Founding Engineer - Mobile + SaaS Fitness Platform

**Founding Engineer — Mobile \+ SaaS Fitness Platform** **Remote — U.S. \| 20\+ Hours/Week Initially \| Up to 3% Founding Equity \| $150K–$180K Target Salary** Following Financing **The Opportunity** We are an early\-stage fitness technology company developing a mobile\-first accountability platform designed to strengthen the relationship between fitness professionals and the people they serve. Our initial go\-to\-market model is trainer\-led, with additional opportunities in direct\-to\-consumer distribution, gym partnerships, B2B SaaS, and white\-label deployments. The company has already developed and tested an early alpha version of the platform, generating encouraging adoption and engagement results while providing valuable insight into the product and market. We have also secured intellectual\-propertyprotection related to the underlying technology. As we prepare the platform for its next stage, we are looking for a Founding Engineer who can take hands\-on ownership of the technical evolution of the product and, over time, help build the engineering organization around it. This role is best suited for an experienced engineer who enjoys the early stages of product development: evaluating what already exists, making thoughtful architectural decisions, shipping production software, and gradually building the people and processes required to scale. **Role and Responsibilities** The Founding Engineer will inherit an existing alpha product and codebase, with broad latitude to determine what should be retained, modernized, or rebuilt. We are not committed to preserving the current architecture or technology choices simply because they already exist; we are looking for someone with the judgment to establish the right technical foundation for the next phase of the company. **Initial responsibilities will include:** * Evaluating the existing application, codebase, and technical architecture * Developing a technical roadmap for modernizing the platform and preparing it for general availability * Recommending and implementing the appropriate mobile, backend, cloud, and SaaS architecture * Building and shipping core product functionality across the stack as required * Establishing practical standards for development, testing, deployment, security, observability, and documentation * Designing the platform to support consumer, trainer, gym, B2B, and white\-label use cases over time * Integrating third\-party services, APIs, health platforms, and wearable ecosystems where appropriate * Working closely with leadership on product priorities, technical tradeoffs, and development sequencing * Helping identify, select, and manage engineering contractors during the early stage * Participating in the recruitment and development of a full\-time engineering team following financing The role will initially be highly hands\-on. As the company grows, we expect the Founding Engineer's responsibilities to expand beyond individual development into technical leadership, hiring, architecture, and engineering management. **Product and Technical Scope** The broader product roadmap is expected to include functionality across several areas, including: * Mobile applications * Trainer and client experiences * Apple Health and Android Health Connect integrations * Fitness and wearable\-device integrations Confidential Founding Engineer Opportunity * Subscription and payment infrastructure * Social and accountability features * Scheduling and engagement workflows * Analytics and behavioral insights * AI\-enabled product capabilities * B2B administration and reporting * Multi\-tenant and white\-label deployments *Experience with every area is not expected. More important is the ability to evaluate unfamiliar technical requirements, make practical architecture and build\-versus\-buy decisions, and develop solutions appropriate for an early\-stage company without unnecessarily constraining future growth.* **Candidate Profile** We are looking for someone who has demonstrated an ability to build and ship meaningful software products and who remains interested in hands\-on engineering despite having the experience to lead others. Strong candidates will likely have experience with several of the following: * Building and shipping production mobile or SaaS applications * Working effectively across multiple layers of a modern application stack * Designing application, API, data, and cloud architectures * Moving products from prototype or early\-stage versions into stable production environments * Balancing speed of development with security, reliability, maintainability, and future scalability * Making sound technical decisions when requirements are still evolving * Working directly with founders, executives, product leaders, or customers * Communicating technical alternatives and tradeoffs clearly to both technical and nontechnical stakeholders * Recruiting, mentoring, or leading engineers and contractors * Operating effectively with a high degree of autonomy Prior experience as a founding engineer, startup founder, early\-stage technical employee, or engineering lead would be particularly relevant. Fitness\-industry experience is helpful but not required. **Leadership Team** The company has assembled an experienced leadership group with backgrounds that complement the engineering organization. The team includes a CEO with direct experience in fitness and training, a CFO who has participated in multiple acquisitions, a COO with investment experience, and marketing and sales leadership with significant gym\-industry and B2B experience. The Founding Engineer will also work closely with a CTO who brings more than 20 years of experience across SaaS and mobile applications. We envision this as a collaborative technical partnership in which the Founding Engineer takes an increasingly important role in product development, architecture, engineering execution, and ultimately team leadership as the company grows. For the right person, the position has the potential to develop into broader Head of Engineering or VP Engineering responsibilities as the organization and technical team expand. **Current Stage** The company is currently pre\-institutional financing and actively fundraising. Several investor presentations have been completed, although no institutional financing has yet been committed. The business is further along than a concept\-stage startup. Work completed to date includes: Confidential Founding Engineer Opportunity * An existing alpha product and codebase * Real\-world product testing and user feedback * Strong early adoption and engagement indicators * Intellectual\-property protection associated with the technology * A defined initial trainer\-led go\-to\-market strategy * Planned expansion into direct\-to\-consumer, gym, B2B SaaS, and white\-label channels * An experienced operating and leadership team * An active fundraising process Because the company is operating confidentially at this stage, detailed product information, intellectual\-property specifics, and alpha performance metrics will be shared with qualified candidates during the interview process. **Initial Objectives** The primary objective during approximately the first six months will be to move the platform from its current alpha state through a modernized MVP and into general availability. The initial work is expected to progress through three broad stages: ***Modernized MVP*** Evaluate the existing product and architecture, establish the future technical direction, and deliver an updated MVP suitable for expanded testing and continued development. ***General Availability*** Develop the product and supporting infrastructure required for a stable production launch, including the systems, instrumentation, and operating practices necessary to support real customers. ***Adoption and Iteration*** Work with the leadership and product teams to refine the platform based on real\-world use and support agreed adoption, engagement, and product\-performance objectives following launch. Specific technical and business milestones will be established in writing as part of the equity arrangement so expectations and measurement criteria are clear from the outset. **Compensation and Equity** We want the economics of the opportunity to be clear early in the recruiting process. ***Initial Stage*** * The position will begin as a part\-time founding role with a minimum expected commitment of approximately 20 hours per week. * There is no cash salary during the pre\-financing stage. The position includes the opportunity to earn up to * 3% founding equity, subject to an agreed combination of vesting and clearly defined milestones. * Milestones are expected to include the delivery of the modernized MVP, general availability of the product, and agreed post\-launch adoption objectives. The final structure and measurement criteria will be documented as part of the equity agreement. Following Financing Once the company closes at least $2 million in financing, the intention is to transition the Founding Engineer into a full\-time salaried leadership role. The anticipated base salary range is $150,000–$180,000, depending on experience and the scope of responsibilities at that time, in addition to equity earned through the founding stage. Following financing, we expect to expand the engineering organization, and the Founding Engineer will have a meaningful role in determining the team’s structure, technical priorities, and hiring needs. **Location** The position is remote and U.S.\-based. We are looking for someone who communicates well, works effectively with a distributed leadership team, and is comfortable taking ownership of significant technical decisions without requiring a highly structured operating environment. **Why This Role** This opportunity should appeal to an engineer who values the ability to influence a company's technical direction while still being directly involved in building the product. The Founding Engineer will have meaningful input into architecture, technology selection, product development, engineering practices, and future hiring. At the same time, the role is supported by an established leadership team with experience across fitness, technology, finance, investments, legal, marketing, and sales. For someone who enjoys the combination of hands\-on development, technical strategy, company building, and meaningful equity participation, this is an opportunity to join at a stage where individual decisions can materially influence both the product and the organization. **How to Apply** A lengthy cover letter is not necessary. We would prefer to understand what you have built, what you personally owned, and why this stage of company development is interesting to you. Please include: * LinkedIn profile or résumé * GitHub, portfolio, or examples of relevant products where available * A brief description of a product, platform, or system you played a meaningful role in building * An explanation of your specific responsibilities and contributions * A short note describing what interests you about a founding\-stage engineering role Experience taking an early or imperfect version of a product and developing it into a scalable production platform is particularly relevant. The company's identity and additional product information will be shared with qualified candidates as the recruiting process progresses. Please submit all inquiries to REBECCA.FITACC@GMAIL.COM Pay: $150,000\.00 \- $180,000\.00 per year Benefits: * Flexible schedule * Professional development assistance Work Location: Remote