Dev Talent Spotlight | April '26

+ What you actually gain from joining a startup as employee #1

🌟 Featured Developer

Lead Engineer
⏳ 7+ years
πŸ“ Melbourne, Remote
πŸ₯ž JavaScript, TypeScript, Python
πŸ’΅ $180k p/a or $100 p/h
βœ… Salary negotiable for equity
A delivery-focused full-stack leader, this engineer played a critical role in helping a post-Series A AirTree-backed scaleup complete a major replatform, boosting delivery velocity by architecting an AI-enabled B2B application over 6 months. With experience across Finance, Retail, and Government, they brings rare technical depth spanning React, GraphQL, AWS, and event-driven architecture alongside strong financial and governance acumen.

They are seeking a founder ready to scale β€” someone who needs a strategic engineering leader to shape their team, sharpen delivery, and architect for growth.
Vouched for by
Max Lewis
Lead Engineer @ Seek
"This developer is a sharp frontend engineer who digs into hard problems and doesn't shy away from complexity, technical or organisational."

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Developer Stories

From Employee #1 to Product Leader: Peter's Journey at Lorikeet

Peter Nguyen shares his incredible journey from Lorikeet's first employee to product leader, navigating the dynamic world of AI-native startups and the evolving role of engineers.
"
If you work with incredibly smart people, then it's a recipe for success. You should always index on people, then on wildly ambitious ideas.
β€” Peter Nguyen, Product Leader, Lorikeet

Peter Nguyen joined Lorikeet as their first employee through SkillsRobin before the company even had a product. Two and a half years later, he's transitioned from software engineer to product leader at a company that's now operating across 3 continents and automated over 3 million customer support tickets.

In this honest conversation, Peter reflects on what early-stage startup life is really like and what it's taught him about building a career in AI. A few things worth your time:

  • What you actually gain joining early β€” ownership, broad exposure, and the kind of career growth that structured roles rarely offer
  • How AI is reshaping product development β€” implementation is no longer the bottleneck; good ideas and sharp judgment are
  • What to look for in early hires β€” people with the agency to ship and think about what to build
  • Why "taste" is becoming a core skill β€” for engineers, PMs, and founders alike

A grounded, practical read.

Read more

πŸ—“οΈ Other Notable Profiles

Product Designer
πŸ‘¨β€πŸ’Ό 1-2 years
🏠 Sydney, Remote
πŸ’» HTML, CSS
πŸ€‘ $52k p/a or $25 p/h
βœ… Salary negotiable for equity
Drove 262% user acquisition growth and 10K follower gains across startup roles in real estate tech, content, and career platforms β€” backed by a first-place design award.
Ankit Kapoor
Vouched for by
Ankit Kapoor
Software Developer
ο»Ώ
Junior Software Developer
πŸ‘¨β€πŸ’Ό Less than one year
🏠 Sydney (Open to relocating), Remote
πŸ’» C#,JavaScript,Unity Game Engine
πŸ€‘ $45k p/a or $25 p/h
βœ… Salary negotiable for equity
Self-taught developer who boosted Day 1 retention by 56% and cut CPI by 38%. Built 7 mobile games and earned an invitation to the Game Development World Championship.
Htoo Wai Aung
Vouched for by
Htoo Wai Aung
Machine Learning Engineer | Phd Candidate at the University of Sydney
ο»Ώ
Senior Software Engineer
πŸ‘¨β€πŸ’Ό 7+ years
🏠 Sydney, Remote
πŸ’» Node.js, React
πŸ€‘ $200k p/a or $150 p/h
βœ…
A versatile Senior Software Engineer spanning cybersecurity, fintech, and edtech, who automated 500+ test scripts and is ready to step into a team leadership role.
Rozen Raymond
Vouched for by
Rozen Raymond
Senior Software Engineer | ex-Brighte, ex-Spaceship
ο»Ώ
Backend engineer
πŸ‘¨β€πŸ’Ό 7+ years
🏠 Sydney, Remote
πŸ’» Golang
πŸ€‘ $110 p/h
βœ… Salary negotiable for equity
Built backend systems serving 300K+ mobile users and migrated 700K customer records. Senior engineer across top Australian banks, media, and fintech companies, specializing in Go and AWS.
Emmanuel Fallacy
Vouched for by
Emmanuel Fallacy
Senior Software Engineer at Kasada

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New Job Opportunities

Full-time roles

πŸ“ Sydney CBD
πŸ’΅ $150-180k + equity
⏳  Permanent, Full-time

A fast-growing Sydney startup transforming how leading retail brands manage visual merchandising β€” helping store teams design, execute, and optimise product placement at scale. Join as a Senior Full Stack Engineer with real ownership across the entire product β€” you'll build meaningful features end-to-end (TypeScript, React.js, Next.js, Node.js, AWS), collaborate closely with product and design, and see your work directly impact how hundreds of retail stores perform.

πŸ“ Remote
πŸ’΅ $55-65 p/h
⏳  Contact, 4-5 days per week, up to 12 months to start

Build accessible transport solutions with a rideshare platform created for the disability community. Own mobile and web platforms (React Native, TypeScript, NestJS, AWS). 5+ years experience required. Real-world impact work.

Part-time, Contract Roles

πŸ“ Remote
πŸ’΅ Cash + Equity
⏳  Contract / Co-founder

Build the missing infrastructure for how organisations understand themselves and change. Own technical side of AI infrastructure platform moving into pilot deployments. Build and ship AI-driven features, evolve existing platform to production-ready scale, work directly with founder on architecture. Strong LLM and MCP experience essential. Opportunity to grow into technical leadership as company scales.

Co-founder Roles

πŸ“ Sydney, Hybrid
πŸ’΅ Equity-based
⏳ Part-time, Join as co-founder

Build the last professional profile anyone will ever needβ€”one beautiful link that replaces CVs, LinkedIn, and personal sites. Own technical architecture from day one at pre-build startup. Work directly with founders who value design, quality, and thoughtful iteration. Web-first product with real autonomy.

πŸ“ Remote
πŸ’΅ Equity-based
⏳ Part-time, Join as co-founder

Pre-MVP payment startup with strategic advisor and early partner lead already secured. Own technical architecture, build MVP, lead deployments, and grow into CTO role. Senior Node.js experience required plus CI/CD and UI/UX skills. Ground-floor opportunity for engineers ready for co-founder responsibility.

πŸ“ Sydney Preferred, Remote
πŸ’΅ Equity-based
⏳ Part-time, Join as co-founder

Join as the technical co-founder of an early-stage startup developing a first-of-its-kind digital marketplace for recruiter-qualified, de-identified contingent talentβ€”creating fairer, faster, bias-free hiring pathways. Currently pre-MVP and preparing to build a prototype, pilot with major employers, and raise the first investment round.

Looking to hire?

Post your role with SkillsRobin to receive personalised referrals from our network of trusted tech professionals.

Looking for a dev job or side-hustle?

Create a profile on SkillsRobin and get invitations to connect from startup founders and hiring managers.

About SkillsRobin

SkillsRobin is an open-source employee referral program that connects startups with pre-vetted technical talent through trusted industry referrers.

Our fees are simple and founder-friendly:

  • No upfront costs - you only pay when you hire

  • $750 for part-time hires, $4000 for full-time hires - only pay once they join your team

  • 6-month guarantee - additional fee of the same amount only if hire stays 6+ months

  • Up to 8x cheaper than an external recruiter

Candidates are developers based in ANZ, interested in working with early stage startups and come with referrals from industry professionals, saving you time in the initial screening process.

Offers

  • Get up to 43.5% of your research and development spending as a cash refund. If your research and development involves taking on technical risk, the R&D tax incentive could be an ongoing source of funding for your startup. Contact Grant Help and get $200 off your first invoice when you book through this link: https://hs.granthelp.com.au/rdti-eoi-skillsrobin

  • Work 3x faster - Translate speech to text with 95% accuracy with Wispr Flow. No need to stop to fix up punctuation. Get one month free of pro using this referral link 

  • Get 10% Google Workplace for the first year when you sign up through this link https://referworkspace.app.goo.gl/9kwf

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Questions about any of these profiles or our process? Reply to this email ([email protected]) or visit our website