**Founding Engineer — TransVoix (Voice Infrastructure Platform)**
TransVoix is a voice infrastructure platform for real-time multi-lingual
translation maintaining a speaker's vocal identity with three product surfaces
sharing one backend: human-to-human translation for contact centers, AI agent
voice surfaces for voice AI platforms, and a public developer SDK with usage-
based pricing. The platform is built around C2PA cryptographic voice
provenance, BIPA-grade consent trails, HIPAA BAA readiness, and is pursuing a
SOC 2 Type I program in 2026 with SOC 2 Type II as a 2027 roadmap goal. It is
not a concept. It is a live product in closed beta with 40+ testers, an
enterprise pilot in pre-launch with a Y Combinator–backed customer,
bootstrapped to date, and patentable architecture currently in active
conversation with IP counsel. I am looking for the founding engineer who can
co-design and harden the API contracts external developers will hold us to for
years.
**The Shift**
TransVoix originally launched as a real-time bidirectional voice translation
app. As of May 2026, it has materially pivoted to a voice infrastructure
platform. The pivot raises the stakes for the founding engineer materially.
The work is no longer about shipping features in a translation app. It is
about co-designing and hardening a platform whose API contracts paying
customers will depend on years from now, while owning platform engineering
through our Series A milestone.
**The Product**
Check out transvoix.ai and listen to the voice demo yourself. Happy to share a
Beta Access code to demo the web application. Here is what you would be
working on:
* 6 languages (English, Spanish, French, Mandarin, Arabic, Hindi) with all 30 bidirectional pairs, not English-hub-only
* Voice cloning where the listener hears your voice speaking their language with tone, prosody, and accent preserved
* 2-party translated calls and group calls with colored avatars and real-time chat bubbles
* Sub-second latency, 2,000+ automated tests across 100+ test files, multiple independent security pressure-test rounds, 4.72/5 translation quality
* Enterprise pilot in pre-launch with a Y Combinator–backed customer
**The Stack**
* Backend: Python 3.12, FastAPI, WebSockets, asyncio — cloud-hosted, US region today with multi-region on the roadmap
* Frontend: React, Vite, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS
* Audio pipeline: streaming speech-to-text → LLM-based translation → neural text-to-speech with in-call voice cloning, all API-served today (provider and model specifics discussed on the screening call, not published)
* Database and Auth: PostgreSQL with Row-Level Security hardened, atomic RPC patterns, ES256 and JWKS for JWT
* Voice infrastructure: an AudioIngressAdapter Protocol abstracting ingress source from the pipeline contract — a single contract serves browser WebSocket, contact-center platforms, and future SIP/telephony ingress sources
* Model serving (current): all inference is API-served via third-party providers. Self-hosting selected models is on the roadmap based on latency, cost, and fine-tuning requirements.
* CI/CD: GitHub Actions on every PR, Dependabot, 2,000+ tests across 100+ files
* Observability: error monitoring with PII-clean tagging discipline, structured logging, AST-pinned invariants enforcing security-critical patterns, product analytics
**What You Would Own**
* The voice pipeline: streaming STT → translation → TTS with sub-second latency, jitter buffers, AudioContext lifecycle, replaceTrack semantics, and the AudioIngressAdapter Protocol
* The public SDK: whatever you ship here becomes a versioned contract external developers will hold us to. API design judgment is the gating skill, not coding speed.
* The trust envelope: C2PA cryptographic voice provenance, BIPA-grade immutable consent rows with forbidden-key invariants, HIPAA BAA readiness, and the path from a 2026 SOC 2 Type I program toward SOC 2 Type II as a 2027 goal
* The orchestration substrate: multi-tenant security where Row-Level Security and tenant isolation are load-bearing, signed audit logs, AST-pinned invariants for security-critical patterns
* The infrastructure migration: we are on a managed cloud platform today and will migrate to AWS as we scale pilots. You will own the migration plan with Terraform or Pulumi for Infrastructure as Code, multi-region deployment, observability at scale, cost discipline, and zero-downtime cutover from the live platform serving real traffic.
* The self-hosted model roadmap: today we run on third-party inference APIs. As we scale, latency, cost, and fine-tuning needs will push us toward self-hosting selected models. You will own the build-vs-buy analysis, the GPU infrastructure decisions, and the migration from API-served to self-hosted inference where it makes sense.
* Engineering judgment under founder pressure: I will push for features, vendor swaps, and pilot accommodations. The right founding engineer pushes back with API versioning cost, regression test requirements, and a clear no when something would lock us into a contract we cannot break in six months.
* Path to CTO based on fit
**Must-Have Skills**
* Python production-level depth. The entire backend is Python.
* Async programming with FastAPI, asyncio, WebSockets. The audio pipeline is async-heavy.
* React with TypeScript. The frontend is React/Vite/TypeScript. You need to be comfortable here.
* PostgreSQL with Row-Level Security, migrations, query optimization.
* API integration with multiple external providers.
* CI/CD: GitHub Actions, deployment pipelines, testing infrastructure.
**What We Need You to Have Done Before**
* Production voice or audio pipeline work where latency was load-bearing. Not theoretical familiarity. Specifically WebRTC, WebSocket audio framing, jitter handling, streaming pipeline optimization. If you have shipped production audio infrastructure on a contact-center, telephony, or real-time-media platform, that is the depth we mean.
* Public SDK or API design where external developers depended on your decisions. Either you have shipped an SDK or API that paying customers consumed in production, or you have worked at infrastructure-grade companies where API stability was the product (developer-platform / communications-infrastructure caliber).
* Multi-tenant security as architecture, not as middleware. You have built systems where tenant isolation was a foundational invariant.
* Platform engineering ownership at scale. You have run Infrastructure as Code in production with Terraform, Pulumi, or equivalent. You have planned and executed an infrastructure migration where the system could not have downtime.
**Strong Pluses**
* Self-hosted model serving experience: vLLM, TGI, GPU optimization, quantization, fine-tuning workflows (LoRA, QLoRA)
* Cryptographic attestation or audit log architecture: C2PA, signed audit trails, immutable consent patterns
* Mobile development with React Native (deferred from near-term priority but valuable for future roadmap)
* Telephony / SIP / contact-center integration
* Healthcare or regulated-industry compliance experience (HIPAA, SOC 2)
**Compensation**
* $130–180K cash plus 1–3% equity with 4-year vest, 1-year cliff
* The equity range reflects role weight, not a negotiation ceiling. Where you land depends on what you bring against the bars above and on the codebase walkthrough.
* Structure: this role begins as a paid contract engagement (~3–5 months) — a real, mutual working trial. On a successful fit it converts to full-time, at which point the equity grant and full-time terms attach. The equity, vesting, and CTO path are full-time constructs; the contract period is the try-before-we-both-commit window, in both directions.
* This is a founding engineer role, not a co-founder split. The founding engineer owns platform hardening and scaling through our Series A milestone. Additional engineering hires come on as commercial demand requires, not on a fixed timeline. The natural next hire is a go-to-market specialist, though if pilots scale faster than expected, that sequencing adjusts.
* Path to CTO based on fit
* US-based required (timezone plus legal). Remote is fine. Phoenix preferred but not required. Eastern or Central time zone preferred for overlap with pilot operations.
**What This Role Is Not**
* It is not a cofounder seat. I built the product. I have users. It is bootstrapped. Founding Engineer is the first engineering hire with a credible CTO path based on fit, not a 50-50 partnership.
* It is not a feature engineer role with a platform title. If you want to ship features fast across a generalist stack, this is the wrong role.
* It is not a build-and-pray pre-seed. There is an enterprise pilot in pre-launch with a YC-backed customer and a roadmap that is commercially validated before the engineering hire arrives.
* It is not a role with a team underneath you on day one. You join as the founding engineer and own platform engineering until commercial demand justifies additional engineering hires. If you need a team around you to do your best work, this is the wrong role.
* It is not a coding-test process. We will pair on the actual codebase under NDA. Your judgment on real architecture matters more than your performance on a whiteboard.
**About Me**
I am Tobi, the solo founder. I am a cybersecurity engineer by trade, currently
working in M&A at a Fortune 100 financial institution while building
TransVoix. I hold two master's degrees and an FAA Private and Instrument-rated
pilot's license. TransVoix was an idea I had carried since 2017 and started
actively building in late 2025 as a solo founder. I made every architectural
and security decision on the platform and pressure-tested every major
component. I work in Claude Code daily, make design decisions intentionally,
and want a founding engineer who challenges my decisions when I am wrong and
pushes back when I am right but moving too fast. I speak four languages, and
attended Juilliard for Jazz piano (believe it or not), before pivoting into
Cybersecurity. Most importantly, I am looking for someone with integrity, who
is down to earth, and who can work alongside me with mutual respect and
honesty.
**How to Apply**
Send me a message here or email me at
[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) with three
things:
1.) A link to a system you have built or contributed to where latency, API
stability, tenant isolation, or infrastructure migration was load-bearing.
Tell me what was hard about it in two or three sentences. No marketing
language.
2.) The single technical decision you most regret from your career, and what
you would do differently. This tells me more than any resume bullet will.
3.) If you have tested the beta at transvoix.ai before applying, tell me what
you noticed. If you have not, that is fine, but say so.
I read every application personally. If you send a generic cover letter that
recites my stack back to me, I will know. Applicants who have not tested the
beta at transvoix.ai will be deprioritized in the review.