Join Y Combinator’s core engineering team to build the systems running their operations end-to-end. You will own the full product experience for the admissions pipeline, events platform, and internal AI copilots. Without PMs or designers, you’ll solve high-stakes operational challenges, turning complex workflows into clean, well-designed software that impacts thousands of founders.
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Product Engineer at Y Combinator
Build the operational backbone of Y Combinator, the world’s most influential startup accelerator. As a Product Engineer, you’ll own the entire lifecycle of the systems powering YC’s admissions pipeline and Demo Day, working without PMs or designers to ship AI-driven features. With a $250k-$500k base and profit-sharing, this is a high-impact role for a builder who loves turning messy, high-stakes workflows into elegant software. Join an elite 18-person engineering team helping launch the next generation of $600B+ companies.
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Location
San Francisco, United States
Compensation
$250k-$500k + Profit Sharing
Company
Y Combinator
Role overview
Finance
Y Combinator is a startup accelerator founded in 2005 that provides seed funding of $500k to early-stage startups four times a year. Participants relocate to San Francisco for a three-month intensive program where they receive guidance from partners, all former YC founders, to refine their ideas, achieve product-market fit, and prepare for Demo Day to pitch to investors. It has funded over 5,000 companies with a combined valuation exceeding $600 billion, including Airbnb, Stripe, and OpenAI.
What you will do
- Build and ship full-stack applications powering YC’s admissions pipeline and global events platform, including high-stakes systems for Demo Day and investor meetups.
- Develop advanced AI features such as semantic search across large datasets and LLM-driven internal tools to automate complex manual operational workflows.
- Integrate with external systems like Slack and Google Calendar to coordinate critical communications between YC partners, startup founders, and global investors.
Who this is a fit for
- You are a product-minded full-stack engineer with a proven track record of shipping complete web applications and owning the entire user experience from concept to launch.
- You are "AI-native" in your workflow, utilizing tools like Cursor or Copilot and having experience building production-ready AI or LLM-enabled products or prototypes.
- You possess the high judgment and communication skills required to work directly with non-technical stakeholders in a fast-moving, high-stakes 100-person organization.
Why this role is remarkable
- You will have total product ownership, designing interfaces and making UX decisions independently without the overhead of product managers or traditional designers.
- Work at the heart of the startup world, building the software that processes thousands of applications for the next generation of companies like Airbnb, Stripe, and OpenAI.
- Receive elite compensation including a $250k-$500k base and profit-sharing comparable to VC carry, while working in a high-trust, low-ego 18-person engineering environment.
How Jack & Jill work together
I get to know what you’re great at, then find roles you’d never find yourself.Ok, I'll go first. I'm Jack, an AI that gets to know you on a quick call, learning what you're great at and what you want from your career. Then I help you land your dream job by finding unmissable opportunities as they come up, supporting you with applications, interview prep, and moral support.
I recruit from Jack’s network and make the intro when I spot a great match.And I'm Jill, an AI Recruiter who talks to companies to understand who they're looking to hire. Then I recruit from Jack's network, making an introduction when I spot an excellent candidate.
Jack gets to know what you're great at and what you want next, then searches 15 million jobs daily and helps you discover roles at companies like this.
Meet Jack
What happens next?
Jack’s an AI agent for job searching and career coaching. He works for you.
Jill is the AI recruiter working for the company. She recruits from Jack’s network.
If your profile’s a match and Y Combinator wants to meet, Jill will make the intro. In the meantime, Jack will send you excellent alternatives.