About the role

Role overview

Founding Software Engineer — Product at Roark. Own the product “surfaces” customers interact with, taking features from a customer sentence to production while working closely with the people using what you ship.

Responsibilities

Design and build product surfaces end-to-end:
- Next.js/React frontend
- GraphQL API
- Postgres data model (schema to UI)
Turn messy real-world workflows (e.g., test suites, issue triage, run reviews) into interfaces that are intuitive.
Partner directly with design on a craft-focused system; provide feedback and push back when something feels off.
Sit in on customer calls, observe usage, and ship fixes the same week.
Raise engineering quality standards:
- Use tests where they add real value
- Add instrumentation broadly
- Avoid silent failures.

Requirements

4+ years building production web applications
Deep TypeScript and React experience
Ability to own features across the stack (API design, data modeling, UI polish)
Strong product taste (attention to spacing, latency, and empty states)
Bias toward shipping quickly (small, usable increments first)
Clear written communication (remote-first; document decisions and work).

Nice to have

GraphQL experience (e.g., Pothos/Yoga)
Drizzle or event-driven backends
Experience building developer tools, dashboards, or observability products

About Roark (YC W25)

Roark (YC W25) builds a developer and customer-facing product platform for managing calls, scoring, issues, and verified fixes. The company focuses on shipping high-quality product experiences end-to-end, from interface design to reliable backend systems.