Senior Software Engineer

San Francisco

**About Stepwork** ================== Most IT and Infosec work today is still manual, brittle, and dependent on humans shepherding systems that were never designed to talk to each other. APIs break, scripts don't scale, and the "modern stack" still needs someone to click through workflows every day. Stepwork replaces all of that with vision-based automation. Teams send us a simple screen recording of how they complete a workflow, and Stepwork turns it into a reliable automated process, running inside a secure virtual environment that works exactly the way their people do. No API surface required. No brittle scripts. No vendor integrations. We already support enterprise workflows ranging from non-SCIM provisioning to consumption reporting to user access reviews, and we're saving customers *dozens to hundreds of hours* a month. Demand is growing faster than our small engineering team can support---which is why this role exists. We're a tight 5-person engineering-led team in the Marina, funded by $5.5M, and building infrastructure that our customers depend on with a 98% reliability bar. The product footprint is expanding quickly, and every engineer materially shapes the system. **What You'll Work On** ======================= This role is fullstack with a strong backend + infrastructure emphasis. You'll own real systems end-to-end, shipping quickly while maintaining reliability expected by enterprise customers. You'll be building: ### **The Execution Environment** Our Electron-based application runs a secure virtual machine on the user's device, executing packaged "flows" with extreme accuracy. You'll extend and harden this system, improving speed, reliability, and testability. ### **⚙️ Backend Infrastructure** Most of our complexity lives in the backend: * flow orchestration * prompt packaging + execution * VM lifecycle management * reliability testing across real + virtual machines * scaling the system as we transition from just local to local and customer's own cloud ### **🧪 Testing \& Reliability Systems** Today, our bottleneck is how quickly and accurately we can test flows. We target 98% reliability (industry average: \~60%). You'll work on systems that test flows across multiple environments---real hardware, virtual machines, and cloud-hosted compute. ### **💥 Customer Impact** We work directly with customers like Calm, AngelList, Affirm, and others. Their environments are complex and often undocumented. When a workflow breaks, they expect it to work---regardless of quirks in their browser, VM, or internal tools. Your work ensures it does. **This Role Is Essential Because...** ===================================== We have more enterprise demand than we can service. Adding two engineers unlocks our ability to onboard \~20 additional logos and meaningfully expand ARR. You're not "supporting" the business. You *are* the business. **How You'll Work** =================== This role is built for engineers who: * Move quickly without breaking the fundamentals * Prefer practical solutions over architectural ceremony * Enjoy breaking down vague problem spaces * Take ownership from "I'll figure it out" → "it's shipped and reliable." * Communicate clearly and ask strong questions * Thrive in a small, in-person team where decisions happen face-to-face No PM layers. No waiting for perfectly groomed tickets. You work directly with Shaun (our Founder) and the engineering team, and you'll see the impact of your work weekly. **What You'll Bring** ===================== ### **Technical Experience** * 4--10 years building production systems (fullstack or backend) * Strong backend engineering foundation (Go + TypeScript) * Infra experience with Docker, AWS, Terraform * Comfort with VM debugging, local-device constraints, or adjacent systems * Ability to pick up light frontend work when needed ### **Capabilities We Care About** * **Ownership:** If you ship it, you own it, good and bad. * **Principled Problem Solving:** You ask the right questions, avoid scope creep, and choose the simplest path that works. * **Persistence:** Many problems you'll encounter don't have documentation. You enjoy figuring them out. * **Speed:** You know how to ship quickly without overengineering. * **Disagree \& Commit:** You can push back, align, and move. ### **Nice-to-Haves** * Experience working on Electron or similar desktop runtimes * Infra-heavy product experience * Previous work on early engineering teams **💭 Why Stepwork** =================== * **You directly shape the core product.** No layers between you and work that ships. * **You solve problems few engineers ever get to see.** Customers run undocumented, custom environments; your debugging becomes their superpower. * **You accelerate enterprise adoption.** Your work enables us to open the gates to dozens more enterprise customers. * **You work with a founder who ships fast.** No bureaucracy. No overthinking. Clear priorities and real impact. * **You'll be in person with a team that actually likes working together.** The collaboration and speed lift is real; remote isn't an option. ### **Equal Opportunity Statement** Stepwork is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, veteran status, disability status, or any other legally protected characteristic. ### **Pay Transparency (California)** For roles based in California, we are required to share the base salary range. Actual compensation will depend on experience, interview performance, and leveling. Equity may also be included as part of the total compensation package. ### **At-Will Employment** All employment at Stepwork is "at-will." This means employment may be terminated at any time, with or without notice, and for any lawful reason. ### **Reasonable Accommodation Statement** We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities throughout the application and interview process. If you need support, please let us know. ### **Applicant Privacy Notice (CCPA)** We collect personal information from applicants for recruiting and hiring purposes as permitted by the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). This may include contact information, employment history, education information, and other data you provide during the application process. We do not sell applicant data. For questions regarding how your information is used, please contact us at paige@stepwork.com.