At a Glance
- Tasks: Design and deploy cutting-edge AI systems that make a real impact.
- Company: Exciting early-stage AI company with a fast-paced, innovative culture.
- Benefits: Competitive salary up to £140k, equity, and founding-level ownership.
- Other info: Dynamic environment with high expectations and real opportunities for growth.
- Why this job: Shape the future of AI products and influence engineering culture from day one.
- Qualifications: Strong software engineering skills and hands-on experience with LLMs.
The predicted salary is between 140000 - 140000 € per year.
We’re working with a well-backed early-stage AI company building enterprise-grade generative AI systems for complex, high-value workflows. The team is small, technical, and moving fast - they’re now looking for a Founding AI Engineer to help shape both the product and engineering culture from the ground up.
This is not a “maintain legacy systems” type role. You’ll be joining at the stage where architecture decisions still matter, product direction changes weekly, and exceptional engineers can have outsized impact.
The focus of the role is GenAI systems engineering - designing, evaluating, and deploying LLM-powered products that operate reliably in production environments.
What you’ll be doing:
- Building and improving LLM orchestration pipelines
- Designing prompt systems, evaluation frameworks, and feedback loops
- Working across retrieval, context management, agent workflows, and inference optimisation
- Deploying AI products into production with a strong focus on reliability and observability
- Collaborating closely with founders, product, and end users to rapidly iterate on features
- Helping establish engineering best practices, tooling, and technical direction early on
What they’re looking for:
- Strong software engineering fundamentals
- Hands-on experience building with LLMs and modern AI tooling
- Experience shipping real products, not just prototypes
- Someone comfortable owning problems end-to-end rather than waiting for detailed specs
- Engineers already using AI-native development workflows
- Ability to move quickly without sacrificing engineering quality
- Experience across AI engineering, backend systems, data infrastructure, or scalable SaaS platforms is all relevant.
The environment:
This suits someone who genuinely enjoys early-stage engineering. The pace is high, expectations are high, and there’s a strong bias toward ownership and execution. In return, you’ll get real influence over product, architecture, and technical culture from day one.
Package:
- Up to £140k
- Meaningful equity
- Founding-level ownership and autonomy
- London-based, in-office collaboration
If you’re interested in building production-grade GenAI systems in a genuinely high-calibre start-up environment, happy to discuss further.
Founding AI Engineer in City of London employer: SR2 | Socially Responsible Recruitment | Certified B Corporation™
Join a pioneering early-stage AI company in London, where you'll have the unique opportunity to shape both the product and engineering culture from the ground up. With a focus on innovation and collaboration, this role offers meaningful equity, founding-level ownership, and the chance to make a significant impact in a fast-paced environment that values exceptional engineering talent and encourages personal growth.
Contact Detail:
SR2 | Socially Responsible Recruitment | Certified B Corporation™ Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Founding AI Engineer in City of London
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to people in the AI space, attend meetups, and connect with potential colleagues on LinkedIn. The more you engage with the community, the better your chances of landing that Founding AI Engineer role.
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! Create a portfolio showcasing your work with LLMs and AI tooling. Share projects that demonstrate your ability to build and deploy real products, not just prototypes. This will make you stand out when applying through our website.
✨Tip Number 3
Be ready to chat about your ideas! When you get an interview, come prepared with thoughts on how you’d approach building GenAI systems. Discussing your vision for architecture and product direction can really impress the founders.
✨Tip Number 4
Follow up after interviews! A quick thank-you email can go a long way. It shows your enthusiasm for the role and keeps you fresh in their minds as they make decisions. Plus, it’s a great chance to reiterate why you’re the perfect fit!
We think you need these skills to ace Founding AI Engineer in City of London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Your Passion for AI:When writing your application, let your enthusiasm for AI shine through! We want to see how excited you are about building generative AI systems and how you can contribute to our mission. Share any relevant projects or experiences that highlight your passion.
Tailor Your Application:Make sure to customise your application to fit the Founding AI Engineer role. Highlight your experience with LLMs and modern AI tooling, and don’t forget to mention any hands-on projects you've worked on. We love seeing how your skills align with what we’re looking for!
Be Clear and Concise:Keep your application straightforward and to the point. We appreciate clarity, so avoid jargon and focus on what makes you a great fit for the role. Use bullet points if it helps to make your achievements stand out!
Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to apply directly through our website. It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you’re considered for the role. Plus, it shows you’re serious about joining our team!
How to prepare for a job interview at SR2 | Socially Responsible Recruitment | Certified B Corporation™
✨Know Your AI Stuff
Make sure you brush up on your knowledge of generative AI systems and LLMs. Be ready to discuss your hands-on experience with these technologies, as well as any projects you've worked on that involved building or deploying AI products.
✨Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills
This role is all about ownership and execution, so be prepared to share examples of how you've tackled complex engineering challenges in the past. Highlight your ability to own problems end-to-end and how you’ve made architectural decisions that had a significant impact.
✨Emphasise Collaboration
Since you'll be working closely with founders and product teams, it's crucial to demonstrate your collaborative spirit. Share experiences where you’ve successfully iterated on features based on user feedback or worked cross-functionally to achieve a common goal.
✨Be Ready for Fast-Paced Questions
Expect the interview to move quickly, reflecting the fast-paced environment of the company. Prepare to think on your feet and answer questions about how you would approach various scenarios related to AI engineering and product development.
