Founding Engineer

Founding Engineer London | Onsite £80,000-£120,000 + equity We’re working with an early-stage company building a next-generation AI platform to transform a large, traditional industry. They’re looking for a Founding Engineer to take ownership of the core platform from day one and help scale it into a category-defining product. The opportunity: This is a true 0→1 role. You’ll be responsible for architecting and building the core system that powers the product, working directly with the founders and shaping both the technical direction and product itself. If you’re someone who enjoys high ownership, fast pace, and building from scratch, this is one of those rare roles where you can have a genuine impact. What you’ll be doing: Designing and building the core backend systems powering AI-driven workflowsOwning architecture across APIs, data pipelines and distributed systemsWorking on LLM orchestration and retrieval systems in productionBuilding scalable, event-driven infrastructure handling real-time workloadsIntegrating with external platforms and third-party systemsContributing across the stack where needed What they’re looking for: Strong backend engineering experience (Python preferred)Experience building and shipping AI / LLM-powered systemsSolid understanding of scalable system design and distributed architecturesExperience with data pipelines, retrieval systems or similarComfortable operating in a fast-moving, early-stage environmentAbility to take full ownership from idea → production Nice to have: Experience with real-time systems or communication platformsExposure to voice, messaging or streaming systemsPrevious startup or founding engineer experience Why join: Early-stage, high-growth environmentDirect impact on product and technical directionLarge, complex market with significant upsideStrong ownership and autonomy from day oneWork closely with experienced founders