About Tonk --- Tonk is a venture-backed, London-based startup. This is a chance to join us on the ground floor as we race towards product-market fit. The product: a next-generation backend that helps people use AI to build & share applets that integrate with their data and embed into their daily life. The progress: strong early traction with developers & partners; we have the capital, talent and relationships to propel us at speed. Our CTO is a world-class applied cryptographer & distributed systems engineer who’s uniquely able to deliver on our vision. The vision: the product is our latest step in building a new and better internet that’s more open and less platform-centric, where AI is helpful rather than spooky, and where more people have more creative power to shape software to their idiosyncratic, organic contexts. The team: multidisciplinary - we’ve started & exited successful startups, worked in the heart of Silicon Valley, graduated from world-class universities - but we’re creative, with a deep background in dance, theatre and art. We’re backed by top-tier investors. Read more on our website.
The role --- You’ll design, build, and launch core components of the Tonk toolchain:
- Work primarily in Typescript & Rust (but you may need to learn new languages as we go)
- Architect new features and implement them end-to-end
- Build simple & beautiful frontends
- Oversee launches
- Improve performance & reliability
- Gather feedback and prioritise improvements
But as in any startup, your work won’t just be writing code - you’ll be:
- Ideating in the weeds, working closely with users & founders
- Becoming expert in new domains at speed
- Driving outcomes through the creative chaos of an early stage project
- Travelling the world and growing your network
What we’re looking for ---
Technical requirements
- You’ll have spent 2+ years doing frontier technical work at a large company or a startup with traction. “Frontier technical work” means that you’re working at the edge of a technical field or pushing performance boundaries, not just maintaining features or doing standard web development.
- Strong foundations in computer science — through a degree, rigorous self-study, or equivalent experience.
- Evidence of working across the stack, from frontend to backend to infrastructure.
- Proficient in Typescript, React.
- Evidence of a working knowledge of web technologies, such as HTTP, WASM, PWAs, etc.
Traits
You’ll have an unusual level of drive, for example:
- Your side project made it big on Hacker News.
- You’re an active maintainer of a popular open-source project.
- You ship full-stack apps in a single weekend to turn your shower thoughts into reality.
- You have varied, niche knowledge in diverse domains such as graphics programming and compilers.
- You became lead engineer after a year at your starter job.
- You may have achievements outside of technology, such as winning the Bertsolari Txapelketa Nagusia or competing at national level in ballroom dancing.
You’ll be an “always-on” learner:
- You’ll be constantly acquiring or growing your skills and knowledge.
- You’ll be constantly reflecting on, and improving your learning process.
