Founding Engineer (Full-Stack / AI)

Munich

25m

About the Role

Join a fast-moving, early-stage logistics technology startup as a Founding Engineer and help build the AI platform that is making global freight forwarding autonomous. As one of the first engineers, you will own critical architecture decisions, ship full-stack features end-to-end, and push the boundaries of applied AI in a production environment — all while working closely with the founding team in Munich.

This is a high-ownership, high-impact role suited to someone with a founder mentality who thrives in ambiguity and wants to shape the technical DNA of a company from the ground up.

What You'll Do

Own the design, development, and maintenance of the most critical parts of the core product.
Build reliable, scalable full-stack features that make users radically more efficient.
Evaluate, benchmark, and fine-tune AI/ML capabilities to maximise domain accuracy and context.
Continuously experiment with new model releases, frameworks, and agentic techniques in production.
Ship promising approaches quickly and iterate based on data and real user feedback.
Navigate and improve large-scale, complex legacy codebases, adding structure and scalability.
Engineer infrastructure and automation pipelines to support heavy data and AI workloads.
Collaborate directly with founders and teammates as a hands-on, high-ownership contributor.

What We're Looking For

Required:

2–3+ years of professional software development experience (strong personal projects or an entrepreneurial track record may substitute).
Strong proficiency in Python; familiarity with Go is a significant plus.
Solid full-stack engineering skills with the ability to move fluidly across backend and cloud environments.
Hands-on production experience with AI/ML systems: benchmarking, fine-tuning, integrating LLMs, and running experiments in live environments.
Experience designing and maintaining production-grade systems with clean, scalable architecture.
Proven end-to-end ownership of features from initial design through to production deployment.
Experience building cloud-scale systems with a focus on scalability, reliability, and observability.
Strong CS fundamentals, intellectual humility, and exceptional self-discipline.
Founder-level drive, adaptability, and a results-oriented, autonomous work style.
Based in Munich or willing to relocate and work on-site.

Nice to Have:

Prior startup or entrepreneurial experience.
Experience or genuine interest in logistics, freight forwarding, or autonomous systems.

Compensation & Benefits

Salary: €60,000 – €80,000 per year
Equity: Meaningful early-employee options package (up to ~1.5%)
Opportunity to define and own the technical direction of a product with real market traction

Please note: visa sponsorship is not available for this role.

Location

This is a fully on-site role based in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Candidates must be able to commute to or relocate to Munich.