Founding Engineer (Python / FastAPI / Next.js) — (US Based)

About the role

🏔️ ABOUT SIERRA STUDIO

Sierra Studio is an innovative product development firm dedicated to empowering founders and business leaders in their quest to create impactful, meaningful products. Our team of experienced professionals is committed to delivering high-quality solutions that drive business growth. We prioritize a culture of good vibes, open communication, and continuous learning, providing our team members with the opportunities and resources they need to thrive.

This role is with one of the teams we help build through our staffing partnerships. When you apply, Sierra manages the hiring process, but you'll be hired directly by and work within the client company.

🏢 ABOUT THE COMPANY

Our client is building the software and intelligence layer for consumer goods manufacturers. The co-manufacturers and co-packers that make the products on every store shelf still run production on email, spreadsheets and phone calls. The first product gives manufacturers and their brands one shared, real-time view of every production run, from purchase order to shipment, and a broader product roadmap is already mapped out.

The founder and CEO spent 7 years building consumer brands at a PE-backed brand studio, where he launched 5 brands in food and wellness. The company is backed by owners of CPG manufacturing companies, has a working v1 and a design partner cohort lined up, and plans to launch in early 2027.

🖼️ ABOUT THE ROLE

Our client is hiring a founding engineer to own the product's technical foundation. You'll take a working v1 and turn it into production-grade software manufacturers run their businesses on, deciding how it's built, how it scales, and how the engineering team works as it grows. This role is for a builder: someone who would rather ship, talk to users, and iterate than wait for a perfect spec.

🔨 WHAT YOU'LL DO

- Own the codebase and architecture end to end, starting with an audit of v1 and a plan for what to keep, rebuild, and harden.

- Ship full-stack features across Python, FastAPI, SQLAlchemy, PostgreSQL, WebSockets, and Next.js.

- Build integrations with manufacturers' ERP systems and other third-party tools so order, inventory, and production data flow into the product without manual entry.

- Design and evolve the data model as the product expands, with clean, reversible Alembic migrations.

- Build the real-time layer that keeps manufacturers and brands looking at the same status, documents, and messages.

- Own infrastructure, deployment, and monitoring.

- Join design partner calls and turn what you hear into product decisions.

- Help shape how AI shows up in the product as we build it in.

- Set the engineering bar and help hire the engineers who come next.

🤝 YOU MAY BE A GOOD FIT IF YOU

- Have 5+ years building production software, with real ownership of systems across the front end and back end.