Overview
Cua is building the infrastructure that enables general-purpose AI agents to safely and scalably use real computers and applications.
We're a small team backed by
Y Combinator
and top-tier investors, and our open-source tools are already used by thousands of developers. As a
Founding Engineer
, you’ll help turn research prototypes into production-ready infrastructure - powering everything from secure agent runtimes to cross-cloud container orchestration.
We’re looking for someone who brings deep technical ability, strong product instincts, and an eagerness to operate across layers - from OS-level virtualization to developer-facing APIs. You’ll work closely with the founding team on infrastructure design, developer tools, and open-source community building.
Your contributions will shape how autonomous agents interact with real computers at scale - across macOS, Windows and Linux - and how developers deploy and trust them in production environments.
Cua is for builders who care about reproducibility, system safety, and the developer experience of working with AI. If that sounds like you, we’d love to talk.
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Responsibilities
Design and scale infrastructure to run real AI agents on isolated macOS and Linux containers
Build orchestration systems across cloud providers (AWS, GCP, etc.) for deploying ephemeral agent environments
Create intuitive APIs and CLIs for developers to launch and control agents
Contribute to the design of secure, reproducible agent runtimes using Docker, KVM, or similar technologies
Work closely with early customers, open-source contributors, and the founding team to define roadmap and architecture
Publish engineering updates, blog posts, and technical documentation to grow the ecosystem
Participate in product discussions, contribute to internal research, and help drive long-term technical vision
---
Qualifications
Required:
2+ years building and maintaining production infrastructure systems
Proficiency in one or more of:
Python
,
Go
,
TypeScript
, or
Rust
Experience with backend system design, containers, and cloud environments
Strong interest in developer tools, AI infrastructure, or distributed systems
Comfortable operating in a fast-moving, ambiguous, startup environment
Preferred:
Experience with
Docker
,
KVM
, or other OS-level virtualization
Familiarity with multi-cloud deployment and networking (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure)
Performance optimization and debugging experience (e.g., PostgreSQL tuning, cluster orchestration)
Experience working with AI agents, LLM-generated code, or Copilot-style tools
Prior open-source contributions or community involvement
Based in or willing to relocate to
SF
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What We Offer
Early-stage ownership
- Join as a founding engineer with equity and high influence
Real traction
- 9k+ GitHub stars and growing community of developers
Technical scope
- From system internals to developer UX to open-source leadership
Impact
- Define how general AI agents run safely and scalably in production
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How to Apply
Please include:
Your
GitHub
or portfolio (required)
A short note on the most interesting developer or infrastructure problem you’ve helped solve
Bonus: try building something with
Cua
or contribute to our docs - we notice contributors
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The base salary range for this role in San Francisco is $100,000-$150,000 USD per year, depending on experience and skill level. This role also includes equity and other benefits.
Cua AI, Inc. is committed to fair and transparent compensation. We encourage applicants from all backgrounds to apply, regardless of gender, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or belief.
Personal data will be handled in accordance with the GDPR (EU Regulation 2016/679) and other applicable data privacy laws.