Founding Engineer - Elo

OodleSan FranciscoElo

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Opens the official Oodle careers page

Salary

$140K - $200K USD

Job type

Full-time

Work mode

Remote

Posted

18 May 2026

Status

Open · checked 7d ago

About this role

Frontdesk AI is seeking a Founding Engineer to help design the ad delivery engine and supporting infrastructure for Elo, an ad-network built for consumer AI applications. This full-time role is based in San Francisco with remote flexibility, perfectly suited for an independent engineer with deep systems understanding who wants to shape the future of AI monetization.

Role Overview

As a Founding Engineer at Frontdesk AI, the candidate will take extreme ownership of outcomes and build the foundational systems powering Elo. The company operates at a rapid pace, processing millions of requests per minute with anticipated massive growth. Backed by top venture funds such as PearVC and Audacious Ventures, the startup offers a fun and social work environment where engineers can ship quickly and leverage AI to accelerate their impact.

Key Responsibilities

Build and optimize the ad decisioning pipeline, handling candidate retrieval, scoring, filtering, and final ranking under strict latency service-level agreements.

Develop the publisher software development kit, providing a lightweight integration that consumer AI app developers can embed within hours.

Construct delivery infrastructure focused on pacing, frequency capping, budget management, and campaign throttling.

Implement a robust observability stack featuring real-time dashboards to monitor auction win rates, fill rates, revenue, and latency percentiles.

Requirements

Demonstrated technical excellence through past projects such as custom AI agent harnesses, multi-agent workflows, low-latency network infrastructure, or data pipelines serving massive traffic.

Experience building scalable and self-healing infrastructure capable of managing thousands of compute workers dynamically based on variable demand.

Background in high-frequency trading systems or other projects reflecting a high caliber of engineering design and low-level systems comprehension.

A strong commitment to ethical operations, extreme ownership, independent execution, and rapid delivery.

Skills and Tools

Low-level systems design and network infrastructure development

Scalable compute infrastructure management

Data pipelines and high-throughput backend architecture

Real-time observability and monitoring stack implementation

Salary and Benefits

Annual salary range between $140,000 and $200,000 USD

High equity offering alongside competitive compensation

About the Company

Frontdesk AI operates Elo, an ad-network designed specifically for consumer AI applications that aggregates supply across AI apps to facilitate user monetization through contextual ads. The company is backed by prominent venture funds including PearVC and Audacious Ventures, and benefits from advisors with extensive backgrounds in mobile ad-tech and large consumer AI enterprises. The founder is a published researcher with prior experience building AI infrastructure at Google.

How to Apply

Candidates should apply directly on the official Frontdesk AI careers page to submit their information and receive a response in less than a day.

Questions candidates ask

What is the location of the Founding Engineer role?

The position is based in San Francisco with remote work options available.

What is the salary range for this position?

The annual salary ranges from $140,000 to $200,000 USD, accompanied by high equity.

What does Elo do?

Elo is an ad-network for consumer AI applications that connects publishers with advertisers to display contextually relevant ads within AI experiences.

Who backs Frontdesk AI?

The company is backed by top funds including PearVC and Audacious Ventures, alongside advisors from mobile ad-tech and large consumer AI companies.

How fast is the response time after applying?

Applicants typically hear back in less than a day.

Ready to apply?

The application is on the official Oodle careers page.

Apply on company site