Fountane inc

Lead Product Engineer - Pod Captain 

A Little Bit About the Role

There is a version of this role that attracts the wrong person: a senior engineer who wants a title upgrade and a slightly bigger scope. That person will struggle here. The Lead PE is not a promotion for being a great individual engineer. It is a fundamentally different job.

Your success at this level is measured entirely by what your Island delivers — not by the quality of your own code. You will still write code, often the hardest and most risk-laden on the project: auth systems, payment integrations, data migrations, the things nobody else should touch. But that is a fraction of the role. The majority is managing delivery, owning the client relationship on the technical side, unblocking engineers before problems compound, and making scope calls under pressure with incomplete information.

You are also the technical and commercial bridge between your Island and the client. You own every piece of technical communication that goes to them — what is being built, what risks exist, what the honest timeline is. When a client pushes for something technically unsound, you push back directly and professionally, always with an alternative. When something breaks in production, you own the post-mortem process and the client receives it within 24 hours. You protect your team from unfiltered client pressure; you translate it into clear, actionable direction instead.

On top of delivery and client management, you are the AI operating standard for your Island. Every engineer on your pod uses Cursor and Claude within the rules you define. You set those rules before the first line of code is written, govern how they evolve, and you are accountable when AI-generated code ships without being understood.

If you are energised by all of that — by the accountability, by owning outcomes rather than tasks, by the combination of technical depth and people management — this role will suit you well. If you want to spend most of your time in code, this is not the right level.

AI Governance Expectation

You set the AI standard for your entire Island. If an engineer on your pod is shipping AI-generated code they do not understand, or underusing AI tools entirely, both are your problem to fix — not theirs alone.

At Lead level, AI governance means:

• Authoring the .cursorrules file before the first PR is opened. This defines how every engineer on the team writes code, uses Cursor, and structures prompts. You update it as the team learns, and you submit it to the Fountane Mainland at the close of every engagement.
• Evaluating new AI tools before they reach client code. You are the gate. A tool that looks useful in a demo can create untraceable technical debt in production. You decide what enters the workflow.
• Governing prompt discipline across the team: scoped prompts, codebase context hygiene, no AI-generated code that the author cannot explain line by line.
• Using Claude for architecture reasoning, sprint planning, risk documentation, and client-facing technical communication — not just Cursor for code generation. AI works at every layer of the Lead role, not just the coding layer.
• Staying ahead of the Golden Stack. You should know what Cursor and Claude can and cannot do at the codebase level better than anyone on your Island. When the Mainland updates the standard toolchain, you integrate the change into your Island’s workflow first.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Architecture & Standards Ownership

Design the full-stack architecture for every engagement before the first sprint starts: service boundaries, API contracts, database schema, state management strategy across web and mobile surfaces, and the security baseline. Author the .cursorrules file that governs how the entire Island writes code and uses AI. Own the highest-risk code personally — auth systems, payment integrations, live data migrations — these are not delegated regardless of workload. Enforce Mainland security standards across the entire codebase: input validation, correct auth scoping, safe data handling. If a security issue reaches production that was visible in a PR, that is a failure you own.

CE Prototype Gatekeeping

Review every Concept Engineer prototype before any engineer touches it. This is not a courtesy review — you have veto authority. If the scope is technically unrealistic for the sprint, the architecture is unbuildable as specified, or the prototype makes promises the codebase cannot keep, the sprint does not start until those are resolved. The time to surface a structural problem is before it is built, not after it is demoed. Produce a written checklist verdict for every prototype review — approved, approved with conditions, or blocked with reasons.

Client Technical Communication & Scope Ownership

Own all technical communication with the client directly. This means: what is being built each sprint, what risks exist and what is being done about them, honest timelines when estimates change, and clear explanations of technical decisions in plain language. Push back on risky or scope-expanding requests professionally and always with an alternative — “we cannot do X because Y; here is what achieves the same outcome.” Manage scope creep actively: every request that expands the engagement goes through you, gets assessed for impact, and is either absorbed, priced, or declined with a rationale. Renewal conversations are yours to lead in coordination with the CE.

Island Integration Audit

When a prospective client wants fractional augmentation — one or two roles rather than a full Island — you conduct the Island Integration Audit. This means evaluating their existing engineering team against Fountane Mainland SOPs: coding standards, AI tool usage, deployment practices, and documentation quality. If they pass, fractional deployment proceeds. If they do not, you produce a written audit report that either recommends full Island deployment or a Mainland upskilling programme. You are protecting your team’s velocity — a fractional deployment into a dysfunctional team destroys it.

Delivery & Velocity Management

Review the work cycle board every morning. Flag anything stuck, stale, or at risk before it becomes a client problem — not after. Communicate risks to the CE proactively with options, not just problems. Track every engineer’s billing hours: a shortfall spotted on Wednesday is a Thursday conversation, not a Friday surprise. If an engineer is consistently under-billing, that is either a workload problem, a capability problem, or a motivation problem — each has a different resolution and you are responsible for diagnosing which one it is.

Production Incident Ownership

When something breaks in production, you own the resolution process end to end: take technical lead, make the call on rollback vs. hotfix, communicate status to the client directly if the incident affects them, and own the post-mortem. The client receives the post-mortem within 24 hours of resolution — this is a hard commitment, not a target. The post-mortem covers: what happened, why it happened, what was done to fix it, and what structural change prevents recurrence. You produce it; it is not delegated to the engineer who caused the issue.

Automation & Infrastructure Boundary Arbitration

The Automation Engineer owns the test gates within the CI/CD pipeline. The Infrastructure Engineer owns the pipeline configuration itself. When these overlap and conflict — which they will — you arbitrate. The resolution must be documented in the Island’s .cursorrules and SOP onboarding document so the boundary does not need to be relitigated every sprint. This is not optional housekeeping; an unresolved boundary between these two roles is one of the most common sources of deployment failures on Islands.

Full Stack Ownership — Web & Mobile

You review and own work across the entire application layer: React / Next.js web frontends, React Native or Flutter mobile apps, Node.js / Python backends, and database schema. You cannot delegate a review of mobile code because you do not know mobile, or backend code because your background is frontend. If there is a gap in your full-stack depth, that is something to resolve before taking this role, not on the job.

People Management & Mentoring

Hold bi-weekly 1:1s with every engineer on the Island — focused on growth, blockers, and career direction, not status updates. Status belongs on the board; 1:1s are for the person. Address performance gaps early, directly, and specifically: a pattern spotted in week two is a conversation in week two, not month three. Protect the team from unfiltered client anxiety — absorb it, process it, and give the team clear direction instead of noise. If an engineer is struggling, that is your problem to solve before it becomes the client’s problem to notice.

Network Contribution

At the close of every engagement, submit to the Fountane Mainland: the .cursorrules file, all prompt templates used, a short retrospective on what worked and what did not, and any reusable patterns or scripts developed during the engagement. This is a Lead-level obligation, not a nice-to-have. The network’s collective capability grows through what Leads bring back from the field. An engagement that ends without a Mainland submission has left the network no smarter than it was before.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of software engineering experience, with at least two years in a role where you were accountable for delivery outcomes — not just your own code. You should be able to describe an engagement where something went wrong on your watch, what you did about it, and what you would do differently. If your experience is entirely individual-contributor, this role will be a difficult fit.
• Genuinely full stack across web and mobile: React / Next.js, React Native or Flutter, Node.js or Python, and database architecture including schema design and migrations. You review and own work across all of these surfaces — not just the ones you are most comfortable in.
• Hands-on, daily Cursor and Claude usage with the ability to set and enforce standards for how a team uses them — not just personal proficiency. You should be able to describe the .cursorrules file you would write for a standard SMB engagement and explain the decisions behind it.
• Proven ability to communicate technical risk and decisions directly to non-technical clients — not through a PM, directly, in plain language. You should be able to describe a client pushback you navigated and how you handled it.
• Experience managing scope on a real engagement: a client who wanted more than was in the contract, and how you resolved it without damaging the relationship or the team’s velocity.
• Has conducted security-aware architecture design: auth systems, input validation, safe data handling. You should be able to describe a security decision you made and why.
• Has led or coordinated a small engineering team — run 1:1s, addressed performance gaps, made scope calls under pressure. Management experience at a staffing agency or outsourcing firm counts if the accountability was real.
• Comfortable having direct, specific performance conversations early — not after the situation has compounded. You should be able to describe a time you addressed a performance issue at the first sign rather than waiting.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent experience.

About Fountane

Fountane is a technology ventures lab - one part product studio, one part startup engine. We build high-quality software and AI products for clients ranging from fast-moving startups to large enterprises, and we co-build and invest in new companies when we see the right opportunity.

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Minneapolis, we have grown to 60+ people across four continents and were recognised as one of America’s fastest-growing companies, ranking No. 699 on the Inc. 5000 with 595% three-year growth.

We are serious about craft, direct about expectations, and operate at the frontier of AI-assisted engineering. Lead PEs here carry real authority and real accountability — over delivery, over people, and over client outcomes. If that combination is what you are looking for, this is the place.

Automation Tester — Senior (L3)

Island Role  ·  Quality & Domain Function  ·  Full-Time

What this role is

The Automation Tester at L3 is the Island’s quality engineering anchor on engagements where the product has moved beyond greenfield into real, complex business workflows. You are not a junior tester who has picked up a framework. You are someone who has built Playwright suites from scratch, tested against live healthcare platforms, and written automation that actually gates production deployments.

At L3 you are expected to operate without hand-holding. The Lead PE or Lead CE will give you context and acceptance criteria. From there, you own the automation surface of the product. That means Playwright E2E frameworks, it means understanding the healthcare domain the product operates in, and it means leading the quality team through every release cycle.

All three. Not two of three.

The Three Pillars — All mandatory

This role has three non-negotiable pillars. If you cannot demonstrate all three at the time of application, do not apply. There is no partial credit.

01 Automation Framework  —  You build it, maintain it, and own it

You design, develop, and maintain scalable end-to-end automation frameworks using Playwright (preferred), Java, or JavaScript/TypeScript. You are not inheriting someone else’s suite and running it. You are authoring it. AI-assisted via Playwright MCP and Codegen is expected. Untouched Codegen output is not acceptable.

02 Healthcare Domain Expertise  —  Industry knowledge — earned or owned

You understand the real-world clinical and operational workflows the product supports. You know the difference between a UI defect and a broken healthcare workflow. You understand what HIPAA compliance requires at the software level, what FDA software validation entails, and why a broken EHR flow is a different category of failure to a misaligned component. If you have already tested healthcare platforms, your application is stronger for it. If you do not have it yet, you are expected to develop it actively on the job.

03 AI-Driven Testing  —  You implement, not just experiment

You use Playwright MCP, self-healing locators, and agentic test generation as execution tools — AI-assisted, fast, and rigorous. You are expected to deploy these tools in production test suites that gate deployments. If you have never implemented AI-assisted testing beyond running Codegen, do not apply for this role.

What you will own at L3

• Playwright E2E test suites for all production-critical user journeys — written and maintained by you, not inherited
• Cross-browser and cross-device execution strategy via BrowserStack Automate and App Automate
• AI testing integration — Playwright MCP, ZeroStep, or equivalent agentic frameworks deployed in live suites
• CI/CD pipeline integration — GitHub Actions, Jenkins, or GitLab — you own the test gate configuration
• Test management and traceability — BrowserStack Test Management, Jira/Xray, or TestRail — defect log and sign-off decision are yours
• Healthcare compliance validation — ensuring automated suites adhere to HIPAA, FDA software validation, and applicable health data privacy laws
• RESTful API test coverage — Postman, SuperTest, or RestAssured — integrated into the regression cycle
• Release sign-off authority — you decide what blocks a production deployment and what does not
• Mentoring L1 and L2 testers on the Island — reviewing their scripts, correcting their defect logs, and raising the quality bar of the pod
• Setting the automation standard for the Island — if an L1 does not know how to structure a Playwright suite, that is your problem to fix
• Onboarding new Island members to the product’s healthcare domain context — you hold the institutional knowledge of the clinical business logic and are expected to transfer it
• Flagging process gaps upstream — if the CE’s acceptance criteria are too vague to automate against, you raise it before the sprint starts, not after

Proof-based qualifications

We do not assess candidates on years of experience or job titles. We assess candidates on proof of capability. When you apply, you must be prepared to demonstrate the following:

What you must show

Automation Framework

A Playwright test suite you authored for a real product engagement — at least three E2E scenarios, a maintained structure, and evidence of CI/CD integration. Codegen-assisted is fine. Untouched Codegen output is not.

Healthcare Domain

A compliance audit, UAT report, or workflow analysis that demonstrates you understand the healthcare business logic behind the product — not just its interface. EHR, telehealth, or HIPAA-regulated flow analysis preferred.

AI Testing

Evidence of Playwright MCP, self-healing locator implementation, or agentic test generation used in a real or representative project. Describe the problem it solved, not the tool name.

Team Leadership

A concrete example of mentoring a junior QA engineer, defining an Island-level testing standard, or owning a cross-team quality roadmap.

Generic QA certifications and tool lists on a CV are not proof. Showing us actual work output is.

On healthcare domain expertise — a direct note

Healthcare domain expertise at L3 means you can audit a product against the real-world clinical workflow it is supposed to support. An EHR product should behave the way an actual clinician expects it to behave. A telehealth platform should reflect how patients and providers actually interact in a regulated care environment.

If you have already tested products in a regulated healthcare domain — EHR platforms, telehealth applications, HIPAA-compliant insurance systems — your application will be treated as strong from the start. You already know what breaks in that space and why it matters.

If you do not have it yet, you are expected to develop it on the job, through active engagement with the client’s clinical workflows, their regulatory environment, and their competitive landscape. We will not do it for you. You will need to take ownership of your own domain fluency.

Either path is acceptable. Showing up at L3 without any healthcare domain fluency and with no plan to develop it is not.

AI tooling at Fountane

Claude and Cursor are the primary tools for thinking, drafting, and executing work at Fountane. Playwright MCP and Codegen are approved for the Automation Tester function as starting points for test script generation. The expectation is that you use them to accelerate — not to replace — your own judgment about what to test and how.

AI tools are not a listed skill here. They are the working method. If you are not already integrating Claude, Cursor, or Playwright MCP into your daily workflow, you will need to get there fast.

Who should not apply

• You have never written a Playwright test. You plan to learn on the job. This is not the right moment for that.
• Your entire QA background is manual testing. You have not authored or maintained an automation framework in the last two years.
• You treat healthcare compliance as someone else’s concern. You test UIs, not clinical workflows.
• You need a Lead to tell you what to automate before you start building.
• You are looking for a role where the scope is narrow and the deliverables are defined for you each sprint.
• You have experimented with AI testing tools but have not deployed them in a real project.

What comes next

L3 is not a ceiling. The path to Lead Automation Tester requires demonstrated ability to design the full automation strategy for an Island, present quality benchmark reports directly to client executive and clinical stakeholder teams, and manage the quality engineering function independently across multiple product streams. Promotion is not tenure-based. There is no timeline. It is triggered by demonstrated capability at the next level’s complexity tier.

About Fountane

Fountane is a technology ventures lab - one part product studio, one part startup engine. We build high-quality software and AI products for clients ranging from fast-moving startups to large enterprises, and we co-build and invest in new companies when we see the right opportunity.

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Minneapolis, we have grown to 60+ people across four continents and were recognised as one of America’s fastest-growing companies, ranking No. 699 on the Inc. 5000 with 595% three-year growth.

We are serious about craft, direct about expectations, and operate at the frontier of AI-assisted engineering. Lead PEs here carry real authority and real accountability - over delivery, over people, and over client outcomes. If that combination is what you are looking for, this is the place.

What this role is

The market has no shortage of mobile developers who only do mobile, and no shortage of full-stack engineers who have never shipped a production app. This role is neither of those.

You are a Product Engineer whose centre of gravity is mobile. React Native is where you live. You have shipped apps, debugged native integrations, handled platform-specific edge cases, and understand what it actually takes to get something through App Store and Play Store review. That is the non-negotiable foundation.

But at Fountane, Product Engineers build products — not layers. The same feature that lives in a mobile app often has a web surface, an API, a webhook, or a database schema behind it. At L3 you are expected to own the full application surface of what you are building, not hand off the moment the work touches a backend. You will not be doing everything alone — you have a pod. But you will need to be capable of crossing the boundary when the work demands it.

You are joining a permanent Island pod. Your first deployment is to an ongoing client engagement that requires your mobile depth immediately. After that, you are a long-term Islander who will move across engagements as the Mainland deploys you.

What Fountane is actually asking for

We know the market has specialists. We are not pretending this is a standard full-stack role with mobile as a footnote, or a mobile role where full-stack is irrelevant. Mobile is your primary skill. Everything else is your secondary obligation. If you have spent your career going deep on React Native and can hold your own on an API or a web feature when needed, this role fits you.

If you are a pure mobile specialist who cannot — or will not — touch anything outside the app layer, this is not the right fit. Not because we do not respect specialisation, but because Islands do not have room for hard walls between disciplines. The work crosses boundaries. So must you.

What you will own at L3

• React Native application development — the primary mobile codebase, feature delivery, and platform-specific implementation across iOS and Android
• App Store and Play Store release management — build pipelines, submission, review compliance, and versioning
• Native integrations — push notifications, device permissions, biometrics, deep linking, offline-first patterns, and platform SDK integrations where required
• Context Engineering — translating Concept Engineer prototypes and briefs into a clean, scalable mobile architecture using Cursor as your primary execution tool
• API integration and backend contribution — consuming and, where needed, building or modifying the backend services your mobile surfaces depend on
• State management architecture — owning how data flows through the mobile application, not just implementing patterns handed to you
• Cross-platform consistency — ensuring iOS and Android behaviour is intentional and documented, not accidental
• Cursor .cursorrules contribution — maintaining the Island's mobile-specific coding standards and context files so the codebase stays navigable as it grows
• Refactoring and codebase stabilisation — at L3 you are expected to work safely on an existing codebase, not just greenfield. You use Cursor's codebase context to edit and optimise without breaking what already works
• Mentoring L1 and L2 engineers on the Island — reviewing their code, raising the quality bar, and making sure mobile-specific patterns are being applied correctly across the pod

The technology you will be working with

This role is being hired for a specific active engagement. The following is the technology stack in use on this project. If you have not worked with these directly, do not apply.

• React Native — cross-platform mobile, iOS and Android
• TypeScript and JavaScript (ES6+) — the entire codebase is typed
• State management — Zustand and Redux; you need to know both and have an opinion on when to use each
• API integration — RESTful APIs and GraphQL; you will be consuming both
• Push notifications — Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) and Amazon SNS
• List rendering and UI performance — FlatList and related React Native optimisation patterns; this is not optional on a project of this scale
• Git — branching, PR reviews, and version control discipline on a team codebase
• iOS and Android platform guidelines — you understand the design and behavioural expectations of both platforms and implement accordingly

Bonus — useful but not required to apply:

• Native Android (Kotlin/Java) or iOS (Swift/Objective-C) experience
• Mobile testing frameworks — Jest, Detox, React Native Testing Library
• CI/CD pipeline experience for mobile applications
• Performance monitoring and analytics tooling

Proof-based qualifications

We do not assess candidates on years of experience or job titles. We assess on proof of capability. When you apply, be prepared to demonstrate the following:

What we look at

What you must show

2–3 shipped apps

Live applications on the App Store and/or Play Store that you built or were a primary engineer on. Provide links or app names in your application. We will look them up. If you cannot name two shipped apps, do not apply.

React Native + TypeScript

A codebase or feature set demonstrating typed React Native development — components, hooks, context API, and state management using Zustand or Redux. Not a tutorial project.

API and backend integration

A feature where your React Native work connected to a RESTful or GraphQL API — ideally one you also built or modified on the backend side. Show us the integration, not just the consumption.

Cursor-driven workflow

Walk us through how you currently use Cursor and Claude in your build process. Not a demo. A real conversation about how AI tooling has changed how you write and debug code.

A CV listing React Native and a GitHub with no shipped apps is not proof. Show us what you have built.

AI tooling at Fountane

Claude and Cursor are the primary tools for thinking, drafting, and executing work at Fountane. Every Product Engineer — including this one — is expected to use Cursor as their main development environment and Claude for context engineering, debugging, and architectural thinking.

This is not a listed skill. It is the working method. If you are not already building with Cursor and Claude integrated into your daily workflow, you will need to get there fast. The Island's velocity depends on it.

Who should not apply

• You have only built mobile apps backed entirely by third-party services (Firebase, Supabase) and have never touched application logic outside the app layer.
• You cannot name two or more applications you have shipped to the App Store or Play Store.
• You treat mobile as a skin over a web app. You have not handled platform-specific native behaviour, device APIs, or cross-platform edge cases.
• You are not using AI tooling in your current workflow and see it as optional.
• You need a clear boundary around mobile and expect the backend work to always belong to someone else.

What comes next

L3 is not a ceiling. The path to Lead PE — Mobile requires demonstrated ability to orchestrate the Island's full application architecture across mobile and backend, define the .cursorrules for the pod, manage Island velocity, and handle client technical conversations without the Lead CE in the room. Promotion is not tenure-based. It is triggered by demonstrated capability at the next level's complexity tier.

About Fountane

Fountane is a technology ventures lab - one part product studio, one part startup engine. We build high-quality software and AI products for clients ranging from fast-moving startups to large enterprises, and we co-build and invest in new companies when we see the right opportunity.

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Minneapolis, we have grown to 60+ people across four continents and were recognised as one of America’s fastest-growing companies, ranking No. 699 on the Inc. 5000 with 595% three-year growth.

We are radically open-minded, serious about craft, and direct about expectations. If you want to do meaningful work without politics, this is the place.

Fountane Archipelago  ·  Island Role

A Little Bit About the Role

We are looking for a Senior Product Engineer (L3) who thrives in complexity. Most engineers build on blank canvases — you build on someone else’s mess and leave it better than you found it.

The majority of your work at L3 will be on existing, live codebases — disorganised, partially documented, built by multiple teams over multiple years. Your job is to enter those systems, understand them before touching them, extend and clean them without breaking what works, and progressively bring them up to a standard where AI tooling can accelerate further development. This is the core of what L3 does at Fountane. If you have only built greenfield projects, this role will be hard.

You are expected to be genuinely full stack: comfortable owning web applications and mobile apps, the frontend, backend, database, state management, and API integration layer — without needing to hand off to a specialist.

You will work closely with the Concept Engineer on your Island — translating their prototypes into production architecture, raising technical blockers early, and keeping the sprint honest. You will also review code, mentor junior engineers, respond to production incidents, and contribute to the network’s shared knowledge base.

All of this is done primarily with Cursor and Claude as your execution and reasoning tools. AI-assisted engineering is not a feature of this role — it is the method.

AI-First Engineering Expectation

Cursor and Claude are your primary tools — not supplements. Engineers at L3 who are not using AI at the codebase level are not operating at this level.

At L3, AI-assisted engineering means:

• Loading full codebase context into Cursor before writing a single line — understanding the system before touching it.
• Writing scoped, precise refactor prompts that isolate changes to one concern at a time.
• Using Cursor to generate tests that document existing behaviour before any restructuring begins.
• Using Claude for architecture reasoning, decision documentation, and translating CE briefs into structured technical plans.
• Producing inline documentation and decision records as part of the AI-assisted workflow — not as an afterthought.
• Sharing effective prompt patterns and Cursor discoveries with the broader Fountane network — kept to yourself, they are a missed contribution.

Key Responsibilities

Legacy Codebase Refactoring & the Cleaning Phase

This is the primary L3 engagement type at Fountane. You will be handed existing, partially documented codebases — built by previous teams, often without tests, with inconsistent patterns — and your job is to refactor them into a clean, AI-promptable state without losing existing functionality. You use Cursor’s codebase context window to navigate safely, write characterisation tests before touching anything, and make changes in small, reviewable increments. The standard is: every module you leave should be easier to extend by AI tooling than when you found it.

Full Stack Development — Web & Mobile

Build and own the full application layer: React / Next.js web frontends, React Native or Flutter mobile apps, Node.js / Python backends, and relational and non-relational databases. You should be able to pick up web or mobile on any engagement without needing a handoff. Schema design, data modelling, and state architecture are yours to own — including diagnosing and fixing broken or leaking state in existing frontends.

Third-Party API Integrations

Integrate complex third-party services — payments (Stripe), communications (Twilio), auth (Auth0), and others — reliably and without creating brittle dependencies. Own the integration layer end to end: error handling, retries, failure modes, and documentation. If a third-party integration is flaky in production, that is your problem to own.

CE Collaboration & Sprint Integrity

Work directly with the Concept Engineer to translate prototypes into buildable technical plans. Review CE briefs before the sprint starts — if the scope is technically unrealistic, the time to say so is before work begins, not on demo day. Raise blockers against acceptance criteria proactively. You are the technical check on what the CE promises the client.

Security Awareness

Write code that does not require the Lead to security-audit every line. This means: input validation by default, no hardcoded secrets, correct auth scoping, safe handling of user data, and awareness of common vulnerabilities (injection, broken auth, insecure direct object references) in the context of the stacks you work in. You are not the security architect — the Lead owns that — but you are expected to produce code that does not introduce obvious vulnerabilities.

Production Incident Response

When something breaks in production, you are on it. Diagnose the issue, apply a safe fix or rollback, document what happened and why, and hand a clear summary to the Lead for the client post-mortem. Speed matters, but a bad fix that causes a second incident is worse than a slow fix that is correct. Response expectation: acknowledged within 1 hour, resolved or escalated with a clear status within 4 hours.

Codebase Navigation & Safe Refactoring

On all engagements — not just Cleaning Phase work — keep changes small, focused, and reviewable. One type of change per commit. Write tests that document existing behaviour before restructuring. Leave every module easier to understand than when you found it.

Code Review

Review pull requests from L1 and L2 engineers with specific, actionable feedback — not rubber-stamp approvals. A good code review at L3 leaves the author understanding what to do differently next time, not just what to fix now. Review weekly; do not let PRs age.

Mentoring

Review junior engineers’ code weekly with specific, useful feedback — this is distinct from quality-gate code review. The goal here is teaching, not gatekeeping. Run monthly pairing sessions to help them grow. The measure of good mentoring is whether they are becoming more capable and less dependent on you over time.

Documentation

Write short decision records when you make significant technical choices. Leave every module you touch easier to understand than when you found it. Treat documentation as part of the engineering work, not a separate task you do at the end.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience as a software engineer, with a strong track record on real production codebases you did not build from scratch — incomplete documentation, inconsistent patterns, other people’s decisions. If your experience is primarily greenfield, this role will be a difficult fit.
• Genuinely full stack across web and mobile: proficient in React / Next.js and at least one of React Native or Flutter, Node.js or Python on the backend, and comfortable with both relational and non-relational databases including schema design.
• Hands-on, daily Cursor and Claude usage at the codebase level. You should be able to describe concretely how you use AI in your engineering workflow — not in general terms.
• Experience integrating complex third-party APIs in production environments — not just following a quickstart guide. You should be able to describe an integration that failed in production and what you did about it.
• Solid security awareness for the stacks you work in: input validation, auth scoping, safe data handling. You do not need a security specialism, but you should not be writing code that introduces obvious vulnerabilities.
• Has conducted meaningful code reviews that improved the code and the author, not just approved the PR.
• Has coached or mentored junior engineers before, and done it well.
• Comfortable with production incident response — diagnosing issues under pressure, applying safe fixes, and communicating clearly to a Lead or client about what happened.
• Treats documentation as part of the job, not an afterthought.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent experience.

About Fountane

Fountane is a technology ventures lab - one part product studio, one part startup engine. We build high-quality software and AI products for clients ranging from fast-moving startups to large enterprises, and we co-build and invest in new companies when we see the right opportunity.

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Minneapolis, we have grown to 60+ people across four continents and were recognised as one of America’s fastest-growing companies, ranking No. 699 on the Inc. 5000 with 595% three-year growth.

We are radically open-minded, serious about craft, and direct about expectations. If you want to do meaningful work without politics, this is the place.