Founding Software Engineer

Title:
Founding Engineer (Full Stack + AI)

Location:
Remote (UK/EU time zone preferred)

Compensation:
equity + modest bootstrap salary (negotiable)

Commitment:
Full-time, founding role

About Us

We\’re building the UK\’s first
AI-powered jobs platform
— a verified, spam-free alternative to LinkedIn. Our MVP will give:

• AI Talent (candidates):
  Verified
  AI Career Passports
  (AI-enhanced profiles, skills verification, job matches, interview prep).
• AI-first Employers:
  Instant AI-curated shortlists
  (JD → top 10 verified candidates in minutes).

We\’re starting with the
AI talent niche
— AI Engineers, ML Researchers, Data Scientists, Prompt Engineers, MLOps Engineers — and scaling into the wider professional graph.

This is just the beginning. Beneath the platform, we are also developing a
stealth infrastructure layer
that can evolve into the backbone of recruitment and professional identity globally.

The Role

We\’re looking for a
Founding Engineer (Full Stack + AI)
to join as our
first technical hire
. You\’ll:

• Own the
  end-to-end MVP build
  in the first 100 days.
• Design and implement the
  AI-driven matching engine
  (JD parsing, CV parsing, embeddings, fit scores).
• Build dashboards for candidates, employers, and admin.
• Work hand-in-hand with the founder (18 years recruitment experience) to shape product direction.
• Set the
  technical foundation
  for future scale (from MVP to platform to infra).

This is a
founding-level role with significant equity
. If successful, you\’ll grow into
CTO or Head of Engineering
.

Responsibilities

MVP Build (First 100 Days)

• Candidate
  Career Passport
  (upload CV/LinkedIn → AI-enhanced verified profile).
• Employer
  JD → AI Shortlist Engine
  (vector matching, ranking, fit scoring).
• Dashboards for
  Candidates
  ,
  Employers
  ,
  Admin
  .
• Stripe integration for
  payments
  (per shortlist, subscriptions).

Technical Leadership

• Define and own the
  architecture & stack
  .
• Build modular, scalable APIs (for future B2B integrations).
• Ensure
  data security, privacy, and compliance
  from day one.

AI/ML Integration

• Implement NLP pipelines for JD/CV parsing.
• Build embedding-based semantic search (Pinecone/Weaviate).
• Use GPT for profile generation, verification, and outreach templates.
• Experiment with ranking algorithms & explainability.

Collaboration

• Work with Product Designer to translate Figma prototypes into code.
• Support Growth Lead with candidate/employer onboarding experiments.
• Partner with founder on demos for pilot employers and early fundraising.

Requirements

• 5+ years
  experience in
  full-stack development
  (React, , , TypeScript, Python).
• Proven experience building
  MVPs or 0→1 products
  in startup environments.
• Strong understanding of
  databases
  (Postgres/Supabase) and
  vector databases
  (Pinecone, Weaviate, pgvector).
• Experience integrating
  AI/ML APIs
  (OpenAI, Hugging Face, embeddings, NLP).
• Comfort with
  cloud infra
  (AWS, GCP, or Vercel).
• Knowledge of
  auth, payments (Stripe), and security best practices
  .
• Builder mindset: thrives in uncertainty, prioritises speed + iteration.
• Excited by
  ownership and equity
  in a high-growth startup.

Bonus Points If You:

• Have built a
  matching/recommendation engine
  before.
• Have experience in
  HR tech, recruitment platforms, or marketplaces
  .
• Want to evolve into
  CTO/Head of Engineering
  .

What We Offer

• Significant equity stake
  — true ownership in the company.
• Opportunity to shape both
  consumer platform (AI Jobs)
  and the
  stealth infra layer
  .
• Role designed to evolve into
  CTO/Head of Engineering
  as we scale.
• Work with a founder who brings
  18 years of recruitment expertise
  and existing employer/candidate networks.
• Remote-first, lean, and fast-moving environment.
• The chance to help build the
  first AI Jobs unicorn
  .

Why This Role Is Special

• You\’re not just joining as an engineer — you\’ll be
  Engineer #1, Co-Architect, and future CTO
  .
• You\’ll ship an MVP that proves market traction in
  weeks, not years
  .
• You\’ll help define a
  LinkedIn challenger
  from the ground up, starting with AI talent and scaling globally.