> Markdown version of [/jobs/ext/1478806-founding-engineer](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/1478806-founding-engineer). Every page supports `.md` or `Accept: text/markdown`. Links point to the HTML versions so they work for humans too. Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Founding Engineer - **Company:** Understanding Recruitment - **Location:** London, UK - **Experience:** Experienced - **Salary:** £120,000.0 - £160,000.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Artificial Intelligence, Cursor (Graphical User Interface Elements), Software Architecture, Systems Development Life Cycle, TypeScript, ReactJS, Large Language Models, Front End Software Development - **Published:** July 29, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.understandingrecruitment.com/job/founding-engineer-9156/ ## About the Role Do you have experience working at an early-stage startup and want to do it again, properly this time? Are you excited by real ownership, commercial impact, and building something genuinely category-defining?, 🧠Experience: 3-8 years (startup / founding engineer background preferred), * Worked in a fast-moving, high-growth startup and understands what it takes to ship real product, fast, with users in mind * Has a generalist mindset * A strong mathematical background You'll work directly on: * Core agent loops (prompting, tool selection, model choice, memory & context) * High-performance, real-time LLM-powered UX * Making autonomous systems reliable enough for daily, mission-critical work As a Founding Engineer, you'll wear many hats: * Backend: Python * Frontend: TypeScript, React * AI/LLMs everywhere (Cursor/Copilot as a daily workflow) * Architectural decisions & trade-offs * Product thinking & UX judgment * Talking to users and rapidly iterating * Full SDLC ownership; build, ship, break, fix, repeat What they're looking for: * Strong commercial & product mindset - you care about outcomes, not just code * Comfortable in ambiguity and zero-to-one environments * Proven ability to ship fast in small teams * AI-native way of working (LLMs are tools, not toys) * Resilient, adaptable, and genuinely excited by hard problems ## Description Do you have experience working at an early-stage startup and want to do it again, properly this time? Are you excited by real ownership, commercial impact, and building something genuinely category-defining? 🚀 Founding Engineer (Product-Led 'Generalist') - AI-native Workspace 🚀 💰 Salary: £120k - £160k + equity 📍 Location: London, Onsite 🧠Experience: 3-8 years (startup / founding engineer background preferred) We're partnered with a pre-seed AI startup building agentic AI systems that radically improve how knowledge workers think, decide, and get work done. This is not another chatbot. This is an AI-native product being built from first principles by engineers from elite technical environments (e.g. Palantir, Citadel). They're now looking for a Founding Engineer, someone who's: * Already been a founding / early engineer or * Worked in a fast-moving, high-growth startup and understands what it takes to ship real product, fast, with users in mind * Has a generalist mindset * A strong mathematical background You'll work directly on: * Core agent loops (prompting, tool selection, model choice, memory & context) * High-performance, real-time LLM-powered UX * Making autonomous systems reliable enough for daily, mission-critical work As a Founding Engineer, you'll wear many hats: * Backend: Python * Frontend: TypeScript, React * AI/LLMs everywhere (Cursor/Copilot as a daily workflow) * Architectural decisions & trade-offs * Product thinking & UX judgment * Talking to users and rapidly iterating * Full SDLC ownership; build, ship, break, fix, repeat What they're looking for: * Strong commercial & product mindset - you care about outcomes, not just code * Comfortable in ambiguity and zero-to-one environments * Proven ability to ship fast in small teams * AI-native way of working (LLMs are tools, not toys) * Resilient, adaptable, and genuinely excited by hard problems Why join now? * Real ownership - technical and product * Small, elite team that ships fast * Well-funded with long runway * You'll help define a product shaping the next generation of software * Not another boring B2B Saas... this is something you'd actually use If you're ready to step into a true founding-level role, influence the product direction, and build something genuinely new, this is the one. Interested? 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