Senior Full Stack Engineer

We are recruiting a Sr. Full-Stack Engineer for a client in the AI / health & wellness spaceOriginal Job Post link🌎 About garden3dWe are worker owned creative collective, innovating on everything from brands and IRL communities to IoT devices and cross platform apps. We share profit, open source everything, spin out new businesses, and invest in exciting ideas through financial and/or in-kind contributions.Our client roster includes Google, Stripe, Figma, Hinge, Black Socialists in America, ACLU, Pratt, Parsons, Mozilla, The Nobel Prize, MIT, Gnosis, Etsy & Gagosian. We’re the software team behind innovative products like The Light Phone & Mill, and a global, decentralized community space collective called Index Space.We think of our garden3d as collective for creative people, prioritizing a happy, talented, and diverse studio culture. We work on projects that bring value to our world, and we balance deep care for the work we do with a genuine curiosity about life outside of our jobs.💼 About the clientOur client is an early-stage AI startup based in NYC (but open to remote team members). The founders have experience building and scaling successful ventures including a 9-figure exit.🔮 Who we’re looking for:We’re looking for a Senior Full-Stack Engineer who can confidently own features and systems end to end, make thoughtful technical decisions, and collaborate closely with both internal teams and clients to build scalable, high-quality solutions in the AI-driven health and wellness space.There are opportunities across multiple seniority bands, and experience ranges are heuristic, not rigid. We care more about depth, judgment, and real-world problem solving than box-ticking.1. Master Engineer12–20+ years of experience across multiple stacksHas mentored junior engineers, led teams, and worked independentlySignificant experience in Series A or earlier-stage companiesDemonstrates strong architectural judgment and systems-level thinkingCandidates whose experience is exclusively from Big tech companies may be less aligned, unless it was some time ago.2. Journeyman Engineer8–12 years of experiencePrimary experience in backend or full-stack development, though frontend engineer are considered if they’ve worked end-to-end across the stack.Experience working in early-stage environments and wearing multiple hatsSolid understanding of database design and normalizationDevOps experience is a strong plus3. Apprentice Engineer5–8 years of experienceStrong portfolio of hobby projects, experiments, or open-source workAble to go deep on code you’ve written and clearly explain trade-offs and decisionsGitHub visibility is optional, but you must be willing to walk through real codeIn this role, you’ll work across a variety of initiatives to deliver pragmatic, high-quality, and cost-effective full-stack solutions to complex product and engineering problems. Responsibilities will include:Designing, building, and maintaining scalable backend services and APIsDeveloping and iterating on frontend applications with a strong focus on usability, performance, and maintainabilityWorking across the stack to integrate frontend, backend, and data layers into cohesive systemsDebugging and resolving issues across the application stack, from database to UIDesigning and evolving data models, ensuring correctness, performance, and long-term maintainabilityReviewing code and providing constructive feedback to ensure high engineering standards and best practicesCollaborating closely with designers, product partners, and other engineers to shape technical directionContributing to project success by monitoring scope, timelines, and delivery trade-offsCommunicating directly with clients to clarify requirements and help align scope with budget and timelines when needed🧗 Who you areThe person we’re looking for is happy, relaxed and easy to get along with. They’re flexible on anything except conceits that will lower their usually outstanding work quality. They work “smart”, by carefully managing their workflow and staggering features that have dependencies intelligently — they prefer deep work but are OK coming up to the surface now and then for top level / strategic conversations.We believe people with backgrounds or interests in design, art, music, food or fashion tend to have a well rounded sense of design & quality — so a variety of hobbies or side projects is a big nice to have!🔑 Must Have Competencies:Ability to own features and systems end to end, from design through implementation and maintenanceStrong full-stack engineering skills, with experience designing and building both backend services/APIs and frontend applicationsDemonstrated ability to make thoughtful technical decisions, balancing quality, performance, scope, and delivery trade-offsHands-on experience integrating LLMs into your current workflow, with clear, well-reasoned opinions on what works, what doesn’t, and whyAbility to articulate trade-offs and lessons learned when building or operating LLM-powered systemsExperience working on real production or client-facing projects, not just isolated componentsHas written code they are proud of and eager to discuss, and is comfortable walking through implementation details, constraints, and design decisionsStrong collaboration skills, including working closely with internal teams and communicating clearly with clients when needed💪 Nice to Have Competencies:We’re always pitching for new and exciting technology niches. Some of the areas below are relevant to us!Intuitive understanding of types, functional paradigms, and correctness-oriented design, and how these influence better system architectureProduct management experience: defining product roadmaps and collaborating closely with stakeholdersEngineering management experience: leading teams, setting technical direction, and mentoring developers💸 CompensationThe pay scale ranges from $100 p/hr to $230 p/hr based on experience.In addition to cash compensation, equity may be offered for candidates with the right level of experience, commitment, and long-term alignment.Pay BandsJunior (Apprentice): $150k–$180k/year (~$100–$130/hr contract)Mid-level (Journeyman): $180k–$220k/year (~$130–$180/hr contract)Senior (Master): $220k–$275k/year (~$180–$230/hr contract)🎤 How we interview:Our interview process starts with a call where you get to meet a few members of our team. From there we’ll ask appropriate candidates to take part in a technical exercise which helps illustrate skill level and comfort.Quick tip! Adding a Loom recording to your profile in our form to showcase your skillset can really make your application stand out!Please click the important link below or copy the URL to continue your application. We’d love to learn more about your skill sets and your interest in this role.garden3d Creative FormPlease mention the word **CONTRIBUTION** and tag RODguMTk4Ljk5LjE0Mw== when applying to show you read the job post completely (#RODguMTk4Ljk5LjE0Mw==). This is a beta feature to avoid spam applicants. Companies can search these words to find applicants that read this and see they're human.