Founding Engineer

About Bota Bota builds AI hardware products that bring real-world context into AI and agentic workflows. We are backed by top-tier institutional investors and angels, including Andreessen Horowitz. Our cofounders are repeat founders who previously built and exited a Y Combinator-backed startup together. We believe the quality of AI is fundamentally limited by the quality of the context it has access to. Today, much of the most valuable real-world context — conversations, environments, interactions, and events happening outside the screen — is still missing from AI systems. Bota is building the hardware layer that captures and brings this critical real-world context into AI and agentic workflows, enabling AI to understand more of what is happening in the physical world and act on it. Role: Founding Engineer (Full Stack) We’re seeking a hands-on founding engineer who can design, build, and ship core components of our platform. You’ll wear many hats, from architecture and implementation to debugging and optimizing, with a focus on delivering delightful, robust software. What you'll do - Architect and implement the core full-stack product, from backend services to frontend interfaces -Own and drive end-to-end technical decisions, including technology stack, coding standards, testing strategies, and deployment pipelines - Build maintainable, scalable APIs and data models; ensure performance, reliability, and security - Collaborate with product, design, and early customers to translate ideas into practical, high-impact features - Establish development processes, CI/CD, and instrumentation to enable rapid, quality software delivery - Mentor and collaborate with future engineers as the team grows - Continuously improve the system with refactors, performance optimizations, and technical debt management - Participate in shaping company culture, recruitment, and long-term technology strategy What you should bring - Proven full-stack development experience with end-to-end ownership of products or components - Strong backend experience (e.g., API design, databases, scalability, security) and a solid frontend skillset (modern frameworks, responsive UI, accessibility) - Proficiency in at least one modern language for the backend (e.g., Node.js, Python, Go, Ruby) and one for the frontend (e.g., React, Vue, Svelte) - Familiarity with cloud infrastructure, containerization, and deployment (e.g., AWS/GCP/Azure, Docker, Kubernetes) - Experience building and operating at startup scale: shipping quickly, iterating based on feedback, and handling ambiguity - Excellent problem-solving, communication, and collaboration skills - A founder mindset: high ownership, bias for action, and comfort in a fast-paced, evolving environment Nice-to-have - Prior startup or early-stage company experience - Experience with data modeling, analytics, and experimentation - Contributions to open source or side projects demonstrating initiative - Knowledge of security best practices and observability tools Role benefits and team culture - High-impact, foundational role with significant influence over product and company direction - Equity in a transparent, mission-driven startup - Flexible work environment with a strong emphasis on work-life balance - Opportunities for professional growth, mentorship, and leadership as the team scales - Collaborative, inclusive culture that values curiosity, experimentation, and ownership Location and time - Location flexible; possibility of remote work with occasional in-person collaboration - Competitive compensation aligned with experience and market norms - Flexible hours with a results-oriented approach What success looks like after 90 days - A well-architected core stack with key features implemented and a clear plan for next phases - A runnable, well-tested codebase with CI/CD pipelines and basic telemetry - Early adopters engaged, feedback integrated into the roadmap, and a visible contribution to product direction - A collaborative, growing engineering team and a startup-ready engineering culture If you’re excited to build a foundational platform and shape the future of Bota, we’d love to hear from you. Originally posted on Himalayas