Investment Associate & Product Engineer

Y Combinator is looking for a full-stack product engineer who also wants to apply their skills to investing, diligence, and founder support. This role sits at the intersection of engineering, product, and investing. You will spend much of your time writing production code - building internal and founder-facing tools - while also contributing directly to company evaluation and investment decisions.

This is not two jobs stitched together. The core of the role is turning judgment into software : using code to improve how YC evaluates companies, supports founders, and scales its impact after the batch.

What you'll do :

• Product & Engineering (core responsibility)

Design, build, and ship full-stack web applications for partners, founders, and investors

Evaluate post-batch and growth-stage companies by analyzing business models, markets, teams, and operating metrics

This role is ideal for someone who :

Successful candidates have been :

What we're looking for :

Experience shipping full-stack web applications

Experience with Rails, React, Postgres, or similar frameworks and databases

How we work : YC operates with a small, high-trust team. Roadmaps evolve organically, priorities shift quickly, and people are expected to use good judgment rather than wait for perfect specs. Engineers have real autonomy and work closely with partners and founders to build things that matter.

Location : Based in the San Francisco Bay Area (or willing to relocate)

Compensation : $250K to $500K base salary, depending on experience. YC has a profit-sharing program, which is comparable to equity in an early-stage startup or carry in a VC fund.

Benefits : Our full benefits package includes medical, vision, and dental plans, infertility benefit, STD / LTD, life insurance, commuter benefits, flexible spending account, health savings account, 401(k) + 4% matching, generous parental leave, paid holidays, and flexible paid time off policy.

Important Note : This role is not a fit if you're looking for :

Work Authorization : Y Combinator is willing to sponsor certain employment visas in accordance with company policy.

Legal note : Y Combinator considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law, including San Francisco's Fair Chance Ordinance. Y Combinator is committed to protecting the privacy of the personal information of job applicants and complying with the California Consumer Privacy Act. The privacy policy of Ashby, Inc., the hiring platform used by Y Combinator, governs the collection of such data and can be found here.