Salary Range: $150,000–$250,000/year (Range shown is for U.S.-based employees. Compensation outside the U.S. is adjusted fairly based on your country’s cost of living. You can explore how we calculate this here: https://posthog.com/handbook/people/compensation.)
Equity Range: 0.10%–0.20%
Location: San Francisco, CA (Hybrid) OR Remote
Job Type: Full-Time (SF) OR Contract (Remote)
Experience: 3+ years
Visa: US Citizenship/Visa required for SF; N/A for Remote
About FirecrawlFirecrawl is the easiest way to extract data from the web. Developers use us to reliably convert URLs into LLM-ready markdown or structured data with a single API call. In just a year, we’ve hit millions in ARR and 50k+ GitHub stars by building the fastest way for developers to get LLM-ready data.
Previously, we built Mendable, one of the first commercially available “chat with your data” applications. We sold to companies like MongoDB, Coinbase, Snapchat, and more. To do this, we spent a surprising amount of time building reliable infrastructure for getting clean data from the web. When we started to see our founding friends rebuilding the same thing, we thought we might be on to something.
Why FirecrawlTechnical ownership – Lead critical browser technology and infrastructure
Real impact – Directly shape how our browser stack drives our entire product
High velocity – Rapid iteration and deployment of your work
Small team, big ambition – Collaborate closely with founders, influencing key decisions and future directions
We’re looking for a Senior Software Engineer with deep experience in building scalable, reliable backend systems. You’ll work on the core services that make Firecrawl the go-to API for clean, structured web data. If you thrive in fast-moving environments, care deeply about clean abstractions, and love building high-performance systems, you’ll fit right in.
What You’ll DoDesign, build, and maintain Firecrawl’s API layer (TypeScript, Express, Rust)
Optimize and scale our PostgreSQL-backed data models for speed and reliability
Implement robust job queues, caching layers, and credit metering logic
Deploy and manage services in Kubernetes (GKE) with CI/CD
Improve monitoring, observability, and fault tolerance across our stack
Collaborate with the infra, browser, and product teams to bring new features to life
Help evolve our architecture to support 10x more scale and usage
5+ years of experience building production-grade backend systems
Expert in TypeScript, Node.js, Express, Rust, and PostgreSQL
Comfortable designing APIs and working across services
Experience deploying and scaling apps in Kubernetes
Familiar with Redis, job queues, rate limiting, and background task processing
Enjoy working autonomously and pushing projects from idea to launch
Pragmatic, fast-moving, and excited about working on a large scale system
Experience scaling queue-based APIs under high traffic
Familiarity with distributed systems and event-driven architectures
Past work on developer platforms or scraping tools
Open-source contributions
Previous startup experience or ex-founder
High Leverage — Your processes directly amplify our growth.
Autonomy — Own your domain; we care about outcomes, not hours.
Remote-First Culture — Work at our new SF office, while collaborating with our remote team.
Growth Opportunity — Early equity and a role that scales with the company.
Creative Freedom — Experiment with new features and systems. If it works, we run with it.
Salary that makes sense — $150,000–$250,000 (U.S.-based), based on impact, not tenure
Own a piece — 0.10%–0.30% equity in what you’re helping build
Full coverage, no red tape (SF Only) — Medical, dental, and vision plans that cover stuff
Parental leave — 12 weeks fully paid, for moms and dads
Take a break (seriously) — Unlimited PTO, minimum of 3 weeks off
Gear up — Get the tools you need to do your best work, no approvals circus
Wellness stipend — Use it for the gym, therapy, or whatever keeps you human
SF HQ perks — Snacks, drinks, lunches, and the occasional chaotic energy
Pet insurance (SF Only) — Because fur babies are family too
Team offsites — A change of scenery, minus the trust falls
Sabbatical — 3 paid months off after 4 years, do something fun and new
Application Review – Send us your stuff, and a quick note on why you're excited
Interview (~30 min) with Alex, our AI Interviewer
Intro Chat (~25 min) – Quick alignment call with the CTO
Technical Interview (~1 hr) – Tackle a small challenge
Interview with Founders (~30 min) – Culture, vision, and long-term fit
Paid Work Trial (1–2 weeks) – Work on something real with us
Decision – We move fast
If you’ve ever wanted to own a product-critical system and build alongside founders, this is your moment. Apply now and let’s talk.
