Founding Engineer - Backend Development

The role :

You'll join as an equal partner to the senior backend engineer, sharing ownership of the backend so no single person is a bottleneck.

This is a founding seat : you'll shape the architecture, not just follow it.

What you'll do :

• Design, build and scale the backend services that power partner matching.
• Own API design across an API-first platform.
• Build and tune search and retrieval on Elasticsearch.
• Integrate LLMs into the product (OpenAI today; Gemini on Vertex live; Bedrock and Azure AI next).
• Make architecture decisions with the founding team, and rebuild fast when something doesn't work.
• Work async with teammates, owning goals end to end.

What we're looking for :

Must-have :

• 5 - 7 years building backend systems in Python that run at production scale.
• Hands-on Elasticsearch experience.
• Strong API design and experience with API-first architecture.
• At least one 0 - 1 journey as an early or founding engineer at a startup (team of 5 - 10 engineers).
• Strong computer science fundamentals.

Strong plus :

• LLM integration in production (OpenAI, Gemini, or similar).

Nice to have :

• Cloud and Kubernetes on AWS, Azure or GCP.
• Agentic workflows, or search and retrieval systems.
• Domain experience in partner tech (PRM/PSM), sales intelligence, or marketplace and matching systems.

Is this you?

You'll thrive here if you :

• Have built, scaled, or even failed at a real startup, and want to do it again with more ownership.
• Work best with a clear goal and the freedom to get there.
• "Here's the goal, let's check in next week" suits you.
• Think AI-first : you're happy to throw away what doesn't work and rebuild fast.
• Care more about equity, ownership and the scale journey than maximising cash.

This probably isn't for you if you :

• Prefer clear structure, close guidance or a defined process.
• Have worked only at large companies or services firms.
• Haven't run systems in production at real scale.