Find a Startup Job in San Diego
Already over 2,000 startup jobs are available in San Diego. Be among the first 50 entrepreneurial professionals to explore opportunities and discover roles that match your skills and ambitions.
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Startup Job Search in San Diego
Startup Job Search in San Diego
Startup Job Search in San Diego
San Diego offers a distinctive startup job market that combines Southern California lifestyle with specialized innovation clusters in biotechnology, wireless communications, and maritime technology. The employment landscape encompasses roles across life sciences, telecommunications, defense technology, and clean energy, reflecting the city's unique combination of research institutions, military presence, and natural resources. Compensation typically blends competitive California salaries with equity components, with early-stage ventures offering increased ownership percentages to attract specialized talent to founding teams. The innovation scene centers around distinct districts including Torrey Pines (biotechnology), Sorrento Valley (telecommunications), and Downtown (software), creating specialized environments where deep expertise meets entrepreneurial vision. The work culture balances California casual with technological precision, where early employees enjoy greater work-life integration while contributing to ventures with global ambitions in specific technological domains. For international talent, San Diego offers exceptional quality of life with more affordable living costs than San Francisco or Los Angeles while maintaining strong innovation infrastructure. The startup environment particularly values life sciences expertise, wireless communications experience, and oceanographic knowledge, creating specialized opportunities for technical professionals seeking roles in ventures building complex solutions with long development cycles, supported by the region's exceptional research institutions and specialized investment community accustomed to deeper technological innovation.
San Diego offers a distinctive startup job market that combines Southern California lifestyle with specialized innovation clusters in biotechnology, wireless communications, and maritime technology. The employment landscape encompasses roles across life sciences, telecommunications, defense technology, and clean energy, reflecting the city's unique combination of research institutions, military presence, and natural resources. Compensation typically blends competitive California salaries with equity components, with early-stage ventures offering increased ownership percentages to attract specialized talent to founding teams. The innovation scene centers around distinct districts including Torrey Pines (biotechnology), Sorrento Valley (telecommunications), and Downtown (software), creating specialized environments where deep expertise meets entrepreneurial vision. The work culture balances California casual with technological precision, where early employees enjoy greater work-life integration while contributing to ventures with global ambitions in specific technological domains. For international talent, San Diego offers exceptional quality of life with more affordable living costs than San Francisco or Los Angeles while maintaining strong innovation infrastructure. The startup environment particularly values life sciences expertise, wireless communications experience, and oceanographic knowledge, creating specialized opportunities for technical professionals seeking roles in ventures building complex solutions with long development cycles, supported by the region's exceptional research institutions and specialized investment community accustomed to deeper technological innovation.
Startup Jobs in San Diego
Startups in San Diego on Foundersbase are offering a wide range of opportunities for professionals across different backgrounds. 44% of all open positions are technical, while 56% are focused on non-technical roles, showing a healthy balance between engineering, business, and creative skill sets. In terms of compensation, most job offers fall within the $30–50K salary range, with additional roles spanning both lower and higher brackets. 64% of listings are for full-time positions, offering steady involvement in fast-moving startup environments, while part-time roles remain a relevant option as well. The most active hiring sectors include IT Networking, Machine Learning, and Wellness, with high demand for skills in areas such as DevOps Engineer, Diversity and Inclusion Manager, HR Manager, and Developer (Backend). Whether you’re a specialist, generalist, or explorer looking to support an early-stage team, the startup landscape in San Diego presents a rich mix of industries, challenges, and opportunities to grow with.
Job Offerings
See how startup jobs are split between technical and non-technical roles, showing you where current demand lies.
Salary Distribution
Explore how startup salaries are distributed across different pay ranges, helping you find opportunities that match your compensation expectations.
Employment Type
Discover the balance between full-time and part-time startup opportunities, reflecting different ways to engage with innovative companies.
Top Hiring Sectors
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Skills in Demand
These are the most sought-after skills that startups are looking for in potential team members.
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