Founding Software Engineer

About Balance

Balance is reimagining the calendar as an AI-powered life design platform. We're a small, ambitious team building tools that help people shape time around what matters most — with clarity, craft, and a dash of play.

The Role

We're looking for a Founding Software Engineer to help us launch a product people will love to use every day. You'll own system architecture, ship clean and scalable foundations, and build quickly with AI-forward tools while maintaining high quality control. This role starts as a contract and can transition to full-time once we know we're a great fit for each other.

What You'll Do

• Own architecture and system design for a robust, scalable launch build.
• Ship clean, well-tested code across the stack (React/TypeScript/Node or similar).
• Build quickly with modern, AI-forward tooling while maintaining thoughtful design.
• Translate ambiguous concepts into practical, elegant features.
• Set foundations for integrations and a resilient platform layer.

You May Be a Fit If

• You've shipped complex web products and care deeply about performance and reliability.
• You thrive in ambiguity and enjoy turning abstract ideas into tangible systems.
• You write clearly, think clearly, and bias toward action.
• You're excited about building a category-defining product with a small, focused team.

What Success Looks Like (First 90 Days)

• A production-ready core with crisp interfaces and solid tests.
• A development environment that feels fast, predictable, and kind to future builders.
• One signature feature you're proud to demo end-to-end.

Compensation & Logistics

• Contract to start; strong path to full-time with equity.
• Remote-first, U.S.-friendly time zones.
• Competitive salary + meaningful early equity once full-time.

Why Join Us

We believe in high-agency, high-integrity work, clear communication, and strong opinions loosely held. We take the work seriously, but not ourselves — and we're building a company we're excited to grow with.