Open Source Engineer

Firecrawl is looking for a high‑agency engineer to own our open source work. That starts with the main Firecrawl repo (180k+ stars and counting, top 50 repositories of all time), which should stay the easiest thing in the category to self-host. It extends to the context primitives we’re open sourcing now, starting with anydoc, our document parsing engine. You’ll keep the core repo healthy and growing, build out the primitives, and think about what makes each one spread on its own. This is not a developer relations role. We want an engineer who ships the code, reviews the PRs, and makes the repos better every week. Community instincts help, but engineering quality, shipping velocity, and a track record of work people actually use matter most. Salary Range: $235,000–$260,000 USD/year (SF) / $217,000–$233,000 CAD/year (Toronto) Equity Range: Competitive equity. Details shared during the process. Location: San Francisco, CA (SF HQ) or Toronto, ON (Toronto Hub). On‑site, five days a week. Job Type: Full-Time Experience: 5+ years Work Authorization: Must be authorized to work in the United States or Canada. We’re not able to sponsor US visas right now. For Canada, we’ll consider sponsorship on a case‑by‑case basis through our Toronto Hub. About Firecrawl Firecrawl is the easiest way to turn the web into data AI agents can use. One API call converts any URL into clean, LLM‑ready markdown or structured data. It’s the boring‑hard problem everyone building with LLMs eventually hits, solved. We hit 8 figures in ARR in year one and more than doubled it in year two. We have 180k+ GitHub stars, putting us in the top 50 repositories of all time, and developers, agents, and category‑defining AI companies build on us every day. Growth like this is rare, and we’re just getting started. We’re a small team punching far above our weight, working out of SF HQ and our new Toronto Hub. Everyone here owns a real piece of the product and company, end to end, and runs it themselves. No hiding behind process or headcount. This is a place for people who want to work at the frontier: an AI company building the infrastructure other AI companies run on, not one bolting AI onto an existing product. We move fast, go deep, and are building the tools superintelligence will rely on to gather data from the web. What You’ll Do Own the main Firecrawl repo end to end: triage issues, review PRs, cut releases, write docs Keep the self-host experience easy: clone it, run it, keep it running, no surprises Build out new context primitives, starting with anydoc, our document parsing engine Make the calls on scope and API design for what belongs in a primitive and what doesn’t Think about what makes an open source project spread on its own, and build toward that Ship code and review PRs every week. This is an engineering seat, not a community seat What We’re Looking For A real open source track record: maintaining a popular repo, or landing significant contributions to one You care about the self‑host experience and know what makes a repo easy to clone, run, and keep running Comfortable owning a repo end to end, from triaging issues and reviewing PRs to cutting releases and writing docs You’ve built parsers, crawlers, browser tooling, or developer libraries, and have taste in what belongs in a primitive and what doesn’t You understand how open source turns into adoption and pay attention to why some projects take off High agency. Happy to make calls on scope, API design, and what gets merged Often a maintainer, ex‑founder, early startup engineer, or builder with impressive public work What We’re NOT Looking For Someone looking for a developer relations role. This is an engineering seat first Someone who wants community work to substitute for shipping code Someone who needs a mapped‑out roadmap before they’ll make a scope call Someone who’s used open source but never maintained or owned a repo of real scale A Note On Pace We operate at an absurd level of urgency because the window for what we’re building won’t stay open forever. If that excites you, keep reading. If it doesn’t, no hard feelings, but this role probably isn’t for you. Benefits & Perks Available to all employees Salary that makes sense: $235,000–$260,000 USD/year (SF) / $217,000–$233,000 CAD/year (Toronto), based on impact, not tenure Own a piece: Gain competitive equity in what you’re helping build Generous PTO: 15 days mandatory, anything after 24 days, just ask (holidays excluded). Take the time you need to recharge Parental leave: 12 weeks fully paid, for all parents Wellness stipend: $100 USD/month for the gym, therapy, massages, or whatever keeps you human Learning & Development: Expense up to $1,000 USD/year toward anything that helps you grow professionally Team offsites: A change of scenery, minus the trust falls Sabbatical: 3 paid months off after 4 years, do something fun and new Available to US‑based full‑time employees Full coverage, no red tape: Medical, dental, and vision (100% for employees, 50% for partner and kids). No weird loopholes, just care that works Life & Disability insurance: Employer‑paid basic life and AD&D, short‑term disability, and long‑term disability. Coverage for life's curveballs Virtual care and a health guide: Teladoc for the couch doctor visit, plus Rightway to answer coverage questions and fight billing errors for you Mental health: Talkspace, therapy and psychiatry on your schedule Fertility and family building: Carrot, covering you and your partner EAP: Free confidential counseling, legal and financial consults, and online will prep through Guardian 401(k) plan: Retirement might be a ways off, but future‑you will thank you Pre‑tax benefits: HSA, FSA, and commuter benefits to help your wallet out a bit Supplemental options: Extra life and AD&D, accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, plus pet, legal, and identity protection through MetLife Available to Canada‑based full‑time employees Full coverage, no red tape: Extended health, dental, and vision through Manulife (Diamond, the top tier), 100% employer‑paid for you, your partner, and your kids Life & Disability insurance: Employer‑paid life, AD&D, short‑term disability, and long‑term disability. Coverage for life's curveballs Virtual care: Dialogue Premium, so you can see a doctor or nurse from your couch, any hour Mental health: Talkspace Elite, therapy and psychiatry on your schedule Fertility and family building: Carrot, covering you and your partner Retirement: Group RRSP through Wealthsimple, so future‑you can thank you Available to SF‑based employees SF HQ perks: Snacks, drinks, team lunches, intense ping pong, and peak startup energy E‑Bike transportation: A loaner electric bike to get you around the city, on us Available to Toronto‑based employees Toronto Hub perks: Snacks, drinks, team lunches, glass‑walled views down University Avenue, and a home base steps from Union Station Transit, covered: A PRESTO card loaded for GO Transit, subway, and streetcar, plus station parking if you drive to the train. Winter‑proof, on us Interview Process Intro Chat (~25 min) A quick conversation to get to know each other before we go deep. We’ll talk about what you’ve been working on, what drew you to Firecrawl, and what you’re looking for in your next role. Time for your questions too. Technical Chat (~45 min) We’ll walk through a repo you’ve maintained and a real problem from ours: a self‑host path that’s gotten fragile, a scope call on what belongs in a primitive, or a PR queue that’s outgrown one reviewer. Come ready to think out loud. We care how you reason about maintainership, not whether you know our codebase yet. Founder Chat (~25 min) Culture, pace, ownership, and how you like to work. Time for your questions too. Paid Work Trial (~40 Hours) Ship something real on one of our open source repos, paid at a contractor rate. It’s the truest signal for both sides. You see what maintaining Firecrawl’s open source work actually feels like, and we see how you operate. Remote‑friendly, and we’ll flex around your current commitments. Decision We move fast after the trial. If you want to own the open source surface of one of the fastest‑growing AI companies in the world, you should join us. #J-18808-Ljbffr Mendable