Careers / Open role

Senior · Forward-Deployed track

Senior Full Stack Engineer

Deep Python + JavaScript/TypeScript. You'll own the biggest features end-to-end as Engineer DRI from day one - frozen contracts, parallel builds with Claude Code, flag-gated launches with the metric wired first - hold the technical bar at the review gates, mentor a junior engineer, and lead forward-deployed engagements executing external projects on our pipeline.

Full-time 1 opening 5+ years · shipped scope over tenure Python + JS/TS Backend · Web · App Client-facing
Apply for this role → What you'll do
How we build

No sprints. No staging. No hand-offs.

Every feature runs a 10-stage pipeline where Claude does the heavy lifting and a human DRI - one directly responsible engineer - drives every step.

01

Contract-first

A frozen backend↔frontend contract + simulator before any code - so both sides build in parallel against the same reality.

02

AI-native execution

Claude Code writes most of the code. You direct it, review it, and verify it by running the app - not by trusting the diff.

03

One Design System

Every screen is composed from a living component library; anything new is contributed back. Build it in the system, not the feature.

04

Flags, not staging

Verify locally, merge dark behind a feature flag in production, dogfood there, flip it on. Rollback is one click.

05

Artifacts, not meetings

Each step outputs a structured doc the next step's Claude reads directly. Three synchronous touchpoints per feature - that's it.

06

Done = demonstrated

Screenshots, green gates, a flag, and a one-click rollback - never just "code written."

What you'll do

Own it end-to-end. Raise the bar. Lead forward.

The contract is the keystone of the whole pipeline - and designing it is your craft. Two build tracks work against what you freeze; ambiguity in your writing becomes rework in two codebases.

1

Own features

Engineer DRI · day one
  • Design the frozen contract + simulator from the founder's PRD; lock decisions
  • Build backend ∥ frontend in parallel with Claude Code across Python/Django, TypeScript web, and React Native
  • Integrate against a local backend, verify every flow with evidence
  • Launch behind a flag - success metric wired to a live dashboard before the flip
2

Hold the bar

Gates · spine · mentorship
  • Be the human reviewer at the gates: architecture, scalability, contract adherence, design-system consistency
  • Steward the persistent spine - contract registry, component library, conventions
  • Mentor the junior engineer: review their contracts, hold their gates, raise their slope
  • Evolve the pipeline itself - the playbook is a living repo you can PR
3

Lead forward

External engagements
  • First into the room: install the portable pipeline on the client's repos
  • Scope with the client, design the contract, build with Claude, demo working software
  • Absorb the punch list, come back with it fixed, launch behind their flag
  • Feed what you learn back into the loop
What we look for

Depth on both sides of the stack - and judgment.

Must-haves

  • 5+ years shipping production full-stack software - we index on the scope of what you've shipped, not tenure
  • Python depth - Django/DRF (or comparable) in production: data modelling, migrations, auth, background jobs, tests, Postgres, performance under real load
  • JavaScript/TypeScript depth - React on web plus React Native, or a shipped comparable mobile app
  • Architecture judgment - API/contract design, failure modes, scalability trade-offs; you can review someone else's design and make it better in one pass
  • AI-native working style - an AI coding tool is already your daily driver; you direct, review, and correct its output fast, and verify by running the app
  • Written clarity - your contracts are frozen documents two build tracks work against
  • Ownership and review leadership - you drive features to live without being chased, and make the people around you better
  • Client-facing composure - scope, demo, absorb critique, iterate live; you'll lead engagements early

Nice-to-haves

  • Feature-flag-gated rollouts; observability and product analytics (Mixpanel, Sentry)
  • LLM/agent product experience - prompting, evals, tool use / MCP
  • DevOps - GCP, Docker, CI, systemd; enough to self-serve a deployment
  • Mobile releases (TestFlight / Play Console), push-notification plumbing
  • Prior mentoring or tech-lead experience
What you get

Run the model. Shape the model.

01

The operating model

An AI-native pipeline most companies are still theorizing about - you run it daily and help evolve it.

02

End-to-end ownership

Your name on the feature from frozen contract to live metric dashboard.

03

The lead FDE seat

Client-facing, high-trust, high-leverage - entire external engagements run your way.

04

Claude, on us

Claude as your pair on everything, on the company's dime.

05

A team worth raising

A junior engineer whose slope you own, founders as your product pair.

06

Leverage, not meetings

Three synchronous touchpoints per feature; the rest is you, Claude, and the pipeline.

Hiring process

Built like the job.

The centrepiece is a paid, timeboxed design + build exercise where using AI isn't just allowed - it's required. We give you a small PRD; you design the contract + simulator spec, ship a vertical slice, and return the contract doc, a working demo, and green gates.

01
Intro call
30 min · bring the biggest thing you've shipped
02
Design + build
Paid · timeboxed · AI required
03
Architecture deep-dive
90 min · defend your contract
04
Offer
Fast

Your contracts need no follow-up call? Let's talk.

Email us with the biggest things you've shipped - repos, live products, systems you designed. Working software beats résumé lines. Location and compensation are discussed during the process.

Apply - Senior Full Stack Engineer → Earlier in your career? See the junior role
Applications go to careers@ctrloop.ai with the role in the subject line.