Founding Head of Engineering (React / Node.js / NestJS / PostgreSQL)
Joincarma, San Francisco, CA, United States
NOTE: We run a highly-efficient, high-velocity interview process and expect candidates who can keep up. Strong candidates often go from first conversation to offer in 1-2 days, not weeks or months.
This process is a signal. We respect candidates’ time, give fast, clear feedback, and expect decisiveness in return. If this pace excites you, you’ll thrive here.
Job Type:
Full-time
Department:
Engineering
Location:
San Francisco (In-Person)
Salary:
$200K — $250K
Equity:
3.00% — 5.00%
About Carma
Carma is building an AI-native platform that transforms fleet operations from tedious, manual work into effortless, automated workflows.
We’re the fastest-growing company in fleet management software. Carma already powers some of the largest fleets in the U.S., including Fortune 500 clients, saving operations teams thousands of hours by eliminating busywork and keeping vehicles on the road.
Backed by Soma Capital, Y Combinator, the founders of Superhuman, and top-tier investors, we raised our $5.5M seed and are sprinting toward a Series A in 2026.
We’re hiring the top 0.1% of engineers who want real ownership and impact—starting Day 1, you’ll build and ship fast to production for enterprise clients. Fleet operations run in real time, so your work is immediately used in the field and gets real customer feedback in hours, not months.
Our Values
Act with Urgency:
We move swiftly from decision to action — prioritizing impact, cutting through complexity, and delivering results without delay.
Lead with Grit:
We tackle every challenge with persistence, ingenuity, and resilience — turning obstacles into opportunities for growth and excellence.
Earn and Keep Trust:
We build credibility through honesty, accountability, and transparency — doing what’s right even when no one’s watching.
The Role
We’re hiring a Head of Engineering to own key product features end-to-end as an individual contributor, while also serving as the technical leader of the engineering team.
You will spend the vast majority of your time writing production code across the stack. In addition, you’ll be responsible for coordinating work across engineers, providing technical feedback, and making high-level engineering decisions (e.g. infrastructure, system design, and long-term technical direction).
You’ll get high-level product direction and be trusted to scope, design, and build the right solution — quickly and independently. This is a role for someone who knows how to unblock themselves and others, drill into ambiguity, and ship without waiting on perfect specs.
This is not a people-manager role: it’s a hands-on technical leadership role for someone who leads by example.
What You’ll Do
Ship full-stack product features across our core app and AI-powered workflows
Own critical parts of the codebase and architecture as a hands‑on contributor
Translate high‑level product goals into concrete backend + frontend implementations
Make smart tradeoffs in speed, scope, reliability, and UX
Lead technical execution across the engineering team by:
Breaking down work into clear tasks
Setting technical direction and standards
Providing code reviews, feedback, and mentorship
Make and own high-level technical decisions (e.g. infrastructure, scalability, system design)
Work closely with product, business, and operations teams across sprints to move fast and stay aligned
Touch every part of the stack:
React, NestJS, PostgreSQL, Prisma ORM, AWS
About You — What We’re Looking For
Must-Haves
4–7 years building full‑stack products in production environments
Strong across both frontend and backend
Proven ability to ship complex systems end‑to‑end
Strong product‑oriented mindset and business judgment
Ability to take a vague problem statement and own the solution through shipping
Comfortable making architectural decisions and standing behind them
Experience providing technical guidance and feedback to other engineers
No ego, no drama — just high‑context execution and good judgment
Excellent communication skills and responsiveness
Comfortable operating in fast‑moving, ambiguous, high‑ownership environments
Interest in the automotive or logistics space
Ideal Candidate Has
Built and shipped products with real, active users
Experience at a high‑growth startup or market‑leading tech company with increasing responsibility
Experience building complex, workflow‑driven B2B SaaS products (Vanta, Ramp, Gusto, etc.)
Has naturally taken on technical leadership responsibilities without needing a formal title
Not a Fit If
You want to primarily manage people instead of writing code
You’re looking for a 9–5 with fixed hours
You’re looking for remote or hybrid work
You prioritize or think about work‑life balance often
You need rigid structure or heavy hand‑holding
You struggle to balance strategic technical decisions with hands‑on execution
You lead with ego instead of curiosity, collaboration, and accountability
Why In‑Person in SF Matters
You’ll work shoulder‑to‑shoulder with a cracked sales and product team
of former founders and industry experts in their 20s.
Decisions happen live, not in backlogged async threads.
A players work with A players.
There’s a buzzing energy in the office. Hit the whiteboard with anyone here and you’ll understand why.
Benefits
100% premium medical, dental & vision coverage for you and your dependents
Unlimited PTO + major federal holidays
DoorDash stipend + all meals covered in‑office
Gym membership covered
Frequent team dinners, events, and off‑sites
The opportunity to transform and take over a legacy, multi‑billion‑dollar industry
#J-18808-Ljbffr
This process is a signal. We respect candidates’ time, give fast, clear feedback, and expect decisiveness in return. If this pace excites you, you’ll thrive here.
Job Type:
Full-time
Department:
Engineering
Location:
San Francisco (In-Person)
Salary:
$200K — $250K
Equity:
3.00% — 5.00%
About Carma
Carma is building an AI-native platform that transforms fleet operations from tedious, manual work into effortless, automated workflows.
We’re the fastest-growing company in fleet management software. Carma already powers some of the largest fleets in the U.S., including Fortune 500 clients, saving operations teams thousands of hours by eliminating busywork and keeping vehicles on the road.
Backed by Soma Capital, Y Combinator, the founders of Superhuman, and top-tier investors, we raised our $5.5M seed and are sprinting toward a Series A in 2026.
We’re hiring the top 0.1% of engineers who want real ownership and impact—starting Day 1, you’ll build and ship fast to production for enterprise clients. Fleet operations run in real time, so your work is immediately used in the field and gets real customer feedback in hours, not months.
Our Values
Act with Urgency:
We move swiftly from decision to action — prioritizing impact, cutting through complexity, and delivering results without delay.
Lead with Grit:
We tackle every challenge with persistence, ingenuity, and resilience — turning obstacles into opportunities for growth and excellence.
Earn and Keep Trust:
We build credibility through honesty, accountability, and transparency — doing what’s right even when no one’s watching.
The Role
We’re hiring a Head of Engineering to own key product features end-to-end as an individual contributor, while also serving as the technical leader of the engineering team.
You will spend the vast majority of your time writing production code across the stack. In addition, you’ll be responsible for coordinating work across engineers, providing technical feedback, and making high-level engineering decisions (e.g. infrastructure, system design, and long-term technical direction).
You’ll get high-level product direction and be trusted to scope, design, and build the right solution — quickly and independently. This is a role for someone who knows how to unblock themselves and others, drill into ambiguity, and ship without waiting on perfect specs.
This is not a people-manager role: it’s a hands-on technical leadership role for someone who leads by example.
What You’ll Do
Ship full-stack product features across our core app and AI-powered workflows
Own critical parts of the codebase and architecture as a hands‑on contributor
Translate high‑level product goals into concrete backend + frontend implementations
Make smart tradeoffs in speed, scope, reliability, and UX
Lead technical execution across the engineering team by:
Breaking down work into clear tasks
Setting technical direction and standards
Providing code reviews, feedback, and mentorship
Make and own high-level technical decisions (e.g. infrastructure, scalability, system design)
Work closely with product, business, and operations teams across sprints to move fast and stay aligned
Touch every part of the stack:
React, NestJS, PostgreSQL, Prisma ORM, AWS
About You — What We’re Looking For
Must-Haves
4–7 years building full‑stack products in production environments
Strong across both frontend and backend
Proven ability to ship complex systems end‑to‑end
Strong product‑oriented mindset and business judgment
Ability to take a vague problem statement and own the solution through shipping
Comfortable making architectural decisions and standing behind them
Experience providing technical guidance and feedback to other engineers
No ego, no drama — just high‑context execution and good judgment
Excellent communication skills and responsiveness
Comfortable operating in fast‑moving, ambiguous, high‑ownership environments
Interest in the automotive or logistics space
Ideal Candidate Has
Built and shipped products with real, active users
Experience at a high‑growth startup or market‑leading tech company with increasing responsibility
Experience building complex, workflow‑driven B2B SaaS products (Vanta, Ramp, Gusto, etc.)
Has naturally taken on technical leadership responsibilities without needing a formal title
Not a Fit If
You want to primarily manage people instead of writing code
You’re looking for a 9–5 with fixed hours
You’re looking for remote or hybrid work
You prioritize or think about work‑life balance often
You need rigid structure or heavy hand‑holding
You struggle to balance strategic technical decisions with hands‑on execution
You lead with ego instead of curiosity, collaboration, and accountability
Why In‑Person in SF Matters
You’ll work shoulder‑to‑shoulder with a cracked sales and product team
of former founders and industry experts in their 20s.
Decisions happen live, not in backlogged async threads.
A players work with A players.
There’s a buzzing energy in the office. Hit the whiteboard with anyone here and you’ll understand why.
Benefits
100% premium medical, dental & vision coverage for you and your dependents
Unlimited PTO + major federal holidays
DoorDash stipend + all meals covered in‑office
Gym membership covered
Frequent team dinners, events, and off‑sites
The opportunity to transform and take over a legacy, multi‑billion‑dollar industry
#J-18808-Ljbffr