Founding Engineer (Full-Stack/AI)

ABOUT THE ROLE

This is an early, high-ownership engineering role at a seed-stage vertical AI startup building autonomous tooling for the global freight and logistics industry. You will join a small founding team in Munich to design, build, and scale the core product, shaping technical direction from the ground up. The role combines hands-on full-stack engineering, production AI/ML work, and real product ownership.

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.
• Evaluate, benchmark, and fine-tune AI capabilities to maximize 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 user feedback.
• Navigate and improve large-scale, complex legacy code 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

• Practical, hands-on experience with AI/ML and LLM systems: benchmarking, fine-tuning, and running experiments in production.
• Strong full-stack engineering skills with fluency across backend and cloud environments.
• Fluent in Python; familiarity with Go is a strong plus.
• Domain knowledge in logistics or freight forwarding.
• Evidence of building robust, real-world production systems.
• Comfort working with complex legacy codebases and engineering for scale.
• Strong CS fundamentals, intellectual humility, and exceptional self-discipline.
• 2 to 3 years of professional experience, or equivalent through relevant projects or a demonstrable track record.
• Prior startup or entrepreneurial experience, with a results-oriented and autonomous work style.
• Strong spoken English sufficient for fluid technical discussion.
• Willingness to work on-site in Munich or to relocate there.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

Salary range: 60,000 to 90,000 EUR annually. Equity participation via options (up to 1%, with top-ups possible). Visa sponsorship is not available.

LOCATION

On-site in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. This role requires regular in-person presence; remote work is not an option.