Job Description
Job Description
Full Stack Engineer
Location: State College, PA (hybrid or remote with some travel, depending on candidate)
ABOUT BOISEI LABS
boisei labs is a venture studio focused on building ambitious "tech for good" companies - innovations that drive social good, green tech, and other meaningful impact areas. We create multiple ventures in parallel across ideation, development, launch, and growth phases.
Our team works fast, embraces startup culture, and continually pushes new ideas forward backed by an unusual advantage: we have capital in hand, no outside investors to constrain timelines, and deep connections across Penn State and the broader innovation ecosystem.
WHY THIS ROLE EXISTS
This is a hands-on software engineering role for an early-career engineer who thrives on rapidly building early-stage products. You will build foundational codebases for new venture concepts and contribute production-quality code to ventures as they launch and grow.
This role is ideal for someone who:
- Loves wide-open problem spaces
- Works quickly and efficiently
- Is energized by producing first versions, prototypes, and internal tools
- Can operate independently with limited oversight
- Enjoys building greenfield products
ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES
In this role, you will:
- Build foundational codebases for venture concepts
- Build and contribute to production codebases as ventures launch and grow
- Explore new product ideas, technical approaches, and architectures
- Develop internal tools and technical experiments that validate feasibility and user experience
- Collaborate with designers and product thinkers to validate user flows and early feature value
- Iterate quickly, documenting assumptions, architecture choices, and next steps
- Identify and communicate technical risks early, proposing solutions or alternatives
- Use modern AI-assisted development and testing tools thoughtfully to improve productivity and quality, and share what works with the team
REQUIRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCE
- 1-2 years of hands-on professional software engineering experience
- High proficiency in React, TypeScript, Tailwind, and Material UI
- Strong UI implementation skills with excellent UX intuition
- Strong code review (self and peer) skills
- Solid understanding of software testing fundamentals, including unit testing
- Ability to work efficiently in conceptual, evolving, and experimental product environments
- Comfort with Agile-like, iterative development approaches
- Strong ability to self-manage, set priorities, and determine next steps without heavy guidance
- Familiarity with AI-assisted development tools (e.g., coding assistants, testing tools) and sound judgment about when - and when not - to use them
- Strong communication skills and the ability to explain technical tradeoffs
BONUS SKILLS
- Hands-on experience building decentralized applications (dApps) or blockchain-integrated systems using: Solidity (Ethereum/EVM-based smart contracts); JavaScript/TypeScript libraries such as ethers.js, web3.js, Viem, Wagmi; smart contract frameworks like Hardhat, Foundry, Truffle, or Anchor; and familiarity with wallet integrations, on-chain/off-chain data flows, and contract interaction patterns
- Experience across other areas of the development stack
- Mobile app development
- AWS or cloud infrastructure experience
- Prior work in early-stage or startup environments
- Demonstrated interest in tech for good, social impact, or green tech
CAREER GROWTH PATHWAYS
High-performing team members may pursue:
- Increasing compensation, ownership, and autonomy within boisei labs, or
- Transitioning into an executive role within one of our newly launched companies - including equity participation and long-term leadership opportunities.
WHY JOIN US?
- We are a supportive small and highly collaborative team
- Opportunity to work across multiple industries and venture concepts
- A uniquely mission-driven environment grounded in meaningful societal and environmental impact
- Capital already secured to pursue our best ideas aggressively
- No outside investors dictating restrictive timelines or return horizons
- Strong relationships with (but no dependency on) Penn State for research-driven innovation, IP licensing, and collaboration
- A fast-moving, creative, startup-style culture with real ownership and the ability to shape new ventures from day zero
- Competitive benefits like 4% matching 401k and health care reimbursement
- Flexible hybrid schedule