Founding Engineer in London

Founding Engineer in London

London Full-Time 63000 - 77000 £ / year (est.) Home office (partial)
Bite Engineering

At a Glance

  • Tasks: Join us to build innovative software that transforms structural engineering.
  • Company: Bite, a pioneering tech company with a focus on collaboration and innovation.
  • Benefits: Competitive salary, equity options, hybrid work, and opportunities for professional growth.
  • Other info: Dynamic team environment with clear paths for career advancement.
  • Why this job: Make a real impact by solving complex problems in structural engineering.
  • Qualifications: 5+ years of experience in software development and strong backend skills.

The predicted salary is between 63000 - 77000 £ per year.

Join Bite as one of our first engineers. You'll ship across the full stack to paying customers, work directly with the founders, and own real pieces of the knowledge graph that powers everything we build.

Why this role is interesting

The problem is genuinely hard. When a structural engineer changes Column C7 in their analysis model, the same column exists in drawings, schedules, specs and emails under different names, in different formats, with no shared identifier. Resolving those references into one canonical entity, and telling the engineer exactly what just went out of date, is the core of our product. You'll build on and extend that foundation.

Your work ships to people who pay. The platform is in production with signed design partners including some of the UK's leading structural engineering firms. Features go from your branch into the hands of working engineers within days, and you'll hear directly what landed and what didn't.

You'll work on the whole product, not a slice of it. We're a small team and we run one focused thing at a time. You'll take features from a conversation with a customer through design, implementation, tests and deployment. No ticket factory, no waiting on three other teams.

What we're building

Structural engineers work across a fragmented set of tools with no shared source of truth: ETABS models, SAFE analyses, Autodesk drawings, Excel specs, PDFs, emails. When a design changes, propagating that change across files is manual, slow and error-prone, and the errors are expensive.

Bite is the change management and audit trail layer for structural engineering. The platform does two things that today take weeks of manual work: natural-language search across a project's entire file ecosystem, and cross-file impact detection. Both run on a single engineering knowledge graph built on content-addressed file storage, per-file structured extraction, and a canonical entity resolver that unifies concepts across file formats.

The timing matters too. The Building Safety Act now requires firms to evidence their design decisions, and directors carry personal liability for it. We are building the system of record for that.

What a typical week looks like

  • Ship a feature end to end: a Node/TypeScript API change, the React frontend that exposes it, and the tests that prove it works.
  • Pair with El-Amin (our CTO, a former practising structural engineer) on how engineers actually think about a column, a load path, or a revision, then encode that into the data model.
  • Improve extraction or retrieval quality in the Python ML/RAG workers and measure whether it actually got better.
  • Sit in on a design partner call and watch a structural engineer use what you built last week.
  • Make a pragmatic call on tech debt with the team: what we fix now, what we log, and why.

You don't need to be expert in every layer. The stack is polyglot by design (TypeScript, Python, React, C#/WPF, Azure) and we care about strong core engineering far more than specific tools.

Product sense is not optional

AI now writes a meaningful share of the code. What it can't do is decide what's worth building, notice that a feature solves the wrong problem, or sense that a structural engineer will never click that button. We don't have a layer of product managers between you and the customer, and we don't plan to. Every engineer here exercises product judgement daily. If you've ever been frustrated that nobody asked you what should be built, this is the antidote.

How you'll grow

You'll learn an entire vertical: how structural engineering firms work, how AEC data formats behave, and how to build LLM/RAG systems that hold up in production. You'll work directly with our VP of Engineering and CTO, and as the team grows around you there's a clear path to owning a domain, leading projects, and eventually mentoring the engineers who come after you.

What we're looking for

  • 5+ years of experience with a track record of shipping and owning production systems.
  • Strong backend experience, ideally Node.js/TypeScript or Python in a production context, and comfortable reading across other languages (C#, Python or TypeScript).
  • Working knowledge of distributed systems fundamentals: async queues, event-driven workflows.
  • The instinct to keep things simple under pressure, and the judgement to know when a tactical shortcut is right and when it isn't.
  • Genuine product sense. You think about the user before you think about the implementation.
  • Clear communication. We move between deeply technical, semi-technical and plain-language conversations every day, and we value clarity above speed.
  • Kindness, curiosity, optimism and drive. We believe in being kind over being nice, we give and receive constructive feedback constantly, and we're building something bigger than ourselves.

What will make you stand out

  • LLM/RAG pipelines in production: embeddings, vector search, retrieval quality measurement.
  • Graph-based data models, entity resolution, or knowledge graph tooling.
  • Autodesk Platform Services or AEC data formats (IFC, Revit, ETABS, SAFE or similar).
  • Windows desktop development (.NET / WPF / native integrations).
  • Background in construction, structural engineering software, or document-intensive vertical SaaS.

Don't rule yourself out over the stack. We're looking for strong engineers with sound principles. Technologies are tools.

How we work

We believe in thorough automated testing. Not strict TDD, but every PR ships with the appropriate E2E tests, unit tests or eval harnesses. We own the entire platform, including deployment and reliability, so we control our own CI and CD. The team is autonomous, multi-disciplinary and empowered.

The process

We respect your time and move fast. You'll hear from us quickly after every stage, and the process is as much about you assessing us as the reverse. Ask us anything.

  • Initial screening call (15 mins)
  • Technical conversation with our VP of Engineering, walking through some of your code (30 mins)
  • Pairing session with the team (1–2 hours)
  • Reference checks and offer

About Bite

Bite Engineering is an Equal Employment Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or any other legally protected status. We want people from all walks of life to feel valued for their individuality, thrive in our business and share a sense of belonging. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, let us know.

Founding Engineer in London employer: Bite Engineering

Bite is an exceptional employer for those seeking a dynamic and fast-paced environment where innovation meets operational excellence. With a strong focus on leveraging AI to enhance workflows, employees are empowered to take ownership of their roles while enjoying ample opportunities for professional growth, including a clear path towards leadership positions. The collaborative culture fosters proactive communication and high-quality execution, making it an ideal place for individuals eager to make a meaningful impact in the built environment sector.

Bite Engineering

Contact Details:

Bite Engineering Recruitment Team

StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫

We think this is how you could land Founding Engineer in London

Join Local Tech Meetups

Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at Bite Engineering or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!

Contribute to Open Source Projects

Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to Bite Engineering.

Tap into Online Developer Communities

Don’t underestimate the power of online developer communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and even Reddit. Participate in discussions, share your projects, and build your visibility. We can often find opportunities through these channels that can lead to a full-time gig at companies like Bite Engineering.

Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles

Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like Bite Engineering that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!

We think you need these skills to ace Founding Engineer in London

Node.js
TypeScript
Python
React
Distributed Systems Fundamentals
Async Queues
Event-Driven Workflows

Some tips for your application 🫡

Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.

Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at Bite Engineering.

Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Bite Engineering and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!

Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!

How to prepare for a job interview at Bite Engineering

Brush Up on Your Coding Skills

For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.

Know Your Tools and Frameworks

Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If Bite Engineering uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.

Showcase Your Projects

Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.

Prepare for Behavioural Questions

While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.