Founding Software Engineer - job 1 of 3

Rockstar is recruiting for a mission-driven, early-stage healthcare technology startup based in San Francisco. This client is dedicated to transforming pediatric care by empowering therapists to launch and grow thriving private practices. Backed by leading investors, the team is building an AI-powered platform to make pediatric therapy more independent and accessible for families and clinicians alike.

At this company, the mission is to transform how children are cared for. The current system is broken — developmental delays are rising, clinics and schools are overwhelmed, and therapists are burning out while families wait months for help. The future of care lies in private practice — empowering therapists with more flexibility, higher pay, and the ability to deliver better care to the millions of kids who need it.

The team is building an AI-powered “business-in-a-box” that helps pediatric speech, occupational, and physical therapists to launch, manage, and grow thriving private practices. Everything is handled — launch support, insurance, marketing, and software — so therapists can focus on what they do best: helping kids.

This is a small, mission-driven team in San Francisco, backed by industry-leading investors who share the vision to make pediatric therapy radically more independent and accessible. Candidates who care deeply about making an impact and building something big are in the right place.

Role Overview

The company is hiring a Founding Engineer (Full-Stack) to work in-person, 5 days/week, in San Francisco as a member of the founding team. The office is currently in Mission.

This is not a 9-to-5 role. The team works hard because what they are building matters — to families, to therapists, and to kids waiting for care. Changing the world never comes easy. The company hires the best people and compensates them accordingly.

The Founding Engineer will be an equal thought partner in product and engineering — making foundational decisions on the stack, infrastructure, and development practices. This person will work directly with co-founders to bring the AI-powered software to life and evolve it into a scalable, secure, and delightful platform used by real clinicians and families.

This role is ideal for an engineer who wants to build from zero, shape culture and architecture, and leave a tangible mark on an early healthcare startup.

What You’ll Do

- Lead end-to-end development of core web applications — from architecture to deployment

- Design and implement AI-powered product features

- Collaborate on product and technical design, shaping how systems, APIs, and data models evolve

- Build and ship features rapidly while maintaining strong engineering quality (testing, observability, CI/CD)

- Establish early engineering processes, infrastructure standards, and documentation

- Own technical decisions around scalability, security, and maintainability — especially given HIPAA-compliant requirements

- Contribute to (and debate!) product direction, tradeoffs, and long-term technical vision

- Help define early engineering culture and assist with future technical hires

Our Technical Environment

The team uses TypeScript and React with modern tooling — but expects the architecture to evolve. The Founding Engineer will have major input into how the stack, process, and infrastructure are shaped as the company scales.

You Might Be a Fit If You…

- Have 2-10+ years of professional experience building and scaling modern web applications

- Are fluent in TypeScript, React, and modern backend frameworks (Node.js, or similar)

- Have experience with Vercel/AWS and CI/CD pipelines

- Move fast — proficient with AI coding tools like Cursor, Codex, etc.

- Have strong opinions on architecture, testing, and developer experience — but value pragmatism over perfection

- Are excited by early-stage ambiguity and want to build real systems, not just prototypes

- Thrive working in-person with a small team, iterating quickly on product and design

- Bonus: Experience with healthcare, regulated environments, or automation workflows; familiarity with FHIR standard and GraphQL APIs

Compensation & Benefits

- $160,000-$210,000 base salary + 1.5-2% equity

- Health insurance (medical, dental, and vision)

- 401k

- Free lunch M-F at the office

- Free gym access

- Unlimited vacation

- Paid relocation to SF (if applicable)

- Visa sponsorship on a case-by-case basis

(CID 2395)