- Strong GitHub is the #1 screen
- Keeps AI tools on a tight leash
- Next.js/Python/Playwright; agent harnesses + automation
- New grad–early career
Menlo is hiring its founding engineer — effectively a second technical founder — to help build and scale the platform as it explodes. Menlo is drowning in inbound (too many customers, not enough capacity to service them), systems break easily under load, and this person keeps the rocket ship flying while helping rebuild it mid-flight. The work is heavy on agent harnesses and automation — Next.js, Python, web scraping / browser automation (Playwright/Puppeteer), and a lot of fine-tuning (Guido handles most of the fine-tuning himself; it's a plus, not a requirement). The immediate challenge is scaling the current architecture from ~$1M annualized premium to the next order of magnitude.
The single most important filter is a strong GitHub / evidence of building — Guido is explicit that if someone's never built something end to end, it's a hard no; a great GitHub (a real agent, cool research, something shipped) is basically sufficient to move forward. Equally important: they must actually understand the code, not just vibe-code it. He needs someone who knows data structures and algorithms well enough to keep AI tools (Codex/Claude) "on a tight leash" and know exactly what's being built — his nightmare is a "slop-grenade" PR that breaks 20 things (he's lived it with interns). New grads are welcome (he's a new grad himself); it's not about seniority, it's about being genuinely technical with projects to show, action bias, and willingness to grind.
What You'll Own
- Scale the platform architecture from ~$1M annualized premium to the next order of magnitude
- Build and maintain agent harnesses and automation across the insurance back office
- Web scraping / browser automation (Playwright/Puppeteer) against fragmented carrier systems
- Keep inbound-demand systems from breaking; fix fast and rebuild for scale
- Own features idea → deployment; use AI coding tools while fully understanding/reviewing/testing output
- (Plus) fine-tuning work alongside the founder
Requirements
- A strong GitHub / proven building — shipped something substantial end to end (an agent, research, a real project). The #1 screen; no building experience = hard no
- Strong programming fundamentals (CS degree; real DS&A) — can "nudge" AI tools and keep them on a tight leash, not learn-to-code-via-AI
- TypeScript, React/Next.js, Python, databases
- Web scraping / browser automation (Playwright or Puppeteer ideal)
- Good Git workflows: clear commits, PRs, code review, CI/CD
- Plus: fine-tuning / ML background (harder to find; founder covers most)
Who Will Thrive Here
- A builder with a standout GitHub who wants to be employee #1 and operate like a co-founder
- Someone who keeps AI tools on a tight leash and ships clean, understood code fast
- High action bias, high ownership, ready to grind 996 on a rocket ship
- New grad or early-career, deeply technical, talkative/edgy-SF energy
- Excited to automate a massive, broken, un-sexy industry that won't get market-corrected away