Software Engineer

Reports To: CTO
Location: San Francisco, CA

Reinventing Government Interactions for a Sustainable Future

At Symbium, we’re on a mission to streamline how citizens interact with local government and cut through the red tape in permitting processes. Imagine a world where homeowners and contractors can effortlessly navigate complex regulations, instantly determine what projects are possible on their property, and secure approvals with the click of a button. Symbium is making that world a reality. By transforming dense rules into user-friendly software, we empower people to get work done without frustration and delay.

Symbium’s proprietary computational law (Complaw®) technology – initially developed at Stanford’s AI Lab – performs permit compliance checks in real time, enabling instant permit approvals. Symbium is currently partnered with 60 California cities – and growing fast. Our platform accelerates clean energy adoption by simplifying approvals for installations of solar panels and EV chargers to heat pumps and beyond. This streamlined process helps communities transition more quickly to decarbonization and energy independence.

The Opportunity

As a Software Engineer at Symbium, you’ll play a key role in building the next-generation tools that make navigating regulatory processes as easy as online shopping. You will work across the full stack to turn complex real-world problems into elegant software solutions. This is an exciting chance to tackle challenging technical puzzles (think translating law into code!), collaborate with a passionate team, and see your work immediately impact thousands of homeowners and contractors. If you love the idea of using technology to disrupt the status quo and make a positive impact on society, you’ll thrive in this role.

What you’ll do (Responsibilities)

• Take ownership of features and products from conception to release:
• Work with product managers, domain experts, and fellow engineers to design, build, and launch new features. Identify gaps or misalignments in project scope early and propose solutions.
• Proactively monitor progress, address roadblocks, and adjust strategies as needed to keep projects on track. Communicate status, potential blockers, and timelines clearly to the team to ensure alignment and smooth execution.
• Strong communication is essential – you should be responsive to messages and emails, provide timely updates, and ensure alignment across the team and stakeholders to maintain smooth execution.
• Design and plan technical projects: Author technical proposals for major features or improvements, outlining the architecture, approach, and effort. Communicate proposals effectively to stakeholders, addressing questions and highlighting potential trade-offs or missing elements, and incorporate feedback to refine the proposed solution.
• Develop internal tools: Create tools and scripts to streamline our team’s workflows and boost productivity, so we can move faster with less manual effort.
• Prototype innovative solutions: Rapidly develop early prototypes for new product ideas or client use cases to help define our roadmap. You’ll bring abstract concepts to life and iterate based on feedback.
• Build robust APIs: Develop and maintain the APIs that power Symbium’s web applications and third-party integrations. You’ll ensure our back-end services are scalable, secure, and well-documented for others to use.
• Perform unit and integration testing to ensure code quality and reliability. Develop early prototypes to clarify product requirements and surface technical challenges.
• Write clear, thorough documentation. Maintain up-to-date documentation for APIs, internal tools, and development processes to ensure smooth handoffs and knowledge sharing.
• Develop and Maintain Data Pipelines: Build and optimize data pipelines that support core application functionality, ensuring efficiency, scalability, and reliability.

Who we’re looking for (Qualifications)

We welcome creative problem solvers who are excited by our mission. You might be a great fit if you have:

• 2+ years of full-stack development experience. You’ve built or significantly contributed to a web application (bonus if from the ground up) and can navigate both front-end and back-end work.
• Proficiency with Node.js and modern web tech. Strong experience with Node.js for building and maintaining APIs and back-end services.
• Database know-how. Solid understanding of relational databases (particularly SQL) – you can design efficient schemas, write optimized queries, and consider performance in your data models.
• Basic front-end skills. Familiarity with HTML, CSS, and responsive design. You don’t need to be a designer, but you can implement clean, user-friendly interfaces and work with front-end frameworks as needed.
• Project ownership and multitasking. Ability to manage multiple projects or features at once, meet deadlines, and adapt to changing priorities in a fast-paced setting.
• Team player attitude. Passion for being part of a tight-knit, agile team. You communicate well, enjoy collaborating, and take accountability for your work (and welcome feedback from others).
• Quality-focused mindset. Proven ability to apply software best practices like testing, code reviews, profiling, and debugging to build reliable, maintainable products. Strong attention to detail in both code and documentation.

Nice-to-Have Skills (Not required, but let us know if you have them)

• Data pipelines: Experience building data processing pipelines or scripts to extract or transform data.
• Graph databases: Familiarity with graph DBs and query languages (e.g., Neo4j and Cypher) for working with connected data.
• Cloud and deployment experience. Exposure to AWS or similar cloud platforms (e.g. EC2, RDS, S3). You know how to deploy and maintain services in a cloud environment.
• Logic programming: Exposure to logic programming or rule-based systems (e.g. Prolog). This will help in understanding our Complaw engine, though you can learn it here too.
• AI/Machine Learning: Demonstrable experience with ML algorithms or AI techniques – e.g., training models, working with large datasets, or applying AI to solve complex problems. Our domain is unique, and we value team members who bring fresh perspectives from AI and other fields.

Our Culture & Why You’ll Love Symbium

• Mission with Impact: Your work will directly accelerate the adoption of clean energy and make government services more accessible. Every feature you build can help someone install solar panels, get an EV charger, or improve their home with less hassle. If you’ve wanted to do good with your coding skills, this is it.
• High-Ownership Environment: We believe in ownership and accountability. On our team, everyone trusts each other to deliver results. You’ll have the freedom to innovate, make decisions, and drive projects, with the support of experienced mentors when you need it.
• Tight-Knit & Hands-On: We work side by side every day – C-level executives, engineers, and interns alike – sharing ideas and tackling problems together. You’ll find us walking to the Ferry Building for lunch, debating product decisions, and jumping in wherever needed to keep things moving. Everyone has a voice, and we focus on collaboration and execution over titles and hierarchy.
• Competitive Benefits: We offer a competitive startup package, including:
• Competitive salary.
• Stock options in a growing, venture-backed company.
• Attractive 401k and health benefits.
• Working alongside a highly mission-driven, small, supportive team of ambitious, smart creatives in an environment that fosters continuous learning and adaptive problem solving. We turn complex challenges into beautiful, impactful solutions.

How to Apply

If Symbium’s mission and team resonate with you, we’d love to hear from you! To apply, please send an email to careers@symbium.com with your resume, LinkedIn information, and a brief note about why you’re excited to join Symbium.

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis and be willing to relocate to California prior to the start of employment. Symbium does not provide visa sponsorships at this time.

Symbium is an equal opportunity employer.