# Founding Engineer at 10x Science

- Company: 10x Science (YC W26)
- What the company does: The AI-native platform for next-generation protein characterization. Backed by Y Combinator.
- Company website: https://10xscience.com
- Type: Startups (AI role)
- Level: Mid level
- Location: San Francisco, CA, US / Menlo Park, CA, US
- Work setup: On-site
- Pay: $150K to $240K base salary per year (USD)
- Posted: 2026-03-25
- Apply by: 2026-10-08
- Apply: https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/10x-science/jobs/FK8wuOk-founding-engineer
- Page: https://www.1752.vc/careers/jobs/10x-science-founding-engineer/

## About the role

You will join a three-person founding team and build the core platform from the ground up. You will pair-program directly with the founders on bare-metal, high-throughput, AI-native software that is already being deployed to top-10 pharmaceutical companies.

## What they're looking for

- 2. Intuition for compute-performance tradeoffs. You have a sense for when to apply zero-parameter, zero-time leverage (XSA, Partial RoPE, Late QAT, etc.) versus forcing the silicon to reveal its absolute limits by benchmarking compilers and GPUs
- 3. Obsessed with interpretability. You care deeply about understanding why a system behaves the way it does, not just that it works
- 5. Learn like a sponge. You absorb new domains quickly and without ego. You are comfortable being wrong, asking questions, and updating your understanding in real time
- • Strong fundamentals in systems programming, algorithms, and data structures
- • Experience building software that has to be fast: you have a track record of caring about performance at a low level
- • Comfort operating in ambiguity: you can take an ill-defined problem, break it down, and ship a working solution

Tags: Engineering