Head of Engineering
Job Description
About STAR/CHILD
STAR/CHILD is the astrology app for people with kids and people who used to be kids. We've been live for over two years on iOS, Android, and web, with a community of parents who open us every day to figure out what the sky is doing and what it means for them, their kids, and everyone they're raising a family with. We have a gorgeous (we don’t mind saying) version of the app currently out in the world and a juicy roadmap of genuinely exciting new features we can’t wait to build.
Who we are: There’s really nothing typical about this company. For starters, we’re really small by design. We fit our work schedules around our lives, not the other way around. We operate from a belief (a fact, really) that well-rested people do better work. We're a small, female-founded, woman-led team, totally bootstrapped (how fun and not-at-all stressful for us) and happily independent. We care a lot about how the product looks and feels, how the writing sounds, and how the whole thing sits in someone's day. We're looking for the person who's going to own our technology — the strategy, the architecture, and the code itself — and find the most clever and resilient ways to bring the product vision to life.
The Role
You'll be our most senior technical hire and the person responsible for every line of code that ships. This role is effectively a CTO role, but we're calling it Head of Engineering because that's what it actually is day to day: you'll own the technical vision for the company, make the calls on what tools and infrastructure we use, and then spend your days building the product. You'll work directly with the CEO and Creative Director on product roadmap and priorities, and you'll have full authority over technical execution.
This role really requires a very particular person: someone experienced enough to make executive-level calls but who still wants to actually be elbow deep in code every day. You’re not inheriting a team of developers on day one. You'll bring in contractors when it makes sense, and down the road you'll help us grow a team. For now, the job is being the person who can set the strategy and ship the product — and love doing both.
This is a role for someone who's done the big-company thing, or the VC-funded early stage thing, or both, and wants something different now. You're really good at what you do. You can look at the product outcome we want and reverse engineer the best way to get there. You can look critically at what we’ve already built and tell us what we missed or what we can do better. You know how to move fast without burning yourself out. You’re fueled by innate curiosity and enthusiasm for doing this work — this is such a must, because honestly, there’s no one bearing down on you or looking over your shoulder. You really have to be someone who is motivated to wake up and cook every day (or night, if that’s when your brain likes to work). And you want to build something beautiful that people actually love.
You don't have to know anything about astrology, but preferably, you're not a hater. That could get exhausting for everyone.
What You'll Own
- The technical vision. What we build, how we build it, what we use, what our architecture looks like a year from now.
- The codebase, across iOS, Android, and web. You're our primary builder.
- The product roadmap, on the technical side. You and the CEO figure out what's next; you own the how.
- Performance, reliability, and all the unsexy stuff that makes an app feel good to use every day.
- Technical hiring when the time comes.
Who You Are
- You've been shipping software for 8+ years and can point to products people love.
- You've worked across iOS, Android, and web.
- You've been senior enough to own technical strategy somewhere, and your architectural calls have held up.
- You still love writing code.
- You're comfortable being the only engineer for a while. You know when to hire, when to build, and when to buy.
- You care about quality in the product, the code, the details. You believe fast and good aren't opposites if you're thoughtful.
- You're good to work with. Again, we’re a small team, and we all really like each other, and that’s a vibe we want to maintain. We’re not talking forced friendship (gross) but like, you can’t be a dick.
Bonus Points
- You've shipped consumer apps, especially ones people open every day
- You've worked on subscription or lifestyle apps
- You've been at a small, bootstrapped company and know what that feels like
- You have opinions about the tiny details — notifications, onboarding, the stuff that makes an app feel alive
- You're into astrology (whether you know anything about it or not)
What We Offer
Comp: $165K–$195K base, plus equity and profit sharing.
The good stuff:
- A full year of fully paid parental leave if/when you decide to add a new kid to your family (currently expecting? Feel free to apply! If you’re the right person for the job, we’ll make it work)
- Fully covered health, dental, and vision (for you and your family if you’ve got ‘em)
- Unlimited PTO (that we want you to actually take — trust us, we’ll be taking ours lol)
- Fully remote, flexible hours — we sync when it matters and trust you with the rest
- A small, kind, seriously talented team
What we're not: grind culture, 80-hour weeks, manufactured urgency, or a place that expects you to trade your life for the company. We're building something we love, sustainably, for the long haul.
To Apply
Send us a note at work@starchild.app with:
- A quick intro — who you are and why this one caught your eye. Please don’t let AI write this for you. That’s just a huge bummer. We want to get a sense of who you are!
- A link to your LinkedIn, GitHub, portfolio, or whatever shows your work best
- One product you've shipped that you're proud of, and what you actually did on it
We read every application, and we'll get back to you promptly.
