Full Stack Software Engineer

Chalk

📍San Francisco, CA
Posted May 20, 2026

Job Overview

Position

Full Stack Software Engineer

Company

Chalk

Location

San Francisco, CA

Work Type

On-site

Job ID

li-4406562211

Job Description

About Chalk
Chalk is building the data platform that powers the future of machine learning applications. We tear down complexity, latency, and scale barriers that have traditionally constrained ML capabilities. Our platform combines Rust-speed performance with elegant tools that developers love to use. Leading companies depend on Chalk for everything from stopping fraudulent credit card swipes, verifying identities, and maximizing clean energy capture. We've recently raised a $50 million Series A, led by Felicis.

About The Role
We are hiring Software Engineers to join our team. This is an opportunity to join us in-person as an early employee and make a large impact at a high growth start-up. You will tackle challenging engineering problems with a high degree of autonomy and ownership.

We are looking for software engineers who are comfortable solving business problems across all layers of the software stack. At Chalk, we build reliable data processing systems that can operate performantly at scale with a laser-focus on developer experience.

We need engineers who can build world-class user experiences across CLI and web surfaces, while also understanding and contributing to a codebase that contains ideas from compilers, query planners, and distributed systems.

*We're in the office 5 days a week. When unavoidable conflicts come up, we’re flexible. This is not a hybrid role.*
What You Will Do

  • Work directly with Chalk’s co-founders to productionize our first iteration

  • Write TypeScript, Python, Go, and React

  • Expose the functionality of our core platform to data scientist and machine learning end-users in their home environments

  • Iterate rapidly to improve Chalk’s platform in response to customer needs

What We’re Looking For

  • 2+ years experience of professional software engineering experience

  • Working knowledge of computer science fundamentals. We’re not looking for experience from drilling leet code – we need folks who are comfortable building and maintaining real systems

  • A record of developing sophisticated user-facing applications that are pleasant to use

  • An eye for high-quality UX

  • Track record of learning new concepts quickly

  • Ability to work autonomously & to make pragmatic tradeoffs with an eye towards business outcomes

  • Strong communication skills

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent

Bonus points

  • Experience implementing data infrastructure

  • Experience working with developer tools

  • Experience with applied machine learning or data analytics

  • Experience with Go

Benefits
⚕️Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance

🏦 Flexible Spending Account (FSA), Health Savings Account (HSA)

🦮 Expert Healthcare Guidance

💵 Retirement savings

🎄15 company holidays each year

🏖️15 days of personal time off each year

🚌 Flex Commuter Benefits

🌮 Daily lunch and dinner on Chalk

🥤Office is fully-stocked with drinks and snacks to fuel your work day.

🍽️ Staying late? Dinner is on us

🚖 Staying even later? Grab an Uber / Lyft home on Chalk

Compensation
Chalk offers early team members a generous salary + equity package based on experience and competitive benefits.

Actual compensation awarded to successful candidates will be based on several factors, including but not limited to: market, location, scope of the position and individual qualifications objectively assessed during the interview process.

Our comprehensive total package plays a major role in how we recognize individuals for the impact they will have on Chalk’s growth and us achieving our goals.

Inclusivity
Chalk is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and inclusion and provide reasonable accommodations to anyone in need of individualized support.

Compensation Range: $170K - $280K

Interview Prep

AI-powered insights to help you prepare

Key Skills

Required:
Preferred:

Practice Questions

💡Technical Questions (3)
  • 1.Chalk's platform needs to expose complex distributed systems and compiler concepts to ML end-users. How would you design a CLI and web interface that abstracts this complexity into a pleasant, intuitive developer experience?
  • 2.You are tasked with writing a Python interface for data scientists to interact with Chalk's Rust-speed core platform. How do you ensure the API feels native to Python users while maintaining high performance?
  • 3.At Chalk, we prioritize building real systems over drilling LeetCode. Tell me about a time you had to make a pragmatic tradeoff between algorithmic perfection and business outcomes in a production system.
🎯Behavioral Questions (3)
  • 1.This role requires a high degree of autonomy and ownership as an early employee. Tell me about a time you took ownership of a project from concept to production with minimal guidance.
  • 2.You'll be working directly with co-founders and iterating rapidly based on customer needs. Describe a time you had to pivot quickly on a feature based on user feedback. How did you handle it?
  • 3.Chalk's codebase involves concepts from compilers, query planners, and distributed systems, which might be new territory. Tell me about a time you had to learn a complex technical concept quickly to deliver a project.
🧩Situational Questions (2)
  • 1.You discover a critical latency issue in Chalk's data processing system, but the root cause lies in a complex query planner component you are completely unfamiliar with. The co-founders need a fix immediately. What do you do?
  • 2.A machine learning end-user complains that Chalk's web interface is confusing and making their workflow difficult, but you personally think the UX is logically structured for performance. How do you handle this feedback?

Resume Keywords

Make sure these keywords appear on your resume

Full StackTypeScriptReactPythonGoDeveloper ToolsData InfrastructureDistributed SystemsMachine LearningUser ExperienceAutonomyQuery Planner

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