Product Engineer

Who is Recruiting from Scratch:

Recruiting from Scratch is a specialized talent firm dedicated to helping companies build exceptional teams. We partner closely with our clients to deeply understand their needs, then connect them with top-tier candidates who are not only highly skilled but also the right fit for the company's culture and vision. Our mission is simple: place the best people in the right roles to drive long-term success for both clients and candidates.

Title of Role: Product Engineer (Full-Stack, AI-First)

Location: New York City (Flatiron District)

Company Stage of Funding: Early-stage venture-backed startup (Seed / Series A-level)

Office Type: Onsite - 5 days per week

Salary: $140,000 - $170,000 base salary + equity

Company Description

Our client is an early-stage, fast-growing technology startup building AI-powered software to modernize how state and local governments operate. The company replaces outdated, manual, and legacy systems with intuitive, AI-native tools that help public-sector teams move faster and serve communities more effectively.

Backed by a top-tier venture capital firm and led by a repeat founder with a prior successful exit, the company is already generating revenue and operating with a small, high-ownership team in New York City. This is a rare opportunity to join at the ground floor and help define both the product and engineering culture.

What You Will Do

As a Product Engineer, you'll own problems end-to-end-from idea to demo to production. This role blends product thinking, full-stack engineering, and AI-first development.

You will:

Build and ship user-facing products that replace legacy government workflows with modern, intuitive software.

Rapidly prototype demos that directly support sales conversations, then evolve those demos into production-ready systems.

Design and maintain internal tooling that orchestrates long-running, multi-step AI workflows and agents.

Work closely with founders, operators, and non-technical stakeholders to translate messy, real-world workflows into simple, scalable software.

Balance speed and quality-cutting scope intelligently while laying foundations for systems that run reliably at scale.

Context-switch frequently across products, customers, and technical challenges in a fast-moving environment. This is a highly hands-on role with meaningful ownership and direct impact on both revenue and product direction.

Ideal Candidate Background

We're looking for engineers who are excited by ambiguity, ownership, and building from zero.

You likely:

Have experience building full-stack applications end-to-end, either professionally or through personal projects.

Are comfortable working across backend and frontend systems (e.g., APIs, data models, UIs, and deployments).

Move fast and leverage modern AI coding tools as part of your daily workflow.

Think like a builder and a problem-solver, not just a ticket-closer.

Enjoy talking with users and translating real-world needs into product decisions.

Are energized by early-stage environments where priorities evolve quickly. Preferred

Experience at an early-stage startup, or as a founder / founding engineer.

Familiarity with background jobs, queues, long-running workflows, or AI/agent orchestration.

Comfort participating in customer conversations, demos, or discovery sessions.

Experience with modern stacks such as Python or Node on the backend and React / Next.js on the frontend.

Strong product intuition and an interest in how software is actually used day-to-day. Compensation, Benefits, and Other Details

Base salary: $140,000 - $170,000

Equity: Meaningful early-stage equity participation

Role type: Full-time

Work environment: In-person, collaborative NYC office

Team size: Small, senior, and highly execution-oriented

Growth: Significant opportunity for increased ownership and responsibility as the company scales

Impact: Direct influence on product direction, customer outcomes, and company trajectory

If you're excited about building real products, shipping quickly, and working at the intersection of AI, product, and real-world impact, this is a compelling opportunity to explore.