Founding Engineer

### 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. Find [Jobs in Germany](https://www.arbeitnow.com) on Arbeitnow