Technical Co-Founder Founding Engineer
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Job Location:
Monthly Salary:
Posted on:
8 hours ago
Vacancies:
1 Vacancy
Job Summary
Stage: Pre-Seed
Location: Hybrid
Compensation: Equity Co-Founder Title
About UpStar
UpStar is building a skill-first Career Audition Marketplace focused on Cloud and Cybersecurity talent across Southeast Asia and MENA. We replace low-signal resumes with verified skills real-world projects and employer-led auditions helping universities employers and early-stage professionals connect through trust and data.
We are looking for a Technical Co-Founder to own the technical vision and execution from first principles architecture to a scalable MVP that supports a multi-sided marketplace.
Your Mission
Own and build UpStars entire technical foundation from system architecture and infrastructure to data models and APIs. You will translate product vision into a secure scalable MVP that can support pilots with universities and employers and evolve into a production-grade platform.
This is a zero-to-one role with full technical ownership.
Key Responsibilities
Architecture & Platform Foundation
- Design and implement the core backend architecture for a multi-sided marketplace (employers universities candidates admins).
- Make pragmatic architecture decisions optimized for speed scalability and iteration not over-engineering.
- Own infrastructure setup and deployment using cloud-native services (AWS GCP or equivalent).
Core Product & Data Systems
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Build and maintain core APIs and backend logic to support:
- User onboarding and role-based access (students employers university admins)
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Structured skill project and profile data
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Matching and ranking logic between candidates roles and projects
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- Implement data pipelines that handle high-signal skill data not just resumes or keywords.
Integrations & Security
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Integrate with:
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Secure authentication and identity providers (SSO OAuth)
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Third-party APIs for learning assessments or analytics (as needed)
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- Ensure data security access control and compliance suitable for enterprise and university partners.
MVP Delivery & Iteration
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Lead the build of a demo-ready MVP including:
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Core candidate and employer flows
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University-facing admin views (e.g. Deans Dashboard)
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- Work closely with the founding team to iterate rapidly based on pilot feedback.
- Balance speed vs quality in an early-stage resource-constrained environment.
Ideal Candidate Profile
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8 years of experience in backend or full-stack engineering.
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Strong hands-on experience with:
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Cloud platforms (AWS GCP or Azure)
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REST and/or GraphQL APIs
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Modern databases and scalable data models
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- Proven experience building data-driven platform or AI-enabled products.
- Comfortable owning decisions in ambiguity and shipping imperfect but functional MVPs.
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Founder mindset high ownership bias toward execution.
Bonus (Nice to Have)
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Experience with:
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SaaS or marketplace platforms
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EdTech HRTech or hiring-related systems
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Skill graphs matching systems or recommendation engines
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Previous startup or founding experience (not required).
Who This Role Is For
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Builders who want real ownership not just a job title.
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Engineers ready to be accountable for what ships and why.
- First-time founders or self-taught technologists who want to build something category-defining from the ground up.
How to Apply
Send your resume or portfolio along with your LinkedIn profile to
Subject: Technical Co-Founder UpStar
Lets build the infrastructure for skill-first hiring together.
Key Skills
- Data Analytics
- AI
- Conversion Optimization
- Lean
- R
- Regression Analysis
- Acquisition Strategy
- HubSpot
- Email Marketing
- Product Management
- Knife Skills
- Internet Of Things
