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: Video Walkthrough: Official Website: My Journey (Twitter/X): My LinkedIn: Job Types: Part-time, Contract Pay: $60,000.00 - $70,000.00 per year Work Location: Remote Apply tot his job