Staff Software Engineer, AI Products

Want to help us help others? We're hiring!

GoFundMe is the world's most powerful community for good, dedicated to helping people help each other. By uniting individuals and nonprofits in one place, GoFundMe makes it easy and safe for people to ask for help and support causesor themselves and each other. Together, our community has raised more than $40 billion since 2010.

Join Us! We're assembling a founding AI-first engineering team to build a brand-new AI-powered SaaS product from the ground up. As a Staff Software / AI Engineer, you'll play a critical role in shaping the technical foundation and building core features that solve real problems for nonprofits, organizations, and communities.

This is a zero-to-one opportunity with high visibility and direct impact. You'll work iteratively in weekly goal cycles, ship fast, and build alongside customersincluding frequent travel to customer sites to understand their workflows and get immediate feedback.

This is a hybrid role based in the San Francisco Bay Area, with 2-3 days per week of in-office collaboration.

The Job

• Design and build reliable, scalable backend systems and APIs using Node.js and set up end-to-end CI/CD pipelines from scratch for seamless deployment and iteration.
• Develop and integrate LLM-powered product features using frameworks like LangChain or direct LLM API calls.
• Own architecture decisions, end-to-end feature delivery, and developer experience within the founding engineering team.
• Collaborate closely with product managers, designers, and legal/compliance stakeholders to ship high-quality features quickly.
• Partner directly with early customersincluding onsite visitsto validate ideas and co-build workflows that matter.
• Operate in weekly execution cycles: set goals, build quickly, learn from usage, and iterate with urgency.
• Contribute to team culture, engineering standards, and long-term technical vision.

You

• Have 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, including leading projects from scratch.
• Have built and shipped zero-to-one products, whether as a startup founder or an early engineer in an incubation team.
• Are fluent in Node.js, TypeScript, and comfortable building across backend services and APIs.
• Have experience integrating LLMs or AI tools into customer-facing products (OpenAI, Claude, etc.).
• Thrive in ambiguous, fast-moving environments with tight feedback loops and evolving goals.
• Are excited to build alongside customers and willing to travel regularly to visit key users and partners.
• Communicate clearly and collaborate well with cross-functional teams.
• Care about reliability, performance, and building software that solves real human problems.

Why you'll love it here

• Make an Impact: Be part of a mission-driven organization making a positive difference in millions of lives every year.
• Innovative Environment: Work with a diverse, passionate, and talented team in a fast-paced, forward-thinking atmosphere.
• Collaborative Team: Join a fun and collaborative team that works hard and celebrates success together.
• Competitive Benefits: Enjoy competitive pay and comprehensive healthcare benefits.
• Holistic Support: Enjoy financial assistance for things like hybrid work, family planning, along with generous parental leave, flexible time-off policies, and mental health and wellness resources to support your overall well-being.
• Growth Opportunities: Participate in learning, development, and recognition programs to help you thrive and grow.
• Commitment to DEI: Contribute to diversity, equity, and inclusion through ongoing initiatives and employee resource groups.
• Community Engagement: Make a difference through our volunteering and Gives Back programs.

We live by our core values: impatient to be great, find a way, earn trust every day, fueled by purpose. Be a part of something bigger with us!

GoFundMe is proud to be an equal opportunity employer that actively pursues candidates of diverse backgrounds and experiences. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnicity, nationality or national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, pregnancy status, marital status, age, medical condition, mental or physical disability, or military or veteran status.

The total annual salary for this full-time position is $181,000 - $271,000 + equity + benefits. The salary range was determined by role, level, and possible location across the US. Individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range based on your location during the hiring process.

If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete a job application or a job interview or to otherwise participate in the hiring process, please contact us at accommodationrequests@gofundme.com.

Global Data Privacy Notice for Job Candidates and Applicants:

Depending on your location, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or certain US privacy laws may regulate the way we manage the data of job applicants. Our full notice outlining how data will be processed as part of the application procedure for applicable locations is available here. By submitting your application, you are agreeing to our use and processing of your data as required.

Learn more about GoFundMe:

We're proud to partner with GoFundMe.org, an independent public charity, to extend the reach and impact of our generous community, while helping drive critical social change. You can learn more about GoFundMe.org's activities and impact in their FY 24 annual report.

Our annual Year in Help report reflects our community's impact in advancing our mission of helping people help each other.

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