Founding Engineer

About the role

tl;dr: full-stack web development at seed-stage LLM startup building workflow automation tools

Compensation:

• Salary/y: JPY 6.5M-10.0M
• Equity: 0.2%-1.0%

 

What We’re Looking For

• Full-stack web developer with 3+ years of experience building products quickly
• Degree in computer science (bachelor’s, master’s, or Ph.D.) or equivalent skills
• Experience contributing to open-source projects
• Open to exceptional recent graduates with some industry experience (e.g., internships)

Qualities we value

• Self-motivated with high ownership and low ego
• Excited to join a fast-paced, intense, and fun team
• Passion for helping build a world-class engineering culture in Japan
• Ready to work in person with us in Tokyo

 

Stack:

• Backend: TypeScript, Next JS
• Frontend: TypeScript, React

 

Benefits:

• Relocation assistance: Financial support and guidance for relocating to Tokyo if required.
• Workspace: up to JPY2k you can spend on items like chairs, desks, monitors, etc.
• Social events: regular team-building events, outings, and activities to foster a strong company culture.
• Cultural immersion: an opportunity to immerse yourself in Japanese culture, with access to language sessions, cultural events, and local experiences to enrich your personal and professional journey in Japan.

 

About the interview

Phone Screen (10-30min.):

• Virtual Meeting
• This is an informal chat for you to learn more about the role.
• We'll ask for details on past projects. We want to know that you can code and speak about your work clearly.
• You’re welcome to ask many questions about whether working at Carnot makes sense.

 

Tech Screen (40-60min.):

• Virtual Meeting
• You'll meet with our lead dev. He’ll ask you 1-2 coding questions (algorithm design) in your language of preference. We’ll test how you write, test, and debug solutions and identify tradeoffs.

 

Interview (1hr x 1 person):

• In-person meeting (if possible)
• You'll be interviewed by the founder and our lead dev. This will be a deeper dive into your technical abilities and overall fit. Each interview is 1hr, 45min for our questions, and 15min for yours.
• For the technical portion:
  • Systems Design: you'll be asked questions to identify trade-offs when building systems that collect, store, and present data.
  • Coding Exercise: you'll be asked how you write, test, and debug solutions and identify tradeoffs.
• For the “fit” portion:
  • We look for examples of ownership and autonomy but also dig deeper into communication (i.e., how you communicate your approach, solutions, and overall thinking).

 

About Carnot

About our product:
We help large enterprises build automated workflows using plain English. Many enterprises struggle to launch automations quickly because of limited engineering resources and strict security requirements.

We’re changing that with Jinba. Imagine if non-engineers could build and launch enterprise-grade automations as easily as writing an email. That is what we are making possible. Unlike traditional no-code tools that simply bolt a chat agent onto their interface, Jinba is built as a native live-coding platform, designed from the ground up for a smoother and more powerful experience.

What stands out:

• Early-stage startup, not a JTC (Japanese Traditional Company)
• International team in both San Francisco and Tokyo
• Growing fast with several large enterprise contracts
• Strong leadership, with Shoya (CEO) holding a Ph.D. in machine learning