# Engineers that enjoy hard things (like compilers)

**Company:** [Boundary](https://zerogtalent.com/ai-companies/boundary)
**Location:** Seattle, WA, US
**Work mode:** On-site
**Employment type:** Full Time
**Salary:** USD 100K–180K/yr
**Category:** Engineering
**Department:** Engineering
**Listed:** 2026-03-24

[View and apply on Zero G Talent](https://zerogtalent.com/ai-jobs/boundary/engineers-that-enjoy-hard-things-like-compilers-80382)

## Job description

We are building [BAML](https://github.com/BoundaryML/baml) -- a new programming language to build AI powered applications.

What does the code look like when 50% of the business decisions is decided by an AI agent / prompts? How do you test these AI components? What tools should we build?

Every computing paradigm, brought with a new language

-   Desktop Computer → Holepunching and ASM were far too inaccessible → C
-   Multiple OSs → Why write 3 variants of C → Java
-   A computer on every desk → Lets make software more readable → Python
-   Web browsers → Event driven / async native → JS
-   AI / Graphics → We need to do a lot of math, and fast → Cuda
-   Interactive Website → HTML + Logic is hard to do at scale → React
-   **Non-determinism → My software is isn’t predictable because AI → ?????**

BAML is our answer, and it will let more developers than ever write AI pipelines without having to think about AI model reliability.

### Why you should join us

Most startups die quietly. Most programming languages never leave a compiler talk.

But every once in a generation, someone builds the next C, Java, Python, JS, React or Cuda.  
We’re trying to build that: a language for reasoning with AI.

We might fail spectacularly.  
But if we don’t, it’ll be because a small group of curious, fearless builders decided to bet on **beauty and correctness** in an age of chaos.

If that excites you, then Boundary is your place.  
But don’t take our word for it, [try BAML first](https://github.com/boundaryml/baml).

### Responsibilities

-   Since we’re building a compiler, you’ll be able to solve some of the hardest and most interesting problems — e.g. how to suspend/resume AI workflows, how to support calling BAML functions from any language, how to create a graph visualization from BAML code users or AI agents write, and exploring unique syntaxes.
-   Design and implement tooling to give users the best developer experience — this includes adding features to our LLM observability platform and scaling it to support handling billions of logs.
-   Answer community questions and learn how they leverage BAML so we can make it even better

### To apply:

The best words that describe the kinds of people we’ve hired to date are: Curious and Fearless

-   Curious - never assume you already know, and challenge the status quo
-   Fearless - build anything. Its just bits on a machine, make them do what you want

Send a message through Work-At-A-Startup with Subject: “**Why I’m awesome**” with **3** of your most incredible achievements in life (technical and/or personal achievements). E.g. “I ran an ultramarathon in XYZ hours” or “I wrote a Rust crate used by millions of devs each month”. Brag about yourself, and articulate what about it was hard and what outcome came from it.  
  
**This isn’t a trick question, we’re building a programming language, and communication is the most important trait for us.**

> Past Examples from candidates we’ve hired. READ THESE so you know what we might look for. **The best emails include metrics + links.**
> 
> [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pFXmqQVnMmCdxdpcuF9Zwk6SRCMgJglL/view?usp=drive\_link](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pFXmqQVnMmCdxdpcuF9Zwk6SRCMgJglL/view?usp=drive_link)

### Our Tech Stack

BAML - Rust + FFI bindings to each language we interface with

BAML LSP / Editor Extensions (VSCode, Jetbrains, Zed, …) - Typescript/Nextjs, Rust + WASM

Boundary Cloud - Rust backend, Typescript / Nextjs frontend

### FAQ

Do I need to know Rust? No, but you should be able to learn it, and learn it fast.

Do I need to know about programming languages / compilers? No, we don’t need to hire language experts. We train language experts.

Generally speaking, no prior knowledge needed, but you should be able to take any problem, and solve it. If graph / tree problems are stressful, Boundary is probably not a good fit. If questions like the following seem fun, this is gonna be a heck of ride.

-   what syntax ergonomics can make AI better at grepping for code?
-   how does LLVM work?
-   how does react’s re-rendering work?
-   how do I design a package manager?

* * *

### Interview Process

-   Initial call (45min)
-   We interview 1-3 of your references (we ask them technically deep questions about the work you did).
    -   Note, if you don’t have any, then the bar for “why I’m awesome” is higher
-   Work trial (1 week) (in person preferred, but ok remote)
    -   This is both of our opportunities to discover if we mesh. Work should be fun, and the best way to check that is to just spend time together.
    -   We could always hire fast, and fire fast, but building a language is long journey. We’d much rather be aligned from day 1.
    -   No exceptions sadly.

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*Source: [Zero G Talent](https://zerogtalent.com), the job board for space, defense, AI, robotics and frontier-tech companies.*