Founding Systems Engineer
Mesa
Software Engineering
USD 200k-300k / year + Equity
Posted on May 5, 2026
🏜️
Founding Systems Engineer
📍San Francisco
Sound like a good fit? Email founders@mesa.dev.
Our mission
Mesa is building a new GitHub: not just for code, but for all knowledge work.
The role
We’re seeking someone with the hardcore software engineering skills required to build distributed systems, optimize performance, and design beautiful developer interfaces.
You’ll be responsible for various parts of the product at a low level, including Mesa’s version control system, virtual filesystem, build systems, and observability.
Our tech stack is:
Typescript (NodeJS)
Rust
Bazel
Pulumi
Our team & investors
Mesa is led by two repeat founders
Oliver Gilan (CEO) - prev co-founded Antimetal, ex Census, Microsoft
Benjamin Warren (CTO) - ex YC, Census, Microsoft
We are backed by deeply technical investors including Innovation Endeavors, Essence VC, South Park Commons, Thomas Wolf (CSO @ Hugging Face), Soleio, and others.
Why build Mesa?
Solve a high-leverage problem: A new type of software stack is being born around the development of software driven by agents. Solving part or all of that stack is a great way to create value.
Push technical boundaries: The next GitHub won’t just GitHub with a little better design or federated infrastructure. It’ll require entirely novel software to be built.
Build for yourself: A forge for knowledge work must, first and foremost, be useful for the knowledge work that is software development.
You’ll be a good fit if you…
Are driven by product outcomes. You care more about the end-user experience than the tech stack or planning process.
Care about the craft: The world of software is splitting into slop on one side and well-crafted software on the other side. Mesa is focused on building high-quality software.
Want to grind and be recognized. Effort is the only input that is entirely in our control. If you are compelled by a grand mission, high effort feels easy.
Location
We are based in San Francisco and work in-person every day from our office in downtown FiDi. We work from home on weekends.
Compensation & Benefits
Compensation: $200k - $300k, 0.4% - 1% equity.
Healthcare: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision for you and your family. We also provide $300/mo wellness stipend.
Transportation: We provide a stipend for your commute to the office.
Other: We provide free lunch and dinner when staying late in the office.