Senior Full-Stack Engineer
Forerunner · Portland · $185,000–$215,000 (stated in the posting)
Hi! We're Forerunner.
Stronger, more resilient communities are built by the people inside government and regulated industries who keep critical infrastructure running. But they're working against real headwinds: fragmented data, field crews without the right tools, and high-stakes decisions made without a complete picture.
Forerunner exists to fix that. We build intelligent software that connects the systems these agencies and firms already rely on, fills the gaps those systems can't, and turns fragmented information into decisions and actions that reduce liability, surface revenue, and prevent small problems from becoming emergencies.
The Role
We're looking for a Senior Full-Stack Engineer with 5+ years of product engineering experience to join our Core Platform team. You'll implement features that help build resilient communities - from real-time flood risk visualizations to automated permit workflows that cut response times from weeks to hours. This is a product ownership role where you'll work directly with government users who are on the frontlines of climate adaptation.
You'll work on both backend and customer-facing features using TypeScript, React, PostgreSQL with PostGIS for geospatial analysis, and AWS. Your work will include processing hundreds of different geospatial datasets, creating intuitive interfaces for complex grant application workflows, and building APIs that integrate with a variety of different government systems - modernizing how America prepares for and adapts to climate change.
We offer schedule flexibility and ask for accountability in return. We are unable to sponsor H1-B visas at this time, so permanent residency or citizenship is required.
We strongly encourage people from underrepresented groups to apply - the problem of climate change impacts all of us, and we want to reflect that within our team's composition.
What You'll Do
Gather around the campfire. Engineering, product, design, and customer success aren't siloed teams — we build together. You'll hear feedback from the people who use what you ship, and that context shapes what comes next.
Drive projects from ambiguity to delivery. You'll get a problem and a goal, not a step-by-step plan. We trust our engineers to break down complexity, make smart tradeoffs, and keep things moving.
Work with the best tools, not just the best people. We're all-in on AI-assisted development — Cursor, Claude Code, and whatever comes next. If you've already used AI to plan and execute projects from a spec or scaffold out entire features, you'll fit right in.
Build the whole thing. You'll own features from database modeling to pixel-perfect UI — no tossing work over the wall to "the other team." New API endpoint in the morning, polished frontend by the afternoon? That's a Wednesday here.
Ship constantly, and ship things that matter. This isn't a maintenance gig. Roughly 80% of your time goes toward new capabilities our customers are asking for, with the rest spent making the systems underneath faster, more reliable, and easier to work in.
Own what you ship. The people who build the system are the best ones to keep it healthy. We run a fair on-call rotation and invest heavily in keeping alerts meaningful and manageable. We treat reliability as a craft — not a chore.
Raise the bar for everyone. How we build matters as much as what we build. You'll help shape our engineering culture — improving our processes, refining our tech stack, and mentoring teammates along the way.
What We're Looking For
A product engineer, not just a coder. 5+ years of experience building and shipping features that real users depend on — not just writing code, but owning outcomes.
Full-stack fluency. Deep comfort with TypeScript, React, and working across the stack — backend to frontend and everything in between.
Data at your core. Strong SQL and database design instincts — you think in schemas, not just queries.
A history of leading by example. Through mentorship, code reviews, and sound technical decision-making — not because it's in your job description, but because it's how you work.
At home in ambiguity. A track record of taking unclear requirements and delivering complex features independently. You thrive in a startup environment where ownership runs deep and the boundaries of your role are whatever the team needs.
Respect for the systems around the code. Enough familiarity with CI/CD, testing frameworks, and developer tooling to improve how the team ships — not just what it ships.
Bonus points. Experience with AWS, containerization, PostGIS or geospatial tech, ETL pipelines, or government/climate tech — but we'd rather have someone with the right instincts than the perfect resume.
What We Offer
Forerunner is an early stage company with an interdisciplinary team. We are motivated by seemingly intractable problems and work hard to support one another.
We're mission-driven. Our mission orients our business strategy and pushes us to work with a sense of urgency. We’re in the weeds - our entire team spends time engaging with our partners in the field to better understand the real-world problems they face.
We're a small team. As a member of our growing team, you will quickly become an invaluable part of our organization and have a meaningful impact on our business and technical direction. We welcome unique perspectives and backgrounds. Your opinion matters and we hope you'll share it.
We build each other up. A team works best when its members are adequately equipped with the tools to tackle the problems they are facing. Forerunner strives to provide adequate feedback and appropriate learning opportunities to help all its team members expand their skills.
We value in-person collaboration. Some of our best work happens when we're solving problems together in the same room, so this role is hybrid and based near one of our offices: New York City, San Francisco, or Portland, Maine.
We want you to be happy and healthy. Forerunner offers competitive compensation, health/vision/dental coverage, a 401k plan, and one expensed lunch per week. We also have a quarterly wellness reimbursement so that you can have flexibility in defining what “health” means to you.
The salary range for this position is $185,000-$215,000. This posting may span more than one career level. Compensation is determined based on a variety of factors, including an individual’s skills, experience, and qualifications.
Forerunner is an equal opportunity employer committed to embracing diversity and the perspectives of individuals from all backgrounds.
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