đź’¸Engineering Partner to the Founder (x1 Role, Austin, TX)
Watchful
Posted on Aug 22, 2025
Engineering Partner to the Founder (x1 Role, Austin, TX)
Posted: 21 August 2025
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
If you’re the kind of engineer who thrives on chaos, loves shipping fast, and wants to work directly with a founder on solving hard problems - this is the job for you.
This isn’t a role where you’ll be a tiny cog in a big machine. This is a role where the speed of your builds directly shapes the trajectory of the company. If you’ve ever said to yourself, “I just need a place where I can build things fast, learn faster, and make a real dent in the world,” then we’re saying: “Awesome. What do you need from us?”
The truth is simple: we’re looking for someone who will outgrow us before we outgrow you.
About Us
We’re a fast-growing start-up founded by New Zealander - and second-time founder - Joshua Parsons, now based in Austin, Texas. Backed by some of Australasia’s largest venture capital firms and with millions in pipeline, we’re doubling down on product velocity to support go-to-market (GTM) expansion.
What do we do? We’ve built agentic artificial intelligence operators that help stop crime. Every week we process over 14 million signals (with 1m+ new signals added weekly), scanning massive data streams for criminal activity and ensuring Police and Law Enforcement can act faster and smarter.
In short: we stop bad guys (and gals) from hurting good people.
Our Values Aren’t Just Posters
Extreme honesty: Speak your mind, challenge ideas, and operate with no surprises.
Insane tenacity: We don’t stop. We overcome every roadblock.
Creative brains: Fresh ideas, clever hacks, and out-of-the-box solutions win here.
Highest standards: Good enough is never good enough.
About the Role
We can teach you frameworks, tools, and code reviews. We can’t teach you attitude, urgency, or hunger. That’s why your interview will be more about how you think and how you build than about checking boxes.
Day to day, you’ll work shoulder-to-shoulder with the Founder to:
Rapidly prototype, test, and ship new products and GTM features before integrating it into our Sales and RevOps functions
Tear down blockers, hack together MVPs, and iterate fast.
Build with urgency and ship with precision - balancing speed and quality.
Connect engineering with market development - what you build today gets tested with customers tomorrow.
Scale our systems from scrappy prototype to hardened product when traction hits.
You’ll have exposure to every part of the business: AI pipelines, product development, integrations, infrastructure, and you’ll directly shape what the company becomes.
What Does Good Look Like?
We’ll measure success in terms of:
Speed to Prototype: How quickly can we get from idea → usable product in front of our team?
Impact Delivered: Are your builds directly enabling pipeline, GTM traction, or user adoption?
Technical Versatility: Ability to jump between front-end, back-end, integrations, and infra.
Reliability: Code that doesn’t just work once but scales as we grow.
Collaboration with Founder: How effectively you turn vision into shipped product.
Your mission is simple: build the things that win us customers, fast.
Non-Financial Benefits & Perks
Work with a founder daily and shape the trajectory of a high-growth start-up.
Kiwi culture (New Zealand founders + team) right here in Austin.
20 days PTO after 6 months of continuous employment.
Health, 401k, dental and vision.
Founding team member
Financial Remuneration
Salary range: Market leading, negotiable salary
Employee Share Options Pool (because you’re building this with us).
Background, Skills & Experience
We’re looking for someone who has:
Strong full-stack or systems engineering skills - you’ve built and shipped real products.
A “builder first” mindset - prototypes don’t scare you, they excite you.
3+ years of professional engineering experience (but we care more about output than years).
Excellent English communication, both written and verbal.
No criminal record and able to pass a background check.
Self-starter with strong initiative, thrives without handholding.
Bonus points if you’ve:
Worked in an early-stage start-up.
Delivered products tied directly to GTM/sales motion.
Touched AI/ML pipelines, but not required.
Work Week
~40+ hours per week (we care about outcomes, not clock-watching).
Monday – Friday (but startup reality means flexibility matters).
Equal Opportunities
All candidates who apply for this role will receive the same recruitment process & treatment. We do not discriminate in our recruitment process.
Our Brand Promise
Our team is successful because we’re addicted to creating a safer world, faster.
As part of our interview process, you’ll tell us what you think this means for you in this role.
How to Apply
If this ad has you itching to code something right now, apply. We want to talk.
Candidate Timeline
Expect a call within 14 days if you’ve been shortlisted.
Please email your expression of interest, cover letter and CV to [email protected]
