At a Glance
- Tasks: Develop innovative Elixir applications and AI systems to enhance relationship wellness.
- Company: Join a well-funded startup on a mission to improve global happiness through relationships.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, generous equity, and opportunities for career growth.
- Other info: Work alongside an experienced team and enjoy a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
- Why this job: Be a founding member shaping a product that makes a real difference in people's lives.
- Qualifications: 5+ years of experience with Elixir/Phoenix and a passion for functional programming.
The predicted salary is between 64000 - 96000 £ per year.
The Opportunity
We’re a well-funded pre-seed startup on a mission to improve the happiness and wellbeing of people across the globe. Ember is a relationship wellness app that enables couples to strengthen and enhance their connection, communicate more effectively, and cultivate healthier partnerships. The app helps couples develop a deeper understanding of one another, while facilitating better communication, resolving conflicts constructively, and strengthening emotional intimacy.
Built on years of relationship coaching experience from co-founder and relationship coach Ellie Baker, and grounded in relationship science, Ember is intentionally designed to meet couples at any stage of their journey– supporting them through the good times, the bad times and the 'just okay, but it could be better' times. Powered by AI, Ember's platform analyzes a couple's existing communication patterns to deliver personalized guidance and support, functioning as a tool that gets couples talking in real life, not just through their devices. The app helps couples create space each day to connect and grow together through structured conversations, daily rituals, and insights that help create meaningful moments.
In a world where people track and optimize every aspect of life as individuals: sleep, fitness, nutrition, productivity — Ember focuses on strengthening the thing that can have the biggest impact on happiness and personal growth: your relationship with your partner.
We’re in stealth(ish) mode, this is the chance to be one of the founding employees, working alongside an experienced founding team to significantly help shape the product and business we’re building. We have been running in beta for 6 months now and are getting amazing consumer feedback, plus extremely encouraging CACs and retention.
Who you’ll be working with:
- James Hind previously the founder of carwow, and ran it for 14 years. It has now had 2m+ consumers buy and sell cars through it, $100m+ annual revenues, employs 600 people and gets 1bn annual YouTube views.
- Ellie Baker is an experienced couples coach and relationship expert. MA in Psychology from the University of Oxford.
- Jack Haslehurst, who led all design and user research at Kraken, 70+ team. Ex Zoe, The Collective and Ideo.
- Nick Kuh, who was Director of Engineering at ASquared and founder of multiple app startups.
- Rafał Radziszewski, experienced Ruby and Elixir developer, ex Team Lead at v7. Co-founded startup before.
- Josie Nelder, experienced Full Stack Developer at Habitual, ASquared and Matchbox Mobile.
- Adnan Ebrahim, founder of MindLabs (£6m+ raised) and of CarThrottle, acquired by Dennis Publishing.
We’re well funded. We’re backed by a well-known VC, and multiple useful tech angels. The vast majority of Ember’s funding came from carwow’s early investors. We closed out pre-seed round mid-2025.
We have a big vision and mission. We’re building a product that will improve the happiness and wellbeing of people around the world. We love the fact that the bigger we get, the more people we’ll be directly helping. Our growth will directly translate to making couples happier.
The Role
We’ve been building fast since we got funded and now have a small but high-performing team. This is initially an extremely hands-on role, and the right person will grow with us, with many opportunities for career development available (IC or Management).
Areas of work:
- Backend Development: Building our backend services: Developing robust, fault-tolerant Elixir applications using Phoenix and OTP.
- AI engineering: Designing and implementing sophisticated AI pipelines, managing model interactions, and optimizing AI response handling.
- AI system integration: Architecting systems that interface with multiple AI services and models efficiently, including prompt engineering and context management.
- Data management: Implementing advanced data storage, retrieval, and processing systems to handle large volumes of user data and AI interactions.
- Database design: Creating efficient database schemas and query patterns using PostgreSQL with a focus on AI-related data structures.
- Real-time features: Implementing Phoenix Channels, WebSockets and real-time communication.
- API development: Building performant, well-documented APIs.
- Frontend/CMS Development: Building our CMS: Developing and maintaining our React-based content management system.
- Internal tooling: Creating intuitive interfaces for content creation, user management, and system administration.
- Data visualization: Building dashboards and analytics interfaces.
- UI implementation: Translating requirements into clean, functional user interfaces with TypeScript.
- Integration work: Connecting frontend tools seamlessly with backend services.
What we’re looking for:
- Proven expertise: 5+ years, with 2+ years experience building production Elixir/Phoenix applications.
- Phoenix Framework mastery: Deep understanding of Phoenix and the broader Elixir ecosystem.
- Functional programming proficiency: Strong grasp of functional programming principles and patterns.
- OTP knowledge: Experience with OTP supervision trees, GenServers, and distributed Erlang applications.
- Database expertise: Strong PostgreSQL skills with experience optimizing complex queries.
- AI-assisted development: Experience using modern AI coding tools (Cursor, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, or similar) to accelerate development.
- Fullstack mindset: Comfortable working across the entire stack and excited to own features end-to-end.
- Distributed systems understanding: Knowledge of building reliable distributed systems.
- Mindset Over Tenure: We’re more interested in your technical abilities, adaptability, ambition, and hunger to learn than a specific number of years of experience.
- Hustle & Autonomy: You thrive in a fast-paced environment with minimal hand-holding. You’re excited about wearing many hats.
- Communication skills: Ability to articulate complex technical concepts clearly to non-technical team members.
What would be super impressive?
- Kubernetes and IaC experience: Our system runs on GCP GKE, all configured with Terraform. If you wanted to dive into this, we’d love it.
Interview process:
- Initial Screen with James Hind, Founder.
- Technical Interview with Nick and Rafal.
- Cultural Interview.
Why join us?
- Shape the Future: Be one of our founding employees, with a real say in product and strategy.
- High-Impact Mission: Every user we gain is someone whose day-to-day life can be made happier.
- Experienced Founder and team: Learn from and grow alongside seasoned founders and team who’ve built large-scale companies.
- Remuneration: We can afford to pay a competitive market salary and give generous founding employee equity.
Location: Ideally, you’d be in the UK and able to meet with us in London one day a week. We are however open to EU based remote too.
Apply: james@embercouples.com
Founding Elixir Developer in London employer: Stealth Startup
At Ember, we are not just building a relationship wellness app; we are creating a movement to enhance the happiness and wellbeing of couples worldwide. As a founding Elixir Developer, you will join a passionate team in a dynamic startup environment that values innovation, collaboration, and personal growth, offering competitive salaries and generous equity options. With the opportunity to shape our product and mission from the ground up, you'll be part of a meaningful journey that directly impacts people's lives.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Founding Elixir Developer in London
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to people in the industry, attend meetups, and connect with potential colleagues on LinkedIn. You never know who might have the inside scoop on job openings or can put in a good word for you.
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! Create a portfolio or GitHub repository showcasing your Elixir projects. This gives you a chance to demonstrate your expertise and passion for coding, making you stand out to potential employers.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for interviews by practicing common technical questions and coding challenges. Use platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to sharpen your skills. The more prepared you are, the more confident you'll feel during the interview!
✨Tip Number 4
Apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets noticed. Plus, it shows you're genuinely interested in being part of our mission to improve relationships worldwide.
We think you need these skills to ace Founding Elixir Developer in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Your Passion:When you're writing your application, let your enthusiasm for relationship wellness shine through! We want to see how much you care about making a positive impact on couples' lives.
Tailor Your Experience:Make sure to highlight your relevant experience with Elixir and Phoenix. We’re looking for specific examples of your work that align with the role, so don’t hold back on those details!
Be Authentic:We love genuine personalities! Don’t be afraid to let your unique voice come through in your writing. Share your story and what drives you to apply for this role at Ember.
Apply Through Our Website:For the best chance of getting noticed, make sure to apply through our website. It helps us keep everything organised and ensures your application gets the attention it deserves!
How to prepare for a job interview at Stealth Startup
✨Know Your Elixir Inside Out
Make sure you brush up on your Elixir and Phoenix skills before the interview. Be ready to discuss your past projects, especially those involving backend development and real-time features. They’ll want to see how you’ve tackled challenges in building robust applications.
✨Showcase Your AI Knowledge
Since Ember is powered by AI, it’s crucial to demonstrate your understanding of AI pipelines and model interactions. Prepare examples of how you've integrated AI into your previous work, and be ready to discuss any modern AI coding tools you've used.
✨Communicate Clearly
You’ll need to articulate complex technical concepts to non-technical team members. Practice explaining your work in simple terms, focusing on how your contributions can enhance the user experience and support the app's mission of improving relationships.
✨Emphasise Your Adaptability
This role requires a hustle mindset and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment. Be prepared to share examples of how you've adapted to changing circumstances in previous roles and how you can wear multiple hats as part of a small, dynamic team.
