As a Founding Software Engineer, you will own product features, engage with customers, shape architecture, and work with AI workflows in a fast-paced startup environment.
Why Dalus Exists
About the Role
Our Stack
Who We Are
What You’ll Do
Nice to Have
At Dalus, we're building AI-powered software to reimagine how complex hardware systems are designed — think rockets, satellites, EVs, aircraft, nuclear plants.
Right now, companies building these systems are held back by legacy tools that were never built for today’s fast-paced engineering teams. We’re changing that. Our platform makes hardware development faster, safer, and more scalable, even with smaller teams.
We believe that designing atoms should feel more like working with bits — and that the next industrial renaissance needs better software.
More on our vision here
We’re looking for Founding Engineer #1 — someone who wants to go deep, build fast, and shape the future of our product and team. You’ll be working across the entire stack (frontend, backend, AI, systems modeling) and helping us deliver real value to some of the most advanced hardware companies in the world.
You’ll thrive in this role if you:
- Love wearing multiple hats and learning new things fast
- Have strong product intuition and care about UX
- Are excited to build the future of complex system design, not just work on it
- Don’t mind getting your hands dirty with hard problems (and hard schedules)
- Frontend: Next.js, Typescript, React
- Backend: Node.js, Python (for simulation/AI), AWS
- AI: Different LLMs, Langfuse, agent tooling workflows
We started Dalus in 2024.
- Eliot was a test/systems engineer at Aerojet Rocketdyne (L3Harris), where he saw firsthand how siloed communication slowed down hardware teams.
- Sebastian previously founded a neurotech hardware startup and scaled a software company to exit.
We just wrapped up YC W25, have revenue, and are working closely with aerospace, robotics, and defense customers
- Own major product features from idea to production
- Work directly with customers to understand pain points
- Help shape the architecture and engineering culture
- Get hands-on with AI workflows, model interfaces, and simulations
- Scale the platform to support real-world, high-stakes use cases
We won’t sugarcoat it — this will likely be the hardest you’ve ever worked. We move fast. We work late. We build on weekends.
But if that energizes you rather than scares you — you’ll probably grow more here in 1 year than in 5 anywhere else.
This role comes with significant ownership, learning, and impact. You’ll help define not just the product, but the company itself.
- Experience with systems engineering, aerospace, manufacturing, or industrial software
- Interest in simulation, modeling tools, or AI workflows
- Past startup experience or personal projects that went deep
If there appears to be a fit, we'll reach to schedule 2-3 short technicals. The final step is an onsite in our office, where you'll work on a small project, discuss ideas, and meet the team.
Base Salary: $140k-$200k
Shares: 0.5-2.5%
Must be a US Citizen to apply
Dalus San Francisco, California, USA Office
San Francisco, California, United States, 94133
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