Founding Member – Tech & AI Infrastructure Lead

Outfit4Rent is headquartered in Germany and operates at the intersection of environmental sustainability, artificial intelligence, and modern consumer behavior. The fashion industry operates on a broken linear model of take-make-dispose, generating massive textile waste and carbon emissions. We are building the technological and operational antidote: a Circular Fashion Operating System. We operate a high-impact dual-engine ecosystem: Enterprise B2B Infrastructure: Partnering with fashion brands, boutiques, designers, and retailers to absorb excess inventory, deadstock, and specialized collections, turning idle, depreciating assets into high-yield, rental-ready revenue generators.Seamless D2C Rental Experience: Providing a curated, managed-inventory rental platform serving all genders for formal wear, luxury apparel, everyday professional attire, festivals, and special events. Our overarching technology roadmap includes managed B2B2C fashion logistics, second-hand circular resale markets, predictive sizing validation engines, and deeply integrated regional eco-cleaning networks designed to maximize garment lifecycles to 55+ rentals per item. ⚠️ CRITICAL PRE-READ WARNING: We are building this organization completely from a blank slate. We are looking for relentless, mission-driven co-founders who possess an unyielding "can-do" spirit, thrive in extreme operational ambiguity, and want to own a foundational piece of the company from day one. Only apply if you deeply believe in our company goal, our circular fashion mission, and the gritty, high-velocity reality of early-stage venture building. 🏳️‍🌈🎯 Equal Opportunity & Targeted Inclusion Notice: As we expand our core leadership team, we are intentionally encouraging female and LGBTQ+ professionals to apply. While tech and startup sectors often see lower application rates from women, we are fiercely committed to gender diversity, equality, and building an inclusive leadership team from the ground up. Diverse perspectives, lived experiences, and exceptional leadership are non-negotiable drivers of our innovation. 🏛️ Foundational Startup Principles: To succeed in the European green-tech landscape, Outfit4Rent operates under strict startup scaling fundamentals: Radical Accountability: Own your domain entirely from macro-strategy down to tactical execution.Capital Efficiency: Build multi-million-euro asset-light infrastructure on a bootstrapped, grant-backed, and pre-seed budget via creative resourcefulness and lean technical stacks.Data-Driven Decision Making: Gut feelings guide intuition, but data dictates execution via real-time KPIs.Ecosystem Leverage: Maximize regional support structures across North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and the broader DACH region (incubators, accelerators, circular hubs, trade conventions like Startup Week Düsseldorf and Circular Valley). 🚀 The Role: Founding Partner & Tech / AI Infrastructure Lead "Architect, code, and scale our core technology stack from scratch—spanning robust web platforms, native mobile applications for iOS and Android, artificial intelligence systems, and predictive sizing models into a high-velocity circular fashion platform." Core Responsibilities Full-Stack & Mobile App Engineering: Design, build, and maintain the entire technology architecture—spanning responsive web platforms, native or cross-platform mobile applications for iOS and Android, resilient back-end services, scalable databases, and cloud deployment pipelines (AWS/GCP).AI & Machine Learning Integration: Champion enthusiastic adoption of AI technologies by embedding machine learning models, predictive sizing validation engines, and automated workflow pipelines (APIs, Zapier, LLM integrations) into both web and mobile environments.API-First Ecosystem & Integration: Build seamless, secure, and extensible APIs to connect B2B partner inventory feeds, ERP/CRM systems (Salesforce, HubSpot, Shopify Plus / Headless setups), and regional logistics hubs.Proactive Tech Leadership ("Do-Whatever-It-Takes"): Own everything related to technology, information engineering, and digital infrastructure. As a hands-on founding partner, you embrace extreme adaptability in a fast-changing startup environment where building from scratch is the norm.Data Privacy & Compliance: Ensure platform security, GDPR compliance, and robust data pipelines connecting operational garment tracking with user-facing web and mobile applications. Skill & Technology Requirements Full-Stack & Mobile Mastery: Modern web frameworks (React, Next.js, or similar), mobile app development frameworks for iOS and Android (React Native, Flutter, Swift, or Kotlin), robust back-end development (Node.js, Python, or equivalent), and database management (SQL/NoSQL).AI & Data Tech: Generative AI tools, machine learning integration, sizing algorithms, and automated workflow architectures.Cloud & Infrastructure: Cloud environments (AWS, GCP, Azure), CI/CD pipelines, Docker, and API-first microservices.E-Commerce & Fashion Tech: Headless e-commerce architecture (Shopify Plus/custom APIs), inventory tracking integrations, and retail analytics pipelines. Experience Baseline & Background Professional Experience: 8+ years in software engineering, mobile application development, technical architecture, full-stack development, or acting as a startup CTO.Industry Preference: Having hands-on experience in the fashion industry, e-commerce, and related fields will be very beneficial and given more preference.Studies: Academic background in Computer Science, Information Engineering, Software Engineering, or related technical disciplines.Mindset: A proactive builder who thrives on ambiguity, loves coding from a blank slate, and possesses an unwavering "can-do" attitude. What You Bring to the Table Strict Location Constraint: On-site presence required in Düsseldorf / NRW for ecosystem building, incubator hub sessions, and close collaboration with the founding team.Language Proficiency: Mandatory fluency in English and German at professional C1 level for technical documentation, stakeholder negotiations, and vendor alignment.Inclusion Focus: We strongly encourage female and diverse engineering leaders with 8+ years of experience to apply and spearhead our technical vision. 🔥 How We Win: Our Culture Speed is the feature: Action creates information. We test fast, fail fast, and multiply pace with AI.Focus on the essential: Done is better than perfect. We stay focused on what moves the needle without bureaucracy.See it. Own it. Solve it: A sanctuary for doers. Take absolute accountability for your domain.Respect others. Trust multiplies: Direct with ideas, never people. Trust is built through consistency and owning mistakes. 💰 Equity & Compensation Structure Early-Stage Reality: As a foundational founding team building a disruptive enterprise from scratch, the initial phase relies on sweat equity, strategic milestone achievements, and positioning the company for upcoming institutional grants and pre-seed funding tracks.Founding ESOP: Core co-founding members participate in a structured, formal ESOP pool with a standard multi-year vesting schedule (including a cliff). This ensures that as Outfit4Rent scales its valuation, brand footprint, and revenue, your long-term personal wealth scales directly in tandem with our collective impact. 📩 How to Apply & Stay Connected Send your CV and a concise introductory note stating your target technical role, your belief in the circular transition, and examples of past building-from-scratch achievements via our official LinkedIn Company inbox.If you feel that you are the best fit for this founding role, definitely apply! Having experience in the fashion industry, e-commerce, and related fields will be very beneficial and given more preference.There is a lot going on and many exciting news and updates on the way! Please share this listing with your network and connect with anyone who fits these roles. Be sure to follow our LinkedIn page to stay updated on future announcements, company milestones, and upcoming job openings! 🌍🚀