Founding Sr. Engineer

Founding Engineer / Co-Founder (AI-First PropTech Startup)

Location:
Hyderabad, India (on-site)

Compensation:
Comfortable salary to cover expenses + significant equity

Role type:
Full-time, Individual Contributor (future CTO path)

About Us

We're building
zHeight
— an AI-first residential design and permitting company disrupting how homes are designed, reviewed, and approved across the U.S. housing market.

Our mission is to
automate the bottleneck of architecture and permitting
, helping contractors and homeowners get code-compliant plans faster, cheaper, and more reliably — unlocking America's housing supply.

We're growing fast (3.4× YoY, 100+ projects) and now looking for a
true technical co-founder
, not just a "Founding Engineer" in title — someone based in
Hyderabad or ready to move to Hyderabad
, ready to
own the product, ship fast, and shape the future
of AI-driven construction tech.

The Opportunity

This is not a typical startup role. You'll:

• Be the
  entire tech org
  at the start — architecting, coding, deploying, iterating.
• Build and own the
  core AI + workflow engine
  powering plan-checking, feasibility analysis, and design automation.
• Work directly with the U.S. founding team and real customers to translate real-world design workflows into elegant AI-driven systems.
• Operate 10× faster
  using modern AI agents, no-code and automation frameworks — delivering what would have taken 20 engineers in the pre-AI world.
• Shape the company's technology, stack, and product direction from day one.

As we grow and raise our next round, this role
evolves into CTO
, leading the tech team from Hyderabad and scaling a global AI-architecture platform.

What You'll Do

• Design and ship core product features: AI-powered plan checking, design automation, and permitting tools
• Build quick prototypes and evolve them into scalable, production-ready systems
• Collaborate closely with design and operations teams to refine features and solve high-impact problems
• Integrate GPT-based AI agents, Supabase, and modern front-end frameworks or equivalent)
• Make architectural decisions for scalability, data models, and integrations
• Move fast, own outcomes, and continuously improve product performance and usability

What We're Looking For

• Builder DNA
  — you love to ship, own, and iterate
• Strong experience in full-stack development , Python, or similar)
• Hands-on with AI APIs, automation workflows, or SaaS architectures
• Product-oriented mindset — you care about UX, feedback loops, and customer outcomes
• Independent operator:
  thrives in ambiguity, doesn't wait for instructions
• Excited to work closely with founders and users in a fast-moving 0→1 environment
• Based in or willing to relocate to
  Hyderabad

What You Get

• Comfortable salary
  to cover living expenses comfortably
• Significant equity and ownership
  — build what you own, own what you build
• Autonomy:
  freedom to define tech strategy and product direction
• Direct path to CTO
  on success and investor raise
• Career-defining opportunity:
  accelerate your journey to becoming the CTO of a unicorn startup
• The thrill of
  building industry-defining AI tech
  that reshapes residential construction

Ideal Profile

You might be a great fit if:

• You've built (or wanted to build) a startup yourself
• You're curious about AI, automation, and the built environment
• You believe one great engineer with AI can outperform 20 without it
• You want to leave a mark — not just write code

Ready to build the future of housing design from Hyderabad?

Let's talk.

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