Early Backend Engineer (Supabase / Postgres)
Hello,
I’m building Sølsk, an iOS-only “slow dating” app designed to fix dating-app fatigue through intentionality and community interaction.
- This is not a typical “I have an idea, please build it” pitch.
- The iOS front-end is already ~90% built in SwiftUI.
- I already have a Technical Co-Founder/CTO.
- What we need now is the backend: production-grade, secure, scalable, and wired cleanly into the existing iOS app.
If you’re a backend engineer who can build the engine room of a social app (messaging, feed, permissions, reliability), this is your lane.
What You’re Building
- Sølsk relies heavily on:
- Messaging between users (reliable delivery, ordering, pagination)
- A social/feed-like system (prompts + comments + interactions)
- A feature called Låse: two users enter a locked, exclusive chat for a fixed time window, then it ends and content is handled according to retention rules
- The backend must be built like a real product, not a demo:
- schema design
- access control / permissions
- server-authoritative logic (no “trust the client clock”)
- safe rollout + observability mindset
- The Stack
- Backend: Supabase (Postgres, Auth, RLS, Realtime, Edge Functions)
- iOS: SwiftUI (already built)
- Monetization: RevenueCat
- Verification: Stripe Identity (planned)
- Workflow: AI-first (Cursor/LLMs are expected in some way)
Your Role
You will work under the CTO and own backend delivery. You are not a co-founder, but you are absolutely an early, critical hire.
- You’ll be responsible for:
- Designing the core Postgres schema for feed + messaging + Låse
- Implementing secure authorization (RLS policies / role-based access)
- Building realtime messaging and feed queries that scale (indexing, pagination, ordering)
- Implementing server-authoritative Låse logic (timers, state changes, retention rules)
- Writing Edge Functions for privileged logic and future internal tooling
- Laying groundwork for future admin tools (moderation queue, audit logs, regional prompts scheduling)
- Nice-to-Haves (Not Required)
- Some Swift/SwiftUI familiarity (helpful for debugging integration)
- Prior work on social apps, messaging, realtime systems
- Experience building internal tools (admin dashboards / ops consoles)
- Experience with abuse/reporting systems and audit logging
- Who You Are
- Backend-first: you don’t just “consume APIs,” you design and own them
- Security-minded: you instinctively think permissions + audit trails
- Pragmatic shipper: you build what matters, then harden it
- AI-leveraged: you use Cursor/LLMs to go faster, but you still understand what you’re shipping
Compensation (Read Carefully)
We are a bootstrap startup and cannot pay cash right now.
- This role is equity-based at the start.
- Equity grant will be meaningful but not co-founder-level
- Standard vesting: 4 years with a 1-year cliff
- Equity range depends heavily on seniority + weekly commitment + ownership expectations
(Typical target range for this role: ~0.25% to 2.5% of the company)
When revenue arrives, cash compensation becomes possible. Until then, this is equity + high-impact work.
Time Expectations
- Flexible, but we need consistency. Ideal range:
- 10–25 hrs/week, with the ability to surge near milestones
If you can’t comfortably explain how you’d implement server-authoritative timers, permissions, and scalable feed/message queries, then unfortunately, this won’t be a fit.
Here are links to the work:
TestFlight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/6Hr9KjDJ
Video Walkthrough: https://youtube.com/playlist'list=PL4gLRzOLr4kmkjj8c9knPVm91N10RpeqR&si=dy-zmXO9PrZ77uON
Official Website: https://www.solsk.app/
My Journey (Twitter/X): https://x.com/BtixistP
My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brdel27
Job Types: Part-time, Contract
Pay: $60,000.00 - $70,000.00 per year
Work Location: Remote
Apply Now
Apply Now