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    PE

    Pear VC

    Venture Capital

    Founding Engineer, AI — Shiplight AI

    Austin, TX, United StatesHybridFull-time1–3 yrs experiencePosted 1mo ago
    All Pear VC jobs

    Job description

    Founding Engineer, AI — Shiplight AI

    • Do you agree we’re living through the AI revolution?

    • Do you want to be part of it — and run ahead of the curve?

    • Are you ready to help 100x productivity?

    If so, join us.

    At Shiplight AI, our mission is to build the foundation for enterprise-scale automation powered by intelligent agents. We believe every organization should have AI systems that can understand context, take action, and collaborate seamlessly with humans — transforming how work gets done across the enterprise.

    Our first mission: fully automate software quality assurance. We’re building state-of-the-art agentic QA systems that integrate deeply into the software development cycle — empowering every product manager, developer, and tester with their own AI QA engineer that validates work in real time.

    You’ll be joining a small, mission-driven founding team led by industry veterans, working at the intersection of AI agents, system engineering, and real-world developer productivity.

    What You’ll Do

    • Build core systems that enable AI agents to autonomously test and reason about complex applications.

    • Design, prototype, and ship agentic browser and device automation components.

    • Work directly with the founders to define architecture, roadmap, and company culture.

    • Experiment with cutting-edge context engineering techniques to improve reasoning and adaptability.

    • Move fast — from prototype to production — with high ownership and autonomy.

    Who You Are

    • Mission-driven — you want to help shape the next era of AI-powered software development.

    • Curious and resourceful — you love solving hard, open-ended problems.

    • Hands-on builder — you thrive in early-stage environments with high speed and uncertainty.

    • Collaborative — you value teamwork and open technical debate.

    • You have 1–3 years of startup experience in the AI domain.

    • You’re eager to grow into a technical leader and make a massive impact early.

    Ideal Skills

    • Strong engineering fundamentals and product mindset.

    • Proficiency in Python and TypeScript.

    • Deep understanding of context engineering and prompt-based reasoning systems.

    • Familiarity with browser automation, mobile automation, or QA tooling is a plus.

    • Comfortable working across the stack — backend, frontend, and AI interfaces.

    Location

    • San Francisco Bay Area — hybrid preferred.

    • We move fast, iterate face-to-face, and believe early teams build the strongest culture.

    Why Join Now

    • Join at the earliest stage as the first founding engineer.

    • Shape both the product and technical vision.

    • Work directly with founders who’ve built successful systems and products before.

    • Receive generous equity and play a defining role in the company’s success.

    Job details are sourced from the employer's original posting.

    Open job posting
    PE

    About the company

    Pear VC

    Pear VC is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in ambitious founders at the inception of their companies. They focus on seed and pre-seed rounds, aiming to partner with companies that have the potential to become category leaders. Pear VC is known for its hands-on approach, providing not just capital but also strategic guidance and operational support to its portfolio companies. They have a strong network and actively help their startups with talent acquisition, customer introductions, and future fundraising.

    View all Pear VC jobs
    Industry
    Venture Capital
    Founded
    2017
    Open roles
    99

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