Senior Software Engineer

ListLab
Laguna Beach, California, United StatesFull-time$150,000–$190,000Posted Aug 28, 2026

About the role

We're hiring a Senior Software Engineer to raise the bar on a small, fast-moving engineering team building a consumer-facing web application — architecture, hard problems, and helping others ship.

Summary

Flexible Title: Can tailor to reflect your skills & experience.

Flexible Time: Can do full-time, part-time, side-gig (off-hours), or fractional (contract).

Flexible Commitment: Can do short-term, long-term, or intermittent.

No degree required. We care about what you've shipped and the judgment you bring, not the pedigree.

Why so flexible? We're a FUNDED startup racing to launch end of Q3 2026. That gives us just 3 months to stack features while raising additional working capital. Feel free to jump in, help us ship, then bounce >> or stick around. A successful launch translates into lots of permanent jobs for those that want them. We're also interested in long-term "side gig" relationships, if that's what you're into—in our experience, a few expert hours often beat full-time learning-curve hours.

About Us

We're a credible, funded, remote-first startup backed by a growing team. We're pre-launch and moving fast.

About The Role

This is the senior seat above our junior and mid-level application roles. You don't need tickets pre-scoped. You take fuzzy, high-stakes problems — "this has to work at launch," "this part of the system is going to hurt us" — and you design, ship, and leave the codebase better than you found it.

We have a working product and a real team. What we need is someone who has already been the person others look to on technical calls: trade-offs, system design, performance, and the difference between "it works on my machine" and "it's safe in production." You'll still write a lot of code. You'll also review, unblock, and mentor so the rest of the team ships faster and cleaner.

This is ideal for someone with 6–10+ years building production software who wants startup ownership without a people-manager title.

You'll answer: What's the right shape for this system? What should we not build? How do we ship this without creating a mess we'll live with for two years?

Compensation

Up to $190,000 max total annual compensation in Tier 1 cities; cash and equity components to be negotiated. Given the flexible commitment model, comp will be structured accordingly — fractional or hourly arrangements welcome.

What You'll Do in Your First 30 Days

You've gotten deep in the codebase and delivered a clear read on architecture, risk, and where to invest

You've shipped meaningful production work — not a starter ticket, a real problem

You've made at least one technical call the team is now following (approach, boundary, or "don't do this")

You've reviewed others' code at a senior standard and started unblocking people

The team treats you as a default for the harder engineering questions

What You'll Do Ongoing

Own the hard problems — ambiguous features, gnarly bugs, performance, and the systems that would otherwise slow launch

Shape architecture — where things live, what we take on, and what we refuse to overbuild

Ship production code — you're still an engineer first; design without delivery isn't the job

Raise the bar — code review, testing, and examples that make mid-level and junior developers better

Unblock the team — the stuck PR, the unclear requirement, the "we've been arguing about this for a week"

Think in launch terms — reliability, speed, and judgment about what has to be right vs. what can wait

What We're Looking For

Must-haves

6–10+ years building and shipping production software (web, backend, or full stack) that real users depended on

Strong across the stack enough to own a problem end to end — frontend, backend, data, and the seams between them

Track record of technical judgment: you've designed systems, killed bad ideas, and lived with the consequences

You make other engineers better — through review, pairing, and clear writing, not just by being the hero

Strong fundamentals: Git, APIs, data modeling, testing, and production operations enough to debug what's live

Strong async communicator — you can write the design, the PR, and the "here's why" so the team can move without you in the room

Nice-to-have

Startup or small-team experience where you were one of a few senior engineers

Experience with our kinds of problems: consumer web apps, auth, payments, search, or high-change codebases

Comfortable in fast-moving, ambiguous environments

What You're NOT

Not a ticket-taker — you're expected to define the work, not wait for a perfectly scoped Jira

Not an engineering manager — you'll mentor and unblock; you're not hiring, firing, or running the people process

Not a DevOps-only hire — infra literacy is useful; the job is product software

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Responsibilities

  • Own the hard problems — ambiguous features, gnarly bugs, performance, and the systems that would otherwise slow launch
  • Shape architecture — where things live, what we take on, and what we refuse to overbuild
  • Ship production code — you're still an engineer first; design without delivery isn't the job
  • Raise the bar — code review, testing, and examples that make mid-level and junior developers better
  • Unblock the team — the stuck PR, the unclear requirement, the 'we've been arguing about this for a week'
  • Think in launch terms — reliability, speed, and judgment about what has to be right vs. what can wait

Qualifications

  • 6–10+ years building and shipping production software (web, backend, or full stack) that real users depended on
  • Strong across the stack enough to own a problem end to end — frontend, backend, data, and the seams between them
  • Track record of technical judgment: you've designed systems, killed bad ideas, and lived with the consequences
  • You make other engineers better — through review, pairing, and clear writing, not just by being the hero
  • Strong fundamentals: Git, APIs, data modeling, testing, and production operations enough to debug what's live
  • Strong async communicator — you can write the design, the PR, and the 'here's why' so the team can move without you in the room

Benefits

  • Equity

Skills mentioned

System DesignDebuggingPerformance OptimizationGitREST APIsFrontend DevelopmentBackend DevelopmentDatabase DesignSoftware TestingCloud Computing

About ListLab

At ListLab, we've built something that will win in any market. We're positioned to grow whether AI eats jobs or creates them. Whether oil hits $40 or $140. Whether rates rise or fall. How many deals on your desk can say that? We've worked for months of shipping at an AI-native pace and here is what's emerged: existing behavior, viral growth, a live product, and a $10T+ TAM across Agentic Commerce, AI-Native SaaS, FinTech, PropTech, RegTech, SMB Enablement, and Workflow Automation. Most startups make big promises and deliver disappointment. We're different. Talk to the existing team, see the culture, test the product — before you commit. Every team member says they've gained career value just from seeing how we use AI. Early access is open now. Request more info, apply for an open role or schedule a conversation— angels and family offices are invited to invest first. Visit list-lab.org/opportunity.

Technology11-50 employeesLos Angeles, California