- SkillsRobin Dev Spotlight
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- Dev Talent Spotlight | December '25
Dev Talent Spotlight | December '25
+ How to make the best of hiring while you're still bootstrapped
Lisa Deng
December 09, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
In partnership with
🌟 Featured Developer
⏳ 5+ years experience
🏠 Gold Coast (open to relocating), Remote
💻 PHP, TypeScript, React, Node, Next.js, Chrome extensions, Langchain, Lua, C#
💵 $140k p/a or $120 p/h
✅ Open to working for equity
“I founded my own startup solo while going through cancer and grew it to 2K MRR…
That was incredibly hard but taught me 3 important lessons: 1. Not to overbuild 2. How to sell 3. How to build pragmatically and fast”
A former founder and product manager who's taken three products from zero to one. They bring a rare combination of technical excellence, business acumen, and product thinking, with experience across proptech, insurtech, and fintech. Thrives working extremely close with customers to solve their problems, and seeks a founding engineer or co-founder role with a high-agency team that loves moving fast.
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Founder Success Stories: Sreyna from Jaimee.ai 🚀
There's almost a luxury in not having funding because you attract a certain kind of talent that believes in your vision, as opposed to someone who just wants to get paid. Innovation comes from scarcity
When ChatGPT told Sreyna she should advance her career by telling her boss she's "good at baking and multitasking," she knew something was fundamentally broken. Now she's building Jaimee—the first AI companion built specifically for women.
Since recruiting two team members through SkillsRobin in 2023, Sreyna has taken Jaimee from early-stage idea to being funded by Techstars, raising her pre-seed and launching globally across APAC, UK and US. In this candid interview, Sreyna shares:
The advantages of building a team without funding
The reality of raising as a female, consumer-tech founder in Australia's B2B SaaS-focused ecosystem
Why despite being founded in Australia, a greater future for Jaimee may lie abroad
🔥 Fireside Chat Rewatch: How to Find Your Technical Co-Founder
Last month, our founder Lisa spoke with BMightie about the ‘dos and don’ts’ when it comes to finding a technical co-founder. If you missed out, catch up on the recording here.
🗓️ Other Notable Profiles
⏳ 2-5 years experience | Full-stack engineer with 3+ years across 4 startups, building end-to-end features with a product-focused mindset. When times get tough, this is the engineer you want—quietly leading, reliably solving tricky problems, and never turning down a challenge. |
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⏳ 10+ years | Brings 20 years of global experience building mobile and fintech solutions, from Android POS systems deployed at major fast-food chains in Indonesia to government immigration apps. |
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⏳ 2-5 years experience | Driven professional with can-do attitude. Received Vice-Chancellor's Award for contributions to software architecture and expert in building scalable systems with multi-million dollar grant success. |
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⏳ 2-5 years 🏠 Melbourne (open to relocating), Remote | Built quickly through company pivots, including a complete subscription model refactor and a 9-day game engine rebuild before a major launch event. |
 | Vouched for by |
Cheap, flexible, distraction-free co-working for Sydney-based founders
Haymarket HQ is the best kept secret in town when it comes to quiet, clean, comfortable hot-desking for entrepreneurs. With memberships starting at $115 / month for a part-time hot desk, their offer is hard to beat.
Mention SkillsRobin in your membership application for priority access
New Job Opportunities
Permanent, Full-time Roles
📍 Remote | Post-revenue AI company building a platform that helps organisations test ideas quickly and understand audiences at scale. Ship features across Ruby on Rails backend and React frontend, improve stability, and shape core technical decisions. Looking for a hands-on builder comfortable with early-stage pace who's interested in applied AI and decision-making. |
Multiple Roles - VC Backed Chemical Intelligence AI Startup
📍 Fully Remote | We’re building AI tools that transform how chemists work — operating at the unique intersection of the physical and digital world. Backed by Australia’s leading VC firms with strong traction and a clear path to scale. From enhancing existing products to addressing world hunger. From protecting homes against the elements to protecting the sovereignty of nations. Chemistry touches nearly every aspect of our lives. We're building technology that will directly affect people's lives for the better |
Technical Lead - Wellbeing and Impact Startup |
📍 Sydney (Hybrid) | Join a seed-funded wellbeing startup on a mission to get people moving for their health and for the planet. You’ll lead a small, high-performing team building an event-driven, AWS-based architecture designed for scale, reliability, and impact. The company values experimentation, ownership, and technical excellence, ideal for hands-on leader. |
Founding Engineer – AI Healthcare Automation Startup
📍 Sydney (Hybrid or In-office) | Be a part of seed-funded AI startup reimagining healthcare communication through voice and messaging automation. As a founding engineer, you’ll shape the product, technical direction, and culture from day one. Build intelligent systems that automate calls, bookings, referrals, and patient engagement across 30+ languages. |
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. |
Become a Co-founder + Equity-based Roles
📍 Sydney Preferred | The product: a voice AI interviewer that screens candidates 24/7, providing rubric-based scores and transcripts to help recruiters make faster decisions. Early design partners and customers are already interested. Own the technical direction and product strategy alongside a founder with deep expertise in tech recruitment. |
Founding Engineer – Trauma-Informed Reporting Startup
📍 Remote | Join mission-driven startup using AI to make workplaces safer, fairer, and more inclusive. Build intelligent systems that help organisations prevent and respond to bullying, harassment, and discrimination through secure reporting and data insights. |
CTO / Founding Engineer – AI-Powered Strata Management Startup
📍 Remote | We’re reimagining how strata management works in Australia. You’ll transform a working prototype into a scalable platform building predictive insights, AI-powered tools, and real-time clarity for owners’ corporations. |
Offers
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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
$500 for part-time hires, $3,500 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
10x cheaper than traditional recruiting agencies
25% discount on all fees for early, bootstrapping startups (<A$100,000 in funding raised or ARR < $100,000)
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.
Know a founder looking for a CTO or founding engineer?
Forward this newsletter and speed up their search
Questions about any of these profiles or our process? Reply to this email ([email protected]) or visit our website