As the Founding Engineer at River, you will architect the real-time infrastructure and backend systems powering “Liv,” an AI agent that joins live video calls to demo products and close deals. You’ll own everything from WebRTC media pipelines and low-latency streaming to production reliability, shipping end-to-end features in a high-ownership, NYC-based environment.
Founding Engineer at River
River is hiring a Founding Engineer in NYC to build the world’s first AI sales agents that join live video calls and close deals in real-time. Backed by a $2M pre-seed from the founders of Ramp and Kalshi, you’ll own the low-latency infrastructure and WebRTC pipelines that power our agent, Liv. If you have 5+ years of production backend experience and a background in real-time systems, this is your chance to join an elite team at the ground floor and solve the massive problem of inbound sales friction.
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Location
New York, United States
Compensation
$170k-$220k + Equity
Company
River
Role overview
AI Sales
River builds AI voice agents that sell. Backed the founders of Ramp and Kalshi.
What you will do
- Architect and maintain high-performance WebRTC media pipelines and low-latency streaming infrastructure to ensure AI sales calls feel seamless and human-like.
- Scale production backend systems and inference serving using TypeScript and Node, managing everything from cloud deployments to CI/CD and observability.
- Ship end-to-end product features that directly impact how buyers interact with AI, moving from infrastructure scaling to product-facing improvements daily.
Who this is a fit for
- Has 5+ years of experience running production backend systems with personal ownership of reliability, including on-call rotation and incident management.
- Demonstrates deep expertise in real-time, low-latency, or streaming technologies like WebRTC, media servers, or high-throughput APIs from a tier-1 technical pedigree.
- Operates as a high-ownership generalist who can manage complex cloud infrastructure unassisted while maintaining a relentless focus on shipping production-ready code.
Why this role is remarkable
- Join an elite $2M pre-seed startup backed by the founders of Ramp, Kalshi, and Lean at the ground floor in New York City.
- Solve a massive market problem by building AI agents that eliminate scheduling friction and handle high-volume SMB deals autonomously in real-time.
- Exercise total technical ownership, making critical architectural calls and shipping product features directly alongside the founding team without the need for specs.
How Jack & Jill work together
I get to know what you’re great at, then find roles you’d never find yourself.Ok, I'll go first. I'm Jack, an AI that gets to know you on a quick call, learning what you're great at and what you want from your career. Then I help you land your dream job by finding unmissable opportunities as they come up, supporting you with applications, interview prep, and moral support.
I recruit from Jack’s network and make the intro when I spot a great match.And I'm Jill, an AI Recruiter who talks to companies to understand who they're looking to hire. Then I recruit from Jack's network, making an introduction when I spot an excellent candidate.
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If your profile’s a match and River wants to meet, Jill will make the intro. In the meantime, Jack will send you excellent alternatives.