H-1B Visa Founding Engineer Jobs
Founding Engineer roles sit at the intersection of deep technical ownership and early-stage company building, and many startups that hire for this title actively sponsor H-1B visas. These positions typically qualify as specialty occupations under USCIS standards, requiring at least a bachelor's degree in computer science, software engineering, or a directly related field.
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Job Details
This Jobot Job is hosted by: Scott Filbin
Are you a fit? Easy Apply now by clicking the "Easy Apply" button and sending us your resume.
Salary: $180,000 - $275,000 per year
A bit about us:
We are a funded, stealth mode AI hardware startup in Long Beach, and we are hiring our first engineer. We capture a person in our studio, their voice, their face, how they move, and how they actually think, then compress all of that down into something small enough to run on a device you can hold in your hand with no internet connection. That device then brings them to life on real hardware. Offline is not a privacy feature we added on. It is the product. Nothing leaves the device. No third party APIs, no cloud inference, no sending anyone's voice out to a vendor. Everything is ours and everything runs local. We are backed by a single investor with a $20M commitment, our patent is finalized, and our capture studio is already built out with a six camera 360 rig, high definition facial capture, and studio grade audio. What we do not have yet is the engineer who turns all of that captured data into a working system. That is this job.
Why join us?
- You are employee number one. Not early, first. You will pick the stack, set the architecture, and set the engineering standards for everyone we hire after you.
- Nothing is decided yet. No database chosen, no stack locked in, no legacy code to inherit. If you have ever wanted to make the calls instead of living with someone else's, this is that seat.
- Funded and stable. The heavy capital spend is already behind us.
- Milestone bonus tied to launch.
- Work nobody has a playbook for. You would be writing it.
ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES
You will own the full path from raw data to a working AI system running on constrained hardware. That includes:
- Building the data pipeline from the ground up, moving large volumes of raw capture data into a local database and getting the schema right
- Standing up the training and dev staging environment and running training against that data
- Selecting and deploying a small language model that runs locally on NVIDIA Jetson class hardware, and getting it to perform inside real memory and thermal budgets
- Hardware bring up and the integration layer between the model and the physical device
- Setting engineering standards and helping hire the next three engineers on the team
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
What we are looking for:
- Strong Python, and comfortable dropping into C++ or C when the runtime demands it
- Real data engineering experience, pipelines, ETL, schema design, moving large and messy data reliably
- Hands on running LLMs or SLMs locally rather than through a cloud API. Model selection is a collaborative call and we want your opinion
- Database fluency, SQL, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite or MongoDB. We have not picked one yet, so we care that you have opinions more than which one you have used
- Linux systems fluency, ideally including ARM, ARM64 or embedded Linux
- Docker and containerized deployment
- You have owned a project end to end without a spec, and you know when to prototype versus when to build it properly
- You can handle sensitive personal data with the seriousness it deserves. That trust is the company
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
Strongly preferred, we do not expect all of these:
- NVIDIA Jetson experience, JetPack, TensorRT or CUDA on embedded
- Speech systems, ASR, voice cloning, streaming TTS or real time audio
- Fine tuning, quantization or distillation of small models, synthetic data generation
- Multi camera capture rigs, camera sync, photogrammetry, motion capture or performance capture
- A visual effects, animation or video game background. If you have built 3D or capture pipelines, that crossover is genuinely valuable here
- Computer vision, robotics or holographic imaging
Interested in hearing more? Easy Apply now by clicking the "Easy Apply" button.
Jobot is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We provide an inclusive work environment that celebrates diversity and all qualified candidates receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, age (40 and over), disability, military status, genetic information or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws. Jobot also prohibits harassment of applicants or employees based on any of these protected categories. It is Jobot’s policy to comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws respecting consideration of unemployment status in making hiring decisions. Sometimes Jobot is required to perform background checks with your authorization. Jobot will consider qualified candidates with criminal histories in a manner consistent with any applicable federal, state, or local law regarding criminal backgrounds, including but not limited to the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring and the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. Information collected and processed as part of your Jobot candidate profile, and any job applications, resumes, or other information you choose to submit is subject to Jobot's Privacy Policy, as well as the Jobot California Worker Privacy Notice and Jobot Notice Regarding Automated Employment Decision Tools which are available at jobot.com/legal. By applying for this job, you agree to receive calls, AI-generated calls, text messages, or emails from Jobot, and/or its agents and contracted partners. Frequency varies for text messages. Message and data rates may apply. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages. You can reply STOP to cancel and HELP for help. You can access our privacy policy here: jobot.com/privacy-policy
Want to learn more about this role and Jobot?
Click our Jobot logo and follow our LinkedIn page!
INTRODUCTION
Want to learn more about this role and Jobot? Click our Jobot logo and follow our LinkedIn page!
Job Details
This Jobot Job is hosted by: Scott Filbin
Are you a fit? Easy Apply now by clicking the "Easy Apply" button and sending us your resume.
Salary: $180,000 - $275,000 per year
A bit about us:
We are a funded, stealth mode AI hardware startup in Long Beach, and we are hiring our first engineer. We capture a person in our studio, their voice, their face, how they move, and how they actually think, then compress all of that down into something small enough to run on a device you can hold in your hand with no internet connection. That device then brings them to life on real hardware. Offline is not a privacy feature we added on. It is the product. Nothing leaves the device. No third party APIs, no cloud inference, no sending anyone's voice out to a vendor. Everything is ours and everything runs local. We are backed by a single investor with a $20M commitment, our patent is finalized, and our capture studio is already built out with a six camera 360 rig, high definition facial capture, and studio grade audio. What we do not have yet is the engineer who turns all of that captured data into a working system. That is this job.
Why join us?
- You are employee number one. Not early, first. You will pick the stack, set the architecture, and set the engineering standards for everyone we hire after you.
- Nothing is decided yet. No database chosen, no stack locked in, no legacy code to inherit. If you have ever wanted to make the calls instead of living with someone else's, this is that seat.
- Funded and stable. The heavy capital spend is already behind us.
- Milestone bonus tied to launch.
- Work nobody has a playbook for. You would be writing it.
ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES
You will own the full path from raw data to a working AI system running on constrained hardware. That includes:
- Building the data pipeline from the ground up, moving large volumes of raw capture data into a local database and getting the schema right
- Standing up the training and dev staging environment and running training against that data
- Selecting and deploying a small language model that runs locally on NVIDIA Jetson class hardware, and getting it to perform inside real memory and thermal budgets
- Hardware bring up and the integration layer between the model and the physical device
- Setting engineering standards and helping hire the next three engineers on the team
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
What we are looking for:
- Strong Python, and comfortable dropping into C++ or C when the runtime demands it
- Real data engineering experience, pipelines, ETL, schema design, moving large and messy data reliably
- Hands on running LLMs or SLMs locally rather than through a cloud API. Model selection is a collaborative call and we want your opinion
- Database fluency, SQL, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite or MongoDB. We have not picked one yet, so we care that you have opinions more than which one you have used
- Linux systems fluency, ideally including ARM, ARM64 or embedded Linux
- Docker and containerized deployment
- You have owned a project end to end without a spec, and you know when to prototype versus when to build it properly
- You can handle sensitive personal data with the seriousness it deserves. That trust is the company
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
Strongly preferred, we do not expect all of these:
- NVIDIA Jetson experience, JetPack, TensorRT or CUDA on embedded
- Speech systems, ASR, voice cloning, streaming TTS or real time audio
- Fine tuning, quantization or distillation of small models, synthetic data generation
- Multi camera capture rigs, camera sync, photogrammetry, motion capture or performance capture
- A visual effects, animation or video game background. If you have built 3D or capture pipelines, that crossover is genuinely valuable here
- Computer vision, robotics or holographic imaging
Interested in hearing more? Easy Apply now by clicking the "Easy Apply" button.
Jobot is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We provide an inclusive work environment that celebrates diversity and all qualified candidates receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, age (40 and over), disability, military status, genetic information or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws. Jobot also prohibits harassment of applicants or employees based on any of these protected categories. It is Jobot’s policy to comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws respecting consideration of unemployment status in making hiring decisions. Sometimes Jobot is required to perform background checks with your authorization. Jobot will consider qualified candidates with criminal histories in a manner consistent with any applicable federal, state, or local law regarding criminal backgrounds, including but not limited to the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring and the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. Information collected and processed as part of your Jobot candidate profile, and any job applications, resumes, or other information you choose to submit is subject to Jobot's Privacy Policy, as well as the Jobot California Worker Privacy Notice and Jobot Notice Regarding Automated Employment Decision Tools which are available at jobot.com/legal. By applying for this job, you agree to receive calls, AI-generated calls, text messages, or emails from Jobot, and/or its agents and contracted partners. Frequency varies for text messages. Message and data rates may apply. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages. You can reply STOP to cancel and HELP for help. You can access our privacy policy here: jobot.com/privacy-policy
Want to learn more about this role and Jobot?
Click our Jobot logo and follow our LinkedIn page!
See all 30+ H-1B Visa Founding Engineer Jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new H-1B Visa Founding Engineer Jobs.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding H-1B Visa Sponsorship as a Founding Engineer
Verify your role meets specialty occupation
USCIS scrutinizes broad titles like Founding Engineer more closely than standard software roles. Pull the O*NET profile for your specific function and confirm your job duties map to a degree-requiring occupation before your employer files.
Target startups with prior H-1B filing history
Use Migrate Mate to filter Founding Engineer openings by employers who have filed H-1B Labor Condition Applications before. First-time sponsors carry higher petition risk and longer internal approval timelines at the early-stage level.
Request premium processing before your start date
Founding Engineer offers often come with fast-moving timelines. Ask your employer to elect premium processing on the I-129 petition so USCIS adjudicates within 15 business days, reducing the gap between offer acceptance and authorized start.
Confirm the LCA wage level matches your actual scope
Founding Engineers frequently operate at Level III or IV on the DOL wage scale given their ownership responsibilities. Run your job title and location through the OFLC Wage Search to catch any mismatch before the LCA is certified.
Negotiate equity vesting around your H-1B timeline
Standard four-year vesting cliffs can conflict with H-1B petition and renewal windows. Structure your offer so the one-year cliff falls well inside your authorized period of stay, avoiding a gap between vest date and valid status.
Document your technical contributions from day one
When your employer files your H-1B extension, USCIS may issue an RFE asking for evidence the role still qualifies. Maintain a running record of architecture decisions, code ownership, and cross-functional leadership to support that filing.
H-1B Visa Founding Engineer: Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Founding Engineer role qualify as a specialty occupation for H-1B purposes?
It depends on how the position is defined. USCIS evaluates specialty occupation based on whether the role normally requires at least a bachelor's degree in a specific field, not just the job title. A Founding Engineer focused on systems architecture or full-stack product development typically qualifies. A role described as general technical leadership with no defined degree requirement may face an RFE. Your employer should tie the job description to specific technical domains before filing.
How do I find startups that will actually sponsor my H-1B as a Founding Engineer?
Early-stage companies vary widely in sponsorship willingness and experience. Migrate Mate surfaces Founding Engineer roles filtered by employers who have filed Labor Condition Applications, so you can focus on companies with a documented track record rather than asking cold. First-time sponsors aren't disqualified, but they require more internal runway to complete the process correctly.
Can a startup sponsor my H-1B if it has never done so before?
Yes. Any U.S. employer with an Employer Identification Number can file an H-1B petition, regardless of company size or prior sponsorship history. The practical risk is execution: first-time sponsors often underestimate the LCA certification timeline through DOL, the documentation requirements, and the cost. Working with an experienced immigration attorney reduces the likelihood of avoidable delays or denials.
What happens to my H-1B status if the startup shuts down or lays me off?
If your employer terminates your employment, your H-1B authorization ends with it. USCIS provides a 60-day grace period for involuntary terminations, during which you can transfer your H-1B to a new employer, change to another visa status, or prepare to depart. The clock starts from the last day of employment, not from when USCIS is notified. Start your job search immediately if your company shows signs of instability.
Does holding significant equity in the startup affect my H-1B eligibility?
Equity alone doesn't disqualify you, but USCIS looks closely at employer-employee relationships when the H-1B beneficiary holds a controlling ownership stake. If you own more than 50% of the company sponsoring your visa, USCIS may question whether a qualifying employment relationship exists. Minority equity stakes are generally not an issue. If your equity is substantial, your employer should address the control question explicitly in the petition.