Founding Engineer (Golang, startup, remote)

About the Company/Product:

• A US-based early-stage startup with the mission to revolutionize self-expression on social media.
• A social iOS app for sharing real emotions and authentic moods, aimed at helping people honestly express themselves and connect with others who feel the same way.

About the Role:

We are looking for a Founding Engineer to play a pivotal role in shaping the technical foundation and scaling the product. In this role, you’ll work closely with the founding team and make a real impact on the business — your opinions will matter, whether they’re about the tech stack to use for a particular feature or a new hypothesis on testing how the feed algorithm should work.

What You’ll Do:

• Everything to do with backend — from routine tasks such as developing and maintaining microservices to R&D challenges like optimizing the way the feed algorithm works.
• Drive growth — provide and review technical solutions and overall product direction tech-wise.
• Be an active contributor to the full product development cycle — from feature proposals to implementation.
• Think like a user — use the app and prioritize features or fixes that solve customers’ real pain points.
• Thrive in a fast-paced environment — collaborate with a cross-functional team and have the freedom and opportunities to see your decisions all the way to production with zero bureaucracy.
• Shape the stack – research and implement improvements to the existing iOS app and develop the backend from scratch for the future Android app.

What You Have:

• 4+ years of experience in backend development, 2+ of which with Golang (ideally within B2C product teams).
• A startup mindset — you’re flexible, you love having the autonomy to make high-stakes decisions, and you aren’t afraid of ambiguity.
• A self-starter, user-oriented attitude and the ability to work with minimal managerial supervision.
• Strong SQL skills (ideally with PostgreSQL).
• Experience with Redis, Apache Kafka, or similar message brokers.
• Basic understanding of Kubernetes.
• Good level of English (B2+).
• Nice-to-haves: experience building backend for mobile apps, experience with Google Cloud Platform, Terraform, Firebase, websockets, Github Actions, monitoring tools (Prometheus, Grafana, Jaeger, OpenTelemetry), familiarity with Protocol Buffers, JWT, and nginx.

Tech Stack: Golang, PostgreSQL, Apache Kafka, Redis, Kubernetes, GCP.

What We Offer:

• Competitive salary + stock options.
• Fully remote work with flexible hours.
• 4 weeks of vacation, national holidays (according to the US calendar), and flexible sick leave.
• Compensated English classes.
• Corporate testing equipment.
• Zero bureaucracy and lots of autonomy to shape the tech foundation of a fast-growing startup.
• Team hackathons and events.