{"id":1244971,"url":"https://alion.io/job/carma-founding-head-of-engineering-react-node-js-nestjs-postgresql","title":"Founding Head of Engineering (React / Node.js / NestJS / PostgreSQL)","company":{"id":3778998,"name":"Carma","domain":"joincarma.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/carma-3","size_band":"11-50","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Work at a Startup","truth_index":null},"role":"Frontend","role_family":"Frontend","seniority":"head","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["San Francisco, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":200000,"max":250000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":250000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":3,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"AWS","optional":false},{"name":"Docker","optional":false},{"name":"Nest.JS","optional":false},{"name":"Node JS","optional":false},{"name":"PostgreSQL","optional":false},{"name":"Prisma","optional":false},{"name":"React.js","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-25T17:14:49Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-25","last_verified_at":"2026-09-26T23:44:55Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":1,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":1},"description":"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.\nThis 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.\nJob Type: Full-time\nDepartment: Engineering\nLocation: San Francisco (In-Person)\nSalary: $200K - $250K\nEquity: 3.00% - 5.00%\nAbout Carma\nCarma is building an AI-native platform that transforms fleet operations from tedious, manual work into effortless, automated workflows.\nWe’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.\nBacked 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.\nWe’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.\nOur Values\nAct with Urgency: We move swiftly from decision to action - prioritizing impact, cutting through complexity, and delivering results without delay.\n\nLead with Grit: We tackle every challenge with persistence, ingenuity, and resilience - turning obstacles into opportunities for growth and excellence.\n\nEarn and Keep Trust: We build credibility through honesty, accountability, and transparency - doing what’s right even when no one’s watching.\n\nThe Role\nWe’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.\nYou 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).\nYou’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.\nThis is not a people-manager role: it’s a hands-on technical leadership role for someone who leads by example.\nWhat You’ll Do\nShip full-stack product features across our core app and AI-powered workflows\nOwn critical parts of the codebase and architecture as a hands-on contributor\nTranslate high-level product goals into concrete backend + frontend implementations\nMake smart tradeoffs in speed, scope, reliability, and UX\nLead technical execution across the engineering team by:Breaking down work into clear tasks\nSetting technical direction and standards\nProviding code reviews, feedback, and mentorship\n\nMake and own high-level technical decisions (e.g. infrastructure, scalability, system design)\nWork closely with product, business, and operations teams across sprints to move fast and stay aligned\nTouch every part of the stack: React, NestJS, PostgreSQL, Prisma ORM, AWS\nAbout You - What We’re Looking For\nMust-Haves\n4-7 years building full-stack products in production environments\nStrong across both frontend and backend\nProven ability to ship complex systems end-to-end\nStrong product-oriented mindset and business judgment\nAbility to take a vague problem statement and own the solution through shipping\nComfortable making architectural decisions and standing behind them\nExperience providing technical guidance and feedback to other engineers\nNo ego, no drama - just high-context execution and good judgment\nExcellent communication skills and responsiveness\nComfortable operating in fast-moving, ambiguous, high-ownership environments\nInterest in the automotive or logistics space\nIdeal Candidate Has\nBuilt and shipped products with real, active users\nExperience at a high-growth startup or market-leading tech company with increasing responsibility\nExperience building complex, workflow-driven B2B SaaS products (Vanta, Ramp, Gusto, etc.)\nHas naturally taken on technical leadership responsibilities without needing a formal title\nNot a Fit If\nYou want to primarily manage people instead of writing code\nYou’re looking for a 9-5 with fixed hours\nYou’re looking for remote or hybrid work\nYou prioritize or think about work-life balance often\nYou need rigid structure or heavy hand-holding\nYou struggle to balance strategic technical decisions with hands-on execution\nYou lead with ego instead of curiosity, collaboration, and accountability\nWhy In-Person in SF Matters\nYou’ll work shoulder-to-shoulder with a cracked sales and product team of former founders and industry experts in their 20s.\n\nDecisions happen live, not in backlogged async threads.\nA players work with A players. There’s a buzzing energy in the office. Hit the whiteboard with anyone here and you’ll understand why.\n\nBenefits\n100% premium medical, dental & vision coverage for you and your dependents\nUnlimited PTO + major federal holidays\nDoorDash stipend + all meals covered in-office\nGym membership covered\nFrequent team dinners, events, and off-sites\nThe opportunity to transform and take over a legacy, multi-billion-dollar industry\nCarma Interview Process: Behavioral Virtual Interview (30 min), Technical Zoom Screen (60min), Live Coding Challenge (120 min), Offer\nNOTE: We run a highly-efficient, high-velocity interview process and expect candidates who can keep up. Strong candidates go from first conversation to offer in 1-2 days, not weeks or months.\nThis 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.","description_format":"text","description_chars":6065,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":3,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity","Gym membership","Hybrid work","Unlimited PTO"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Fleet Management","Supply Chain & Logistics Software"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-25T17:14:49Z"}],"liveness":{"score":86,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.86,"p_room":1,"age_days":0,"expected_fill_days":27,"reasons":["conf:5","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-09-26T05:45:00Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":250000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/carma-founding-head-of-engineering-react-node-js-nestjs-postgresql","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/carma-founding-head-of-engineering-react-node-js-nestjs-postgresql.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-09-27T02:14:47Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","usage":{"tier":"crawler","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":2007,"day_limit":5000,"remaining_today":2993,"minute_limit":60,"resets_at":"2026-09-28T00:00:00Z"}}}