The posting
Software Engineer
Location: San Francisco, CA (Hybrid)
Avy’s mission is to empower humans to work more efficiently and effectively with each other and with technology in knowledge work positions. We believe that software that acts as your companion, looking out for your best interests and helping you level up at work in a trusted, secure way, will not only make the world more productive, but will improve quality of life for everyone it touches.
Avy was founded by a serial founder and former leader in the AI/ML group at Apple, has team members with multiple exits (including an IPO), and is backed by $10M in pre-seed and seed funding to ensure we can execute at the highest level.
The Opportunity:
As a Software Engineer at Avy, your job is to build great products that perform well and delight our users and customers.
Our product spans a range of technologies, from the latest in AI and ML models, to server and cloud-based applications and infrastructure, to applications that run directly on user devices. You will have the opportunity to be exposed to and learn new technologies continuously.
We value excellence in engineering skill over precise knowledge of specific technologies. Fast learners are welcome. That said, you need the chops to be able to dive in deep: debugging issues, improving performance, and truly understanding the behavior of the software you are developing and shipping.
What you’ll do:
- Develop and ship features quickly by moving between multiple components and tech stacks to deliver end-to-end value.
- Combine the latest and greatest cutting-edge AI and engineering practices with proven engineering patterns to ensure reliability, scalability, testability, and maintainability
- Evaluate and adapt third-party tools, libraries and frameworks while maintaining deep understanding—no black box dependencies except where intentionally chosen
- Collaborate closely with product, design, and leadership to balance technical constraints with business goals and user needs
- Balance code clarity and architectural purity with velocity in the understanding that our product is rapidly evolving
- Optimize system performance across the entire stack, from model inference to distributed agent orchestration
- Promote effective engineering culture through rigorous testing, code reviews, and continuous integration
You might work on anything from prototyping a new multi-agent cloud system to troubleshooting a data race in server code to re-styling views in SwiftUI to optimizing a prompt for a local LLM.
Avy is for you if:
- You lift others up while maintaining exceptionally high standards, balancing confidence with humility.
- You're compassionate with people while being rigorous with ideas
- You think big, embrace bold ideas, and ask “what would it take?” instead of defaulting to “why not.”
- You thrive in uncertainty and fast-changing environments, seeing ambiguity as an opportunity to solve hard problems and push boundaries.
- You are experienced and bring perspective, but know that the world is rapidly changing and that to succeed we must all do things we've never done before
- You naturally ask 'can we get 80% of the value with 20% of the effort?' but know when to invest heavily for strategic advantage
- You don’t just meet expectations, you consistently raise the bar, inspiring those around you to do the same
- You balance craftsman pride with the wisdom to ship fast and iterate
- You see failures not as setbacks, but as learning opportunities that accelerate progress
You won’t be happy at Avy if:
- You're not looking to join a team competing in a highly competitive market. We aspire to be sustainably productive and are intentional in rest and relaxation, but the pace is intense.
- You let your exceptional talent bring you exceptional ego. We’re all smart and talented, and we don’t like jerks.
What we’re looking for:
- Multi language proficiency at least one statically typed language
- Proven experience in software engineering (6+ years) with at least 3 years in non-AI software development—you were a software engineer before AI was a buzzword
- Strong software architecture skills with ability to design and articulate complex, distributed systems
- Deep engineering fundamentals: Understanding of memory management, concurrency, and performance optimization
- Production AI/ML experience building and deploying agent systems or LLM-powered applications that solve real problems is desired but not required
- Multi-language proficiency including JavaScript, Python, and at least one statically typed language (eg Swift, Go, TypeScript, Rust, C++, Java)
- Track record as a self-starter who has taken projects from 0 to 1
- Team collaboration experience working in complex codebases with multiple components and contributors
We offer:
- Competitive salary ($142,000-$188,000) with meaningful equity and substantial upside potential
- Competitive benefits (health, vision, dental, 401K, etc) and paid parental leave
Logistics:
- We cannot sponsor visas at this time
- This is a hybrid role in San Francisco (3+ days/week in office). You will be collaborating with others in the office and distributed across the U.S.
- Relocation assistance may be available for the right candidate
- Periodic travel for team meetings and retreats is required
- Developer-worthy equipment and tools are provided to ensure you have all you need to excel.
- Nearly endless opportunities for growth and advancement as the company succeeds and meets its objectives.
To Apply:
Please submit a résumé, links, or anything else that helps us understand your background. We care more about aptitude and results than buzzwords.
We are an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We encourage applicants from all backgrounds to apply.
