Job at a glance
About Tonk --- Tonk is a venture-backed, London-based startup. This is a chance to join us on the ground floor as we race towards product-market fit. The product: a next-generation backend that helps people use AI to build & share applets that integrate with their data and embed into their daily life. The progress: strong early traction with developers & partners; we have the capital, talent and relationships to propel us at speed.
Our CTO is a world-class applied cryptographer & distributed systems engineer who’s uniquely able to deliver on our vision. The vision: the product is our latest step in building a new and better internet that’s more open and less platform-centric, where AI is helpful rather than spooky, and where more people have more creative power to shape software to their idiosyncratic, organic contexts. The team: multidisciplinary - we’ve started & exited successful startups, worked in the heart of Silicon Valley, graduated from world-class universities - but we’re creative, with a deep background in dance, theatre and art.
We’re backed by top-tier investors. Read more on our website. The role --- You’ll design, build, and launch core components of the Tonk toolchain: Work primarily in Typescript & Rust (but you may need to learn new languages as we go) Architect new features and implement them end-to-end Build simple & beautiful frontends Oversee launches Improve performance & reliability Gather feedback and prioritise improvements But as in any startup, your work won’t just be writing code - you’ll be: Ideating in the weeds, working closely with users & founders Becoming expert in new domains at speed Driving outcomes through the creative chaos of an early stage project Travelling the world and growing your network What we’re looking for --- Technical requirements You’ll have spent 2+ years doing frontier technical work at a large company or a startup with traction.
“Frontier technical work” means that you’re working at the edge of a technical field or pushing performance boundaries, not just maintaining features or doing standard web development. Strong foundations in computer science — through a degree, rigorous self-study, or equivalent experience. Evidence of working across the stack, from frontend to backend to infrastructure. Proficient in Typescript, React.
Evidence of a working knowledge of web technologies, such as HTTP, WASM, PWAs, etc. Traits You’ll have an unusual level of drive , for example: Your side project made it big on Hacker News. You’re an active maintainer of a popular open-source project. You ship full-stack apps in a single weekend to turn your shower thoughts into reality. You have varied, niche knowledge in diverse domains such as graphics programming and compilers.
You became lead engineer after a year at your starter job. You may have achievements outside of technology, such as winning the Bertsolari Txapelketa Nagusia or competing at national level in ballroom dancing. You’ll be an “always-on” learner : You’ll be constantly acquiring or growing your skills and knowledge. You’ll be constantly reflecting on, and improving your learning process.