Founding Engineer ($170K–$220K + Equity) at River

Job Description

• Lead the development of real-time AI agents that handle live sales calls.
• Own the entire pipeline—from WebRTC streaming to browser-use agents—while building the company’s engineering foundations.
• This is a high-ownership role for a technical entrepreneur ready to define a new category.

Why this role is remarkable

• True founding seat with meaningful equity (up to 2.5%) and direct influence over the product roadmap alongside experienced second-time founders.
• Elite backing from industry titans including the founders of Ramp, Kalshi, and JumpCloud, plus investment from Shorooq.
• Work on frontier technical challenges like sub-second latency voice, avatar rendering, and reliable autonomous browser-use agents in production.

What You Will Do

• Arcitect and own the live-call pipeline, integrating real-time voice, video avatars, and browser streaming into a sub-second loop.
• Build and scale critical infrastructure, including deploys, observability, and cost-optimization for high-concurrency production environments.
• Establish core engineering foundations, including monitoring and testing frameworks, while shipping high-impact features across the full stack.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience building production backend systems with a founder-grade track record as an ex-CTO, co-founder, or early breakout employee.
• Deep technical expertise in real-time streaming technologies such as WebRTC, WebSockets, or low-latency media servers.
• Degree from a tier-1 university and a high-ownership temperament, comfortable navigating the ambiguity of an early-stage, fast-moving environment.

Qualifications

• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Experience with cloud platforms and infrastructure as code.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

Skills

• Experience with real-time streaming technologies such as WebRTC, WebSockets, or low-latency media servers.
• Knowledge of cloud platforms and infrastructure as code.
• Strong understanding of software architecture and design patterns.

Benefits

• Up to 2.5% equity in the company.
• Opportunities for growth and leadership within the company.
• Competitive salary range of $170K–$220K.

Pay

• Salary range: $170K–$220K

Schedule

• Full-time position based in New York, USA.

Benefits

• Health insurance coverage.
• Flexible work schedule.
• Professional development opportunities.