Software Engineer

About the role

At Dust, the people holding the pen are the ones who actually run the company. We build enterprise-grade AI tools with flexible model choice and a collaborative interface that empowers AI Operators at the world's fastest-moving companies to rewire how work gets done. With over 70% weekly active users, strong product-market fit is evident, as customers like Datadog, 1Password, Cursor, Clay, and Vanta rely on Dust to drive their workflows. Backed by Sequoia and staffed by a tight team of operators from Stripe, OpenAI, and Stanford, we move fast, prioritize users, and ship to learn. This role is based in Paris, is full-time, and offers relocation support, equity, and a path to grow with a company that is actively expanding.

What you'll do

• Own critical features end-to-end: Design and implement core product experiences that directly impact how users interact with AI, from discovery through launch and iteration.
• Scope and lead technical projects to completion with an eye on the full stack and a mind for opinionated prioritization that balances user value and engineering simplicity.
• Collaborate closely with users: Work directly with customers to understand their needs, validate assumptions, and rapidly iterate on solutions that deliver reliable product outcomes.
• Build for scale: Design and implement systems that gracefully handle increasing complexity while maintaining simplicity for users and operators.
• Use Dust for Coding, debugging, knowledge search (runbooks, codebase), incident management, and task automation to drive your own productivity and product insight.
• Implement frontend user interfaces using React and shadcn, ensuring responsive, accessible, and maintainable experiences that align with our product-first culture.
• Develop backend services with NextJS, integrating tightly with Kubernetes, Terraform, and Helm for reliable deployment and operations.
• Operate persistent data stores such as PostgreSQL, QDrant, and Elasticsearch, tuning for performance, durability, and cost-effective scaling.
• Instrument systems with Datadog monitoring and automate CI/CD using GitHub actions to keep releases safe, fast, and predictable.
• Contribute to a culture of shipping to learn, moving fast while validating assumptions with real user behavior and feedback.

Requirements

• You are authorized to work in France without sponsorship, or you already hold a French work permit or residency.
• You are based in Paris or its immediate surroundings, with the ability to work from the office regularly.
• You have the right to live and work in the European Union or hold a valid visa that allows employment in France.
• You have at least a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• You are fluent in English, both written and verbal, to collaborate effectively across teams and with customers.
• You have shipped production software that is currently in use by real users, demonstrating end-to-end ownership and impact.
• You are comfortable working with distributed systems and modern cloud infrastructure, understanding how components interact in production.
• You understand the trade-offs between databases, search systems, and vector stores for different workloads, and can make informed architectural choices.
• You embrace intellectual humility, balancing strong convictions with openness to new evidence and perspectives, and adapting quickly when new data emerges.

Compensation, benefits, and growth

• Competitive

compensation: Base salary in the range of €30,000-€150,00*, aligned with experience and impact.

• Substantial relocation support, including a stipend up to €10,000, assistance finding an apartment in Paris, and support with residence and work permit procedures.
• Significant equity package in a Sequoia-backed startup with a clear path to scale.
• Health insurance for you and your dependents, ensuring comprehensive coverage for you and your family.
• New MacBook Pro or Linux machine, monitor, keyboard, and other essential equipment to support high productivity.
• Beautiful office in the heart of Paris, with regular team events and offsites to strengthen collaboration and culture.
• Opportunity to travel to the US multiple times per year for team events and offsites, supporting both personal and professional growth.

Growth and recognition

We keep our engineering structure simple. Rather than assigning people to a ladder of levels, we focus on the scope of work, reliability, and impact over time. Every engineer joins Dust as an Engineer, regardless of seniority, and is expected to be dependable, move with purpose, and expand their impact as they become familiar with the team, the product, and our unique way of working.