Join as the first engineering hire to rebuild the $900B accounting industry using agentic AI. You will own end-to-end product surfaces, from data models to agent behaviors, automating complex workflows like tax preparation and bookkeeping. Working directly with founders, you will turn messy real-world professional services into clean, scalable software that saves firms thousands of hours.
Back to all jobs
Learn about Jack
Founding Product Engineer at Cranston AI
Join a high-growth YC-backed startup as their first engineering hire, building AI agents that automate the $900B accounting industry. As a Founding Product Engineer, you'll own core product surfaces end-to-end, moving from product thinking to live features using state-of-the-art AI implementation tools. If you are a high-agency full-stack engineer who wants to define the future of professional services, this SF-based or remote role offers a rare ground-floor opportunity.
About this role
Role overview
About the company
Cranston AI is a full‑stack AI accounting firm that provides AI software and managed back‑office capacity for CPA firms and accounting teams. Its platform automates key accounting and tax workflows including tax preparation and review, bookkeeping, client requests and follow‑up, practice management, and broader financial analysis. Cranston connects to a firm’s existing systems of record and ingests data from company apps to handle repetitive accounting and compliance work, aiming to replace traditional accounting labor with autonomous AI systems supervised by licensed CPAs. The company focuses on running the back office for CPA firms and for startups and SMBs, helping them reduce accounting costs while increasing speed and accuracy in reconciliation, tax compliance, and ongoing accounting operations.
What you'll do
What you will do
- Own core product workflows for tax prep, bookkeeping, and practice management, building durable abstractions for messy accounting data.
- Design and implement AI agent loops and review systems that automate multi-step professional service processes while maintaining auditability.
- Collaborate directly with founders to translate customer feedback into production-ready features, utilizing AI coding agents to ship at high velocity.
Who you are
Who this is a fit for
- Proven track record of shipping production-quality full-stack applications using React, TypeScript, and PostgreSQL at an early-stage company.
- High agency and comfort navigating ambiguity, with the ability to define product direction from complex, messy real-world customer workflows.
- Advanced proficiency using AI coding tools as a primary development workflow while maintaining a high bar for software quality and performance.
Why this role
Why this role is remarkable
- Ground-floor opportunity as the first engineering hire at a YC F25 startup with real revenue and dozens of customers within 60 days.
- Highly technical founding team with experience from Databricks and leading CPA firms, backed by over $4M in venture capital.
- Deeply operational AI product that moves beyond simple dashboards to handle complex, high-stakes judgment calls in a massive underserved market.
Jack & Jill
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.
Meet Jack
Jack gets to know what you're great at and what you want next, then searches 15 million jobs daily and helps you discover roles at companies like this.
How does this work?
Jack’s an AI agent for job searching and career coaching. He works for you.
Jill is the AI recruiter working for the company. She recruits from Jack’s network.
If it’s a match and the company wants to meet you, they’ll make the intro. In the meantime, if you’d like, Jack will send you excellent alternatives.