Generalist / SDK software engineer
About Stainless
Stainless is a fast-growing tech startup building the future of APIs. Our customers include industry leaders like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cloudflare.
We are currently 15-20 people based primarily in NYC (just west of SoHo) and looking to grow to ~70 in NYC over the next 3 years. We were founded in 2022 and are backed by top investors including Sequoia.
Our mission is to bring the best of GraphQL and gRPC to the simplicity and ubiquity of REST.
Our business model is to offer a suite of developer platform products to enable every company to offer the kind of developer experience Stripe does around their API.
Our first product is API client libraries as a service – you send us your OpenAPI spec, we let your customers npm install your-company (or equivalent, in several languages).
Our founder, Alex Rattray, created Stripe's API client library codegen system and led a redesign of the Stripe API docs.
Position overview
Generalist engineers are a special breed – they build the core systems that form the foundation of a company for years, both scrappily getting things done wherever help is needed and thinking deeply on foundational architecture.
Joining as a Generalist Engineer, you’ll have a focus area, but we’ll all be pitching in on every aspect of the company and acting with a high degree of ownership in a collegial, humble atmosphere.
Principal responsibilities
In the next 6 months, you will:
Pair with our CEO to prototype, architect, and build an industry-leading open-source TypeScript API Framework (think FastAPI for Node, with the biggest perks of tRPC and GraphQL).
Collaborate on a frontend client – think Apollo for REST.
Drive rich tooling – codemods and codegen powered by a mix of static analysis and (perhaps) LLMs, etc.
Talk with developers at small startups, growth-stage companies, and enterprises to understand their needs.
Engage with an open-source community on GitHub.
Write great docs, help build a great website, do what needs done.
Requirements
Experience level to build anything you can imagine, with great design and sound architecture.
Built and/or maintained a popular open-source project.
Alternatively, maintained internal abstractions used across an engineering org.
Experience consuming APIs you didn’t control, produced APIs you didn’t consume, and been the sole consumer of an API you built and could iterate on.
Location: 3+ days p/wk in our physical office location in Manhattan, New York.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience both designing and stewarding APIs at scale, whether internal or external.
Ability to build great abstractions that stand the test of time when used by other engineers of varying skill levels, beginner to formidable.
A true passion for developer experience and empathy for developers from all backgrounds (junior, non-traditional etc).
Quick learner, self-motivated, and able to execute quickly whilst maintaining high quality.
Great product sense.
Programming languages:
Expertise with TypeScript, our language of choice.
Experience operating server-side JavaScript (eg Node).
Broad polyglot interest/experience – comfort working across multiple programming languages.
Bonus Points (nice to haves)
Have used GraphQL and appreciate its benefits and drawbacks.
Experience / interest working with ASTs (eg, lint rules, rich codemods, compilers, etc).
Experience and/or interest in writing blogs, speaking at conferences and engaging with developer communities.
Benefits
We’ll be competitive with early stage companies on cash and provide generous equity grants.
Great healthcare coverage options.
Paid commuter benefits.
Paid team lunch during workdays.
Flexible PTO.
Average salary estimate
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At Stainless, we’re on the cutting edge of API development, and we're looking for a Generalist / SDK Software Engineer to join our rapidly growing team in New York City. Here at Stainless, founded in 2022 and fueled by investment from top firms like Sequoia, we dream big and work smart. In the next three years, we plan to expand our team from a spirited group of 15-20 to around 70. As a Generalist Engineer, you’ll wear many hats while laying the groundwork for our future. You’ll be doing everything from collaborating closely with our CEO to create an innovative open-source TypeScript API Framework to engaging with the developer community on GitHub. If building robust systems that stand the test of time excites you, and enjoying a collegial atmosphere where you have a real impact on our projects is what you seek, then this is the place for you! Experience matters; we’re looking for someone who has a track record in open-source or has constructed APIs while empathizing with developers from all walks of life. With your expertise in TypeScript and a knack for great user experiences, you’ll be vital in driving our mission at Stainless to redefine API simplicity. Come and be part of creating tools that enable extraordinary developer experiences, just like Stripe does, all while enjoying the perks that come with working at a nimble startup.
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