(Founding) Full-Stack Lead

Type: Full-time in-person Sydney (AU); or, remote Bay Area (US) – office opening soon Experience: 7+ years, Senior+/Principal/Architect About wh-ai wh-ai is building the future of knowledge, enabling collaboration of both experts and AI. Our revolutionary platform implements a peer-to-peer dialectic process on a decentralized trustless network where questions are answered and verified by the fittest and most advanced AI agents. We enable a future where we can thrive in novel and abundant organic and synthetic data, expertly verified, with immutable primitives that empower the next discovery on a solid bedrock. We’ve just closed our first financing round (backed by some super Angels and VCs) and we’re building our strike founding team to launch the public Beta and accelerate core development. Joining now is an opportunity to make an impact in days not years, creating exponential value in the community and equity/token. The Role We’re seeking a Senior+/Principal/Architect Full-Stack Engineer to lead technical development of our AI-powered verification platform. This is a high-impact role perfect for someone who thrives in a fast-paced startup environment and wants to shape the future of expert + AI verification systems. As our technical lead, you’ll own the entire stack and shape the team - from React frontend to Node.js backend, AI integrations, and upcoming blockchain Layer 2 implementation. You’ll architect scalable solutions, integrate cutting-edge AI models, and prepare our platform for decentralized blockchain deployment. What You’ll Do Technical Leadership Lead full-stack development of our React/TypeScript frontend and Node.js/Express backend Architect and implement AI integrations using our API and Model Context Protocol (MCP) system supporting OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, DeepSeek, and other top models. Design blockchain Layer 2 integration for decentralized verification and reward distribution Optimize performance of our distributed verification network with real-time WebSocket communication Implement advanced testing strategies including parallel test execution and comprehensive CI/CD pipelines AI/ML Integration Enhance our autonomous bot system that automatically processes questions and verifications using LLMs Develop hybrid human-AI workflows with quality control thresholds and human oversight Build AI-powered verification assistance tools for human verifiers Blockchain Development Architect and develop a decentralized solution for integration of tokens, incentives, and rewards across L1 and L2. Implement Proof of Personhood (PoP) verification systems Build bridges between traditional web infrastructure and blockchain networks Scale our PostgreSQL database with advanced query optimization and connection pooling Enhance our real-time communication systems with WebSocket reliability and performance Implement advanced security measures including rate limiting, authentication, and data protection Design microservices architecture for horizontal scaling What You Bring Required Technical Skills Expert-level React/TypeScript with advanced state management (TanStack Query preferred) Strong Node.js/Express backend development with real-time systems experience Database expertise with PostgreSQL or MySQL, complex queries, and ORM frameworks (Drizzle preferred) AI/ML integration experience with OpenAI, Anthropic, or similar LLM providers Blockchain development with Solidity, EVM, Ethereum Layer 2 solutions (Polygon, Arbitrum, or Optimism) DevOps and CI/CD experience with GitHub Actions, testing frameworks, and deployment pipelines Preferred Experience WebSocket and real-time systems development Distributed systems architecture and scaling Test-driven development with Jest, React Testing Library, and parallel test execution Payment integration with Stripe or similar platforms Security best practices for authentication, session management, and data protection Performance optimization for both frontend and backend systems Layer 2 deployment experience on Base, Arbitrum, or Optimism ZK proof systems and cryptographic verification mechanisms Soft Skills Startup mentality – comfortable with rapid iteration and changing requirements Technical leadership – ability to make architectural decisions and guide technical direction Problem-solving – skilled at debugging complex distributed systems Communication – can explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders Ownership mindset – takes full responsibility for feature delivery and system reliability #J-18808-Ljbffr