Founding Engineer (Full-Stack/AI)

Role details

ABOUT THE ROLE This is an early engineering hire at a seed-stage AI logistics startup, joining a small, high-ownership team building technology to make global freight forwarding operations autonomous. You'll shape the core product and technical direction from the ground up — combining full-stack engineering, AI experimentation, and product thinking in equal measure. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Own and personally design, build, and maintain the most critical parts of the product. - Build reliable full-stack features that make users radically more efficient in their day-to-day workflows. - Evaluate, benchmark, and fine-tune AI capabilities to maximise domain accuracy and contextual performance. - Continuously experiment with new model releases, frameworks, and agentic techniques in production. - Ship promising approaches quickly and iterate based on data and user feedback. - Navigate and improve large-scale, complex legacy codebases to add structure and scalability. - Engineer infrastructure and automation to support heavy data and AI workloads. - Collaborate closely with founders and teammates as a hands-on, high-ownership contributor. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR - Founder-level drive, adaptability, extreme ownership, and a results-oriented, autonomous work style. - Hands-on AI/ML/LLM experience is essential — including benchmarking, fine-tuning, integrating LLMs, and running experiments in production. - Strong full-stack engineering ability with fluency across backend and cloud environments. - Fluent in Python; familiarity with Go is a strong plus. - Comfort engineering for scale, automating systems, and working with complex legacy codebases. - Strong CS fundamentals, intellectual humility, and exceptional self-discipline. - 2–3 years of professional experience preferred, though strong project track records are equally welcome. - Prior startup or entrepreneurial experience is a plus. - Enthusiasm for working on-site in Munich. COMPENSATION & BENEFITS Salary range: €60,000 – €90,000 annually. Early employees are eligible for meaningful equity participation (options up to ~1.5%). Visa sponsorship is not available for this role. LOCATION On-site in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.