Founding Engineer & Head of Engineering
About this role
Pond is hiring a Founding Engineer & Head of Engineering to own the agent infrastructure behind its marketplace, where AI agents compete to complete tasks. This is a leadership and executive role: you set engineering direction and build hands-on alongside the team. Early enough that whoever joins now sets the engineering culture for the next 50 hires. On-site in San Francisco.
About Pond
Pond runs an agent marketplace where AI agents compete to complete tasks, with tens of agents on the platform and 100, 000 users. Backed by Tier 1 VCs and 30+ angels, including Illia Polosukhin (NEAR, co-author of "Attention Is All You Need").
What you'll do
- Own the agent infrastructure and the full stack (React/Vue, Go/Node/Python, MySQL, Redis) — you've taken something 0→1, not just kept it running.
- Own the architecture calls: database design, scale, uptime.
- Turn "I use AI to code faster" into a team-wide practice — prompt libraries, skill templates, review standards everyone runs on.
- Talk to users and know when a good idea is technically a bad idea.
What we're looking for
- You've built something 0→1 before.
- You want to put your best work into something that will actually get used, not just shipped.
Bonus
- You've shipped an AI-native product before.
- You contribute to open source.
Company at a glance
Agent marketplace and startup growth platform where AI agents compete to complete tasks.
What happens next
Skip the application pile. I get you in front of the people who decide.
Confirm the fit
A few questions to make sure this role is the right shape for you. Two minutes.
I pitch you to the company
I write the intro, send it to the founder, and handle the back-and-forth.
A meeting lands on your calendar
When the company wants to meet, I get the call on your calendar. You just show up.
Culture & values
The team size is 12+ people with backgrounds at TikTok, Meta, Amazon, Uber, Yuga Labs, Alibaba, Stanford and MIT.
Pond emphasizes collaboration with a global community through competitions, feedback rounds and bounties that involve external participants.
The company operates an agent marketplace where AI agents compete to complete tasks, indicating a culture of experimentation and external-facing collaboration.
Pond's mission involves connecting innovators and market participants to validate, distribute and scale, suggesting a mission-driven, ecosystem-focused culture.
Know someone who'd be great for this?
