At a Glance
- Tasks: Build AI-native risk infrastructure and own backend services in a high-growth startup.
- Company: Seed-stage company focused on enterprise AI and risk infrastructure.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, equity, daily team lunch, and a vibrant office environment.
- Other info: High-autonomy role with significant influence over platform architecture and career growth.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on enterprise security and compliance while shaping innovative technology.
- Qualifications: 6+ years of backend engineering experience with strong infrastructure ownership.
The predicted salary is between 130000 - 170000 £ per year.
Founding Engineer, Infrastructure & Platform | London
Location
King's Cross, London
Work model
On-site by default, with some flexibility
Employment
Full-time
Level
Mid-Senior / Founding Engineer
Experience
6+ years
Estimated compensation
Industry
Enterprise AI / Risk Infrastructure
Environment
- Seed-stage, high-growth startup
- About the opportunity
- Join a seed-stage company building AI-native risk infrastructure for regulated enterprises
- Build systems used by customers across financial services, regulated technology, and healthcare
- Own both core backend services and the infrastructure foundations they run on
- Shape a platform where security, compliance, reliability, and enterprise trust are critical to winning customers
- Work directly on architecture that supports multi-year enterprise deployments
- Operate with founding-team levels of ownership and autonomy
- Partner closely with company leadership on technical direction and platform evolution
- What you'll own
- Build and own backend services across the platform
- Develop APIs, asynchronous workflows, and core data models
- Design and maintain cloud infrastructure foundations
- Own Infrastructure as Code using Terraform
- Design secure multi-tenant isolation across compute, data, and network layers
- Own deployment pipelines and CI/CD infrastructure
- Build and maintain observability systems
- Establish and improve production on-call practices
- Develop infrastructure for long-running AI agent workloads
- Build systems for large-scale document processing
- Design secure execution environments for AI tools and agents
- Automate compliance evidence collection
- Build infrastructure supporting SOC 2, ISO 27001, and similar frameworks
- Develop internal tooling that allows engineers to ship quickly without compromising security or reliability
What we're looking for
- 6+ years of backend engineering experience
- Significant infrastructure ownership in production environments
- Strong professional experience with a backend programming language
- Strong Type Script or Node. js experience preferred
- Production experience with Terraform
- Strong CI/CD experience
- Experience with containerized production workloads
- Strong understanding of cloud infrastructure
- Experience owning systems through deployment and production operations
- Strong security fundamentals
- Experience with IAM and access-control architecture
- Experience with network segmentation
- Strong understanding of secrets management
- Awareness of software supply-chain security
- Experience designing and implementing compliance controls
- Hands-on ownership of SOC 2, ISO 27001, or comparable compliance programs
- Operational maturity from supporting production systems that matter
- Ability to balance rapid product delivery with security and reliability requirements
- High level of autonomy and technical ownership
- Particularly valuable experience
- Azure
- Azure Container Apps
- Azure Service Bus
- Azure Front Door
- Entra ID
- Multi-tenant Saa S infrastructure
- Compute isolation
- Data isolation
- Network isolation
- Audit-sensitive enterprise products
- Git Hub Actions
- Docker
- Postgres
- AKS
- Production-grade AI infrastructure
- LLM platforms
- RAG systems
- Agentic workflows
- Secure AI tool execution
- High-volume document-processing systems
- Strong profile signals
- Former founder or technical founder
- Former CTO returning to an individual-contributor role
- Founding or early-stage engineering experience
- Strong product-engineering mindset
- History of owning architecture as well as implementation
- Experience shipping backend systems directly used by customers
- Startup-style production ownership
- Side projects or evidence of independent technical building
- Technical talks, open-source work, or other evidence of deep engineering interest
- Experience working in environments where reliability and compliance directly affect commercial outcomes
- Strong AI-first development mindset
- Comfortable using AI coding tools such as Claude Code or equivalent
- This role may not be the right fit if you
- Have primarily front-end engineering experience
- Lack meaningful backend or infrastructure ownership
- Have worked exclusively in cybersecurity without hands-on product engineering
- Have primarily Developer Relations or Developer Experience experience
- Have spent your career only on internal tooling without customer-facing product impact
- Have limited experience operating production systems
- Have no practical Infrastructure as Code or CI/CD experience
- Have only participated in compliance processes rather than designing and implementing controls
- Prefer highly specialized infrastructure work without broader product ownership
- Prefer large-company structures with narrowly defined responsibilities
- Are not comfortable working primarily on-site in London
- What you'll get
- Founding-level technical ownership
- Significant influence over platform architecture
- Direct impact on which enterprise customers the company can support
- Opportunity to build secure, production-grade AI infrastructure from an early stage
- Exposure to complex enterprise security and compliance requirements
- Close collaboration with company leadership
- Top-decile London market compensation
- Meaningful EMI-eligible equity
- Strong AI tooling and API budgets
- Daily team lunch
- Specialty coffee
- King's Cross office with roof terrace and on-site facilities
- High-autonomy engineering environment
- Opportunity to build both product and infrastructure systems end-to-end
- #J-18808-Ljbffr
Founding Engineer, Infrastructure & Platform in Stevenage employer: C&D Talent Advisory
C&D Talent Advisory is an exceptional employer, offering a dynamic work environment in the heart of London at King's Cross. As a Founding Engineer, you will have the unique opportunity to shape the future of AI systems while enjoying strong equity upside and a culture that fosters innovation and autonomy. With a focus on employee growth and development, this role promises meaningful contributions to cutting-edge technology in a supportive and collaborative setting.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Founding Engineer, Infrastructure & Platform in Stevenage
✨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 C&D Talent Advisory 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 C&D Talent Advisory.
✨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 C&D Talent Advisory.
✨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 C&D Talent Advisory 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, Infrastructure & Platform in Stevenage
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 C&D Talent Advisory.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at C&D Talent Advisory 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 C&D Talent Advisory
✨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 C&D Talent Advisory 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.
