction and the backing of leading VCs, we're on track for a major launch in Fall 2025.
Location:
New York City preferred (San Francisco or remote considered; non-NYC hires should expect regular in-person collaboration).
Compensation:
$250K+ base salary, compelling equity, and rapid leadership growth.
What You'll Do
- Architect & Implement Scalable Systems: Lead the design, development, and deployment of core backend and full-stack architecture using React, Node.js, TypeScript/JavaScript, and GCP.
- End-to-End Product Ownership: Drive feature delivery across the stack—from requirements gathering with founders and legal SMEs, to testing, deployment, and monitoring in production.
- Technical Vision & Leadership: Set the engineering vision, establish best practices (code reviews, CI/CD, security), and help define our culture of technical excellence.
- Mentorship & Team Building: Recruit, onboard, and mentor engineers; foster a collaborative and high-performance environment.
- DevOps & Infrastructure: Oversee cloud infrastructure, optimize for scalability, performance, and reliability, and champion DevOps best practices.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with product, legal, and business stakeholders to align engineering priorities with company objectives.
- Shape the Future: Play a foundational role in evolving into a senior leadership position (CTO, Head of Engineering) as the company scales.
What We're Looking For
- 5–10 years of advanced software engineering experience, including leading complex projects or managing technical teams.
- Mastery of modern web technologies: Deep hands-on expertise with React, Node.js, TypeScript/JavaScript, and experience architecting cloud-based applications (GCP preferred).
- Proven track record in building, scaling, and maintaining production-grade platforms.
- DevOps & Security Acumen: Experience with CI/CD, infrastructure as code, and cloud security best practices.
- Startup Mentality: High adaptability, comfort with ambiguity, and a strong sense of ownership.
- Exceptional Communication: Ability to translate intricate technical concepts for diverse audiences and facilitate productive cross-team collaboration.
Bonus Points
- Experience in early-stage startups or hyper-growth environments
- Background in legaltech, fintech, or other regulated domains
- Familiarity with enterprise security and compliance (OAuth, SOC 2, GDPR)
- Infectious enthusiasm and a collaborative, positive attitude
Why You'll Love This Role:
You'll be instrumental in building the foundational engineering systems of a high-impact legal AI platform, surrounded by world-class technical founders. This is a rare opportunity to define architecture, shape culture, and grow into a senior leadership role—while tackling some of the most exciting challenges at the intersection of AI, SaaS, and legal technology.