Principal Engineer

@A Leading BioTech VC

Pay Range

$210,000 - $260,000

Contract

About the Company

Posthaste Labs is a boutique consulting firm that provides development and data services to VCs and startups. Our focus is on building the highest quality products that will enable our customers to quickly gain traction in the market while ensuring that their code and data ecosystems are robust and able to scale.

About the Role

As a Principal Engineer with Posthaste Labs, you will lead the architecture and development of the client's core web applications while driving the strategy for integrating AI workflows into the development and operational lifecycle. Your primary focus will be building the tooling, patterns, and infrastructure that enable AI agents to efficiently and autonomously manage, maintain, and evolve the application — from automated code generation and review to self-healing deployments and intelligent monitoring. The tech stack is built on React, Next.js, and TypeScript, deployed on Vercel, and you will be responsible for shaping how AI capabilities are woven into every layer of the platform. This position will be embedded directly with the client in a leading BioTech firm while having full autonomy to determine the technical direction, architecture patterns, and processes. You will work directly with executive stakeholders, shaping product and AI strategy, defining technical roadmaps, and leading execution on complex deliverables. You will lead a team of 6 engineers within the overall development of solving end-to-end use-cases. This is an hourly contract position to start. The candidate should be able to consistently provide 30+ hours a week but can set their own schedule and may work up to 50 hours if desired. Candidates must be based in the US but can set their hours for when and where they want to work.

Key Responsibilities

  • • Technical vision & AI strategy: Define and drive the technical vision for how AI workflows are integrated into the application lifecycle — from development to deployment to ongoing operations. Establish patterns that allow AI to autonomously manage increasingly complex tasks.
  • • AI-enabled development tooling: Build internal tooling, scaffolding, and structured interfaces that allow AI coding agents to efficiently generate, modify, test, and deploy application code with minimal human oversight. Design codebases and conventions that are optimized for AI comprehension and manipulation.
  • • Autonomous operations infrastructure: Architect systems that enable AI-driven monitoring, incident detection, self-healing deployments, and automated rollbacks on Vercel. Build feedback loops that allow AI agents to observe production behavior and take corrective action autonomously.
  • • Full-stack development: Lead the architecture and implementation of performant web applications using Next.js (App Router), React, and TypeScript with a focus on exceptional user experience and AI-extensible design.
  • • Client engagement: Proactively identify technical gaps, AI integration opportunities, and product needs. Lead strategic discussions with executive stakeholders, translating complex AI-enabled engineering concepts into clear business value.
  • • API & data layer design: Build robust, type-safe APIs and database interactions using Kysely ORM. Design data models and API contracts that are well-structured for both human and AI consumption.
  • • UI/UX implementation: Create polished, accessible user interfaces using Material-UI (MUI) components. Develop component patterns and design system conventions that AI agents can reliably extend and compose.
  • • CI/CD & deployment automation: Design and maintain CI/CD pipelines on Vercel with automated testing, preview deployments, and production promotion workflows. Build the hooks and guardrails that allow AI agents to safely participate in the deployment process.
  • • Code quality & team leadership: Set engineering standards, conduct architecture reviews, and mentor team members. Establish code patterns, testing strategies, and documentation practices that improve both human and AI productivity.
  • • Performance & security: Monitor and optimize application performance and security posture. Build observability tooling that surfaces actionable insights for both engineers and AI systems.

Experience and Qualifications

  • • 8+ years of professional software engineering experience
  • • 5+ years building production applications with React and Next.js
  • • 5+ years working with TypeScript in production environments
  • • 3+ years deploying and managing applications on Vercel or similar edge platforms
  • • 2+ years building tooling, workflows, or infrastructure that enables AI agents or LLM-powered automation in a development or operations context
  • • 3+ years with SQL and type-safe database libraries (Kysely, Drizzle, or similar)
  • • 3+ years building component libraries and design systems (MUI, Chakra UI, or similar)
  • • 5+ years in startups or fast-paced environments
  • • Proven track record as a technical leader — setting architecture direction, mentoring engineers, and driving complex initiatives
  • • Strong understanding of AI coding agents and LLM capabilities, with a practical sense of where AI can reliably replace manual engineering work and where it cannot
  • • Experience designing systems, APIs, and codebases that are optimized for machine readability and automated interaction
  • • Deep expertise in CI/CD, infrastructure as code, and deployment automation
  • • Highly opinionated on software architecture and AI integration strategy, able to articulate tradeoffs between different approaches to technical and non-technical audiences
  • • Able to take highly ambiguous, cross-cutting initiatives and convert them into structured roadmaps with clear milestones
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