Founding Engineer

Overview

We're hiring a Founding / Senior Software Engineer to join a well-funded, early-stage AI product team based in London. This is a hands-on, high-ownership role for someone who enjoys building real products from the ground up and wants meaningful influence over technical direction, architecture, and delivery.

The product is already live, customer-facing, and built around applied AI rather than research. The focus is on shipping reliable systems that solve real operational problems at scale.

This role suits engineers who thrive in ambiguity, enjoy working close to customers, and are motivated by impact rather than hierarchy.

What You'll Be Doing

Building and shipping core product features using Python and TypeScript

Designing and owning backend-leaning full-stack systems

Working with LLMs and AI-driven workflows in production

Building event-driven systems and third-party integrations

Taking ownership from problem discovery through to delivery

Balancing speed vs scalability depending on context

Contributing to engineering best practices around testing, reliability, and security

Tech Environment

Languages: Python, TypeScript

Architecture: Cloud-native, distributed systems, event-driven design

AI: Practical LLM usage in real-world products

Infrastructure exposure: Kubernetes, serverless, modern cloud platforms (experience here is a plus, not a blocker)

What We're Looking For

5-10+ years' experience in full-stack software engineering (backend-leaning)

Proven experience shipping AI-powered products end-to-end

Early-stage startup experience strongly preferred

Comfortable working directly with customers and stakeholders

Strong ownership mindset; enjoys building, not just maintaining

Backgrounds as an ex-founder or founding engineer are very welcome

What's Not a Fit

Long tenures exclusively in large or highly process-driven organisations

Engineers who prefer narrowly scoped, ticket-based work

People uncomfortable with in-person collaboration or ambiguity

Location & Package

London-based

5 days onsite

Salary: £150,000 - £220,000 (experience dependent)
Only candidates based in UK and eligible to work in UK are allowed