- Senior
- Optionales Büro in Tulsa
Be the First Engineer at a New AI-Native Startup.
We’re not hiring just another software engineer. We’re hiring a founding engineer to join one of our newest ventures at Gitwit. This means you’ll step in as the technical cornerstone of a venture right as it gains traction, building on the MVP foundation, shaping product direction, and helping transform it from an early prototype into a scalable company.
Great engineers build elegant infrastructure. Great founding engineers go further. They ask what should be built, not just how. They care about usability, business impact, and long-term technical health. They thrive in uncertainty, moving fast while building for scale, and they’re motivated by the rare chance to help define a venture’s DNA from the beginning.
Gitwit is a venture studio focused on building AI-native startups.
Over the next five years, we’ll launch 15+ new software companies from scratch, through a process of insight discovery, rapid prototyping, lean MVPs, and user-driven iteration. In just the last 18 months, ventures we’ve launched have already created $35 million in valuation, and we’re just getting started.
As a founding engineer, you’ll step into one of these ventures as the first technical hire, collaborating directly with the founding team and Gitwit’s studio partners. You’ll bring ideas to life, test them with real users, kill what doesn’t work, and double down on what does.
We’re not looking for someone just to write code. We’re looking for a builder who thrives in the zero-to-one journey, someone who can design, ship, and iterate quickly while helping define the product vision and the company’s technical future.
Your Impact:
Early-stage ventures win by building fast, learning faster, and scaling what works. As a founding engineer, you’ll bring technical depth, product judgment, and startup grit to a company at its most formative stage.
This is a unique opportunity to be the kind of engineer who doesn’t just contribute to value creation, but creates it.
As a Founding Engineer, You Will:
- Ship code daily building prototypes, MVPs, and first-production systems that users love.
- Lead technical architecture from zero-to-one, balancing speed and scalability.
- Shape the product roadmap alongside the founding team, not just implement it.
- Build full-stack web or mobile apps, depending on venture needs, with fast feedback loops.
- Wire up AI frameworks (e.g., OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini) into intuitive user products.
- Set engineering culture and practices from testing standards to delivery speed.
- Make early technical decisions that will shape the company’s trajectory.
- Kill bad ideas quickly, and scale promising ones with conviction.
What You’ll Build With
(Tech stack may vary depending on the venture, but typically includes)
- Frontend: React + TypeScript, in close collaboration with designers
- Backend: NestJS + TypeScript, PostgreSQL or MongoDB
- DevOps: AWS or GCP with GitHub Actions
- AI: OpenAI, Anthropic, and Gemini APIs with thoughtful model selection and prompt design
Why You’ll Love This Role
- Founder-level impact, with support. You’ll be the first engineer at a venture, with equity and ownership, backed by Gitwit’s resources, funding, and expertise.
- Optionality. You can choose to stay on as the technical leader of the venture you help launch, or rejoin the studio to build the next one. Both paths include equity.
- Cross-functional collaboration. You’ll work alongside designers, researchers, strategists, and operators from day one.
- No specs, just problems. You’ll help define what to build, not just execute.
- Growth and velocity. You’ll be part of a high-learning, high-velocity environment where every line of code drives real user validation.
What We're Looking For:
- 5+ years of professional full-stack engineering experience
- Previous startup or early-stage experience, or a strong desire to dive into zero-to-one environments
- Proven track record of building software from scratch
- Ability to ship real products fast and iterate based on user feedback
- Deep product intuition and curiosity about what should be built
- Experience balancing short-term practicality with long-term technical considerations
- Ability to set technical direction and communicate it clearly to non-technical teammates
- Startup grit, comfortable wearing many hats, and solving unstructured problems
- Humility that fuels curiosity, openness to feedback, and the ability to debate ideas productively
Extra Awesome If You Have
- Experience scaling MVPs into production systems with real traction
- Familiarity with AI/ML tools, vector databases, or autonomous agents
- A strong product sense that balances UX, reliability, and performance
- A history of mentoring or leading engineers, even informally
- The ability to challenge assumptions and persuade a team to test new directions
Benefits:
- Competitive salary + meaningful equity
- 3 weeks PTO
- Excellent health, vision, and dental insurance (99% of employee premiums paid)
- 401k with 4% match
- Life insurance
- Dog-friendly work environment
- Flexible work schedule
- Casual work attire
- High-trust, high-autonomy culture
- Close collaboration with experienced entrepreneurs, designers, and researchers in a private and collaborative workspace at one of the coolest office buildings in Tulsa
Work Location
We operate on a hybrid model, with our teams working in the office about 80% of the week and remotely the rest. This balance gives us the best mix of in-person collaboration and individual focus time.
If you’re only able to be in the office for monthly or quarterly visits, we’d consider that a remote role.
Priority will be given to candidates who can relocate to Tulsa, OK, but exceptional candidates may be considered for remote work arrangements. Tulsa is home to our venture studio and a growing community of founders, builders, and creatives. It combines the energy of a startup hub with the accessibility of a smaller city (affordable living, short commutes, and a vibrant culture). For the ideal candidate, relocation isn’t just about proximity to the office. It’s about joining a thriving ecosystem where ideas move fast and opportunities are close at hand.
Ready to Apply?
This isn’t just another engineering job. It’s an opportunity to be the technical founder of a company without having to go it alone, backed by a venture studio with a track record of turning ideas into successful startups.
If you’re ready to build the next wave of AI-first companies, apply now.
No cover letter. Just better questions.
We read every response first and carefully. So don’t phone it in, or should we say "GPT it in".
Surprise us. Make us curious. Make us want to build with you.
