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Cardinal Gray

auto lending · DMV automation

Founding Engineer

New York · Onsite$120k–$160k/yrPosted 6 days ago
Software engineeringUnspecifiedFull Time
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Opens the source posting on ycombinator.com

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About the role

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This is a full-time, on-site role in New York City for someone who can build product and drive outcomes with customers.

This is not a role for someone who wants clean abstractions, perfect APIs, or slow roadmaps. You will ship production fixes, deploy automations, talk to operators, and help close deals — often in the same week.

What you’ll do

  • Own integrations with lenders, vendors, and state-specific processes (often inconsistent and hostile to automation)

  • Debug and harden systems that deal with messy inputs: OCR outputs, missing data, DMV rejection loops, inconsistent county requirements

  • Work directly with customers: gather requirements, explain workflows, manage pilots, and turn adoption into expansion

  • Support live operations when needed

  • Help design the product by being close to the pain: rejections, backlog, chase cycles, etc.

You will be expected to

  • Write code that directly impacts revenue and customer retention

  • Communicate confidently with collateral teams, ops teams, and decision-makers

  • Be a “founder energy” operator: see problems, fix problems, close problems

You are a strong fit if you have

Strong computer science fundamentals and engineering judgment

Real backend experience (TypeScript / Node preferred; AWS + cloud workflows a plus)

High ownership

Ability to communicate clearly with customers and translate pain into product

Entrepreneurial temperament: you like chaotic problems and moving fast

Bonus (but not required):

Experience in fintech, lending, B2B SaaS, or compliance-heavy workflows

Sales instinct: you can tell what a customer actually needs vs. what they’re asking for

Experience working with large enterprise clients (pilots, rollouts, expansions)