Idler (YC S25)
Staff Software Engineer
Company : Idler (YC S25)
Location : San Francisco, CA
Employment Type : Full-time
Seniority Level : Mid-Senior level
Job Function : Engineering and Information Technology
Industries : Software Development
Compensation : $300,000 - $400,000 per year
What We Do Idler builds reinforcement learning environments that teach AI models to code like 0.01% engineers. Our training environments are based on real-world coding scenarios that frontier models will actually encounter. We've closed a multimillion‑dollar contract with a leading foundation lab. Demand outpaces our capacity to deliver, so we’re scaling the team fast.
What You’ll Do Build agentic systems that create and QA coding environments at scale. Most of your day will be spent designing these systems to be extremely sound. A big part of our work is thinking critically about what makes a coding environment and task “good” and “fair”. This requires high agency and philosophical thinking alongside technical execution.
Design and build scalable systems that generate RL environments
Create automated QA systems to validate environment quality and fairness
Work directly with AI researchers at leading labs to understand what makes training data effective
Support new product lines as we expand beyond coding environments
Staff Engineer Responsibilities & Requirements
Lead the process of identifying, specifying, and implementing core technology primitives that maximize the leverage of the rest of the team.
Understand and own the technology stack end‑to‑end.
8+ years of professional software engineering experience.
Lead and mentor more junior members of the team.
You'll Work With The founding team, a founding engineer, and a small group of engineers (we’re hiring quickly). You’ll have direct access to AI researchers at frontier labs.
Tech Stack Typescript, React, NodeJS, Postgres, Redis, Vercel, Cursor
Benefits
Healthcare coverage, 401(k), and 15 days PTO.
Meals, coffee, and snacks (covered during working days).
Latest MacBook Pro and equipment.
Relocation assistance available.
Team offsites and events.
This is an in‑person role in San Francisco. We’re a tight‑knit founding team and we play to win. Join us if you like to win too.
#J-18808-Ljbffr
Location : San Francisco, CA
Employment Type : Full-time
Seniority Level : Mid-Senior level
Job Function : Engineering and Information Technology
Industries : Software Development
Compensation : $300,000 - $400,000 per year
What We Do Idler builds reinforcement learning environments that teach AI models to code like 0.01% engineers. Our training environments are based on real-world coding scenarios that frontier models will actually encounter. We've closed a multimillion‑dollar contract with a leading foundation lab. Demand outpaces our capacity to deliver, so we’re scaling the team fast.
What You’ll Do Build agentic systems that create and QA coding environments at scale. Most of your day will be spent designing these systems to be extremely sound. A big part of our work is thinking critically about what makes a coding environment and task “good” and “fair”. This requires high agency and philosophical thinking alongside technical execution.
Design and build scalable systems that generate RL environments
Create automated QA systems to validate environment quality and fairness
Work directly with AI researchers at leading labs to understand what makes training data effective
Support new product lines as we expand beyond coding environments
Staff Engineer Responsibilities & Requirements
Lead the process of identifying, specifying, and implementing core technology primitives that maximize the leverage of the rest of the team.
Understand and own the technology stack end‑to‑end.
8+ years of professional software engineering experience.
Lead and mentor more junior members of the team.
You'll Work With The founding team, a founding engineer, and a small group of engineers (we’re hiring quickly). You’ll have direct access to AI researchers at frontier labs.
Tech Stack Typescript, React, NodeJS, Postgres, Redis, Vercel, Cursor
Benefits
Healthcare coverage, 401(k), and 15 days PTO.
Meals, coffee, and snacks (covered during working days).
Latest MacBook Pro and equipment.
Relocation assistance available.
Team offsites and events.
This is an in‑person role in San Francisco. We’re a tight‑knit founding team and we play to win. Join us if you like to win too.
#J-18808-Ljbffr