Founding Engineer

Fonzi is an AI recruiting platform that connects engineers with pre‑vetted startups in NYC and San Francisco. Companies submit salary bids directly to candidates, eliminating job boards and recruiter spam.

How It Works

• 5‑minute application: we reach out, learn what you’re building, and optimize your profile.
• Hiring managers review the cohort and request interviews with candidates they want.
• Companies submit competing salary bids directly to you.
• You only interview where you’re genuinely interested.
• Completely free – an iMessage agent plus human support helps with scheduling and coordination.

Who We’re Looking For

• Engineers who have built AI‑powered products end‑to‑end, handling real users (not just prototypes).
• Fluent in retrieval, memory, agent frameworks, context engineering, evaluation pipelines, and other cutting‑edge AI topics.
• Strong software‑engineering fundamentals combined with deep awareness of the frontier of LLMs and agentic systems.
• Thrives in ambiguous, small‑team startup environments.
• 2–8 years of experience, ideally including time at a high‑growth company.

Compensation

$150,000 – $300,000+ base salary depending on experience and role. Many positions include meaningful equity at pre‑seed through Series B stage companies.

Interview Process (Typical)

• Screening conversation focused on communication skills, cultural fit, and genuine curiosity about AI.
• Technical deep‑dive discussing architecture thinking and designing AI systems for real problems.
• Coding or pairing sessions building functional components.