Engineering Jobs at Startups
There are 10,311 open engineering roles at 2,344 early-stage startups, 32% of them remote. Where pay is stated it is typically USD 155k to 225k, with a median of USD 190k.
Working in engineering at a startup
At an early-stage startup, engineers own significant parts of the product and work across the stack. They move quickly, make pragmatic trade-offs, and collaborate directly with founders, designers, and customers. The work is hands-on, from writing initial code to deploying and maintaining systems in production.
What engineering work involves at an early-stage startup
You own whole parts of the product rather than one service inside a large system. Expect to write the code, deploy it, and get paged when it breaks. Reviews are quick and the codebase is small, so a decision made on Tuesday can ship on Thursday.
Day to day
- Design and implement new features end-to-end
- Write, test, and maintain clean, scalable code
- Participate in code reviews and provide constructive feedback
- Troubleshoot and fix bugs in production systems
- Collaborate with product and design teams on technical feasibility
- Set up and manage infrastructure, CI/CD, and monitoring
Skills and tools
- Proficiency in at least one programming language (e.g., Python, JavaScript, Go, Rust)
- Experience with web frameworks (e.g., React, Django, Node.js)
- Knowledge of databases and SQL
- Familiarity with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)
- Understanding of system design and distributed systems
- Version control with Git and collaborative development workflows
How to get into engineering at a startup
Background
A computer science or related degree is common, but many engineers are self-taught or have graduated from coding bootcamps; demonstrated skills matter more than formal education.
Career path
Engineering roles often progress to senior or staff engineer, leading to technical leadership or engineering management, and sometimes to co-founding a startup.
Who is hiring engineers
Open roles by startup. Select a startup to see its jobs.
- 10,311open roles
- 2,344startups hiring
- 32%remote
Pay and the market
Industries
AI and machine learning (1,338), robotics and manufacturing (1,031) and aerospace and defense (1,014) startups have most of the openings.
Pay figures come from the 4,478 postings on this page that state a salary.
Salary
32% of engineering postings are remote. Remote engineering jobs →
Where engineering roles are open
Open roles by place. Every row is a link.
Industries hiring engineering
Open roles by what the startup builds. Every row is a link.
Experience level
Open roles by the experience the posting asks for.
Employment type
Open roles by full-time, contract, internship and the rest.
Engineering jobs
Questions people ask
How much do engineering jobs pay?
Typically USD 155k to 225k a year, with a median of USD 190k, where the posting states a salary.
Which startups are hiring engineers?
Apex (71 roles), General Matter (68) and Varda Space Industries (63) have the most; 2,344 startups are hiring in total.
Can I work remotely?
32% of these roles are remote.
Do I need to be senior?
Most roles are senior (69% of those that state a level), and 8% are junior or intern.
Are new roles coming in?
468 were posted this week.