Founding Engineer
You take a studio product from agreed scope to a production release, in roughly two-week cycles.
Position summary
You take one studio product and carry it to a production release. Backend is the core: data models and APIs, authorization, migrations, background jobs, CI/CD, staging and a deploy you can roll back. Frontend, mobile, integrations and basic observability come with it when the product needs them.
Before a cycle starts you agree scope, definition of done and the release date with the founder or the Vibe Product Owner; after that the technical decisions are yours. Routine goes to agents and vibe-coding: draft tests, docs, release scripts. Your time goes to architecture, code and predictable delivery.
Key responsibilities
- Scope, definition of done and release date agreed before the cycle starts. A bigger scope means a renegotiated timeline, not a missed one.
- The whole backend: models, APIs, authorization, migrations, background jobs. Frontend, mobile and integrations when the product requires them.
- CI/CD, staging checks and the production release. If a release fails, roll back to the last stable version and keep a minimal runbook.
- Mid-cycle demos and a handoff with repository, build, run instructions and an honest list of known limitations.
- Automating routine where speed does not cost reliability: tests, documentation, release scripts.
Required qualifications
Read this block before applying. If most of these are a no, we won't be able to take you on this role, and we'll both lose the time.
- 10+ years full-stack with a backend focus. Production JavaScript is required: you design the server side and ship a complete application without a second engineer.
- 3+ years of technical leadership: architectural ownership, engineering standards, review culture, technical interviews.
- Vibe-coding is your normal mode, not an experiment. You routinely ship UI, API and deployment with AI-assisted tools.
- Product judgment: you cut scope, pick the MVP boundary and explain the trade-off to a non-engineer.
- You have at least one case where you took an agreed scope to production in 1–2 weeks. Be ready to walk through it.
- Portfolio: repository links, demos, sample PRs or screen recordings. Code matters more than a CV here.
Nice to have
- Startup, venture studio or multi-product environment.
- LLM tooling and infrastructure: LangChain, LangGraph, RAG, embeddings, vector databases, agent evaluation.
- Voice agents and TTS.
- React Native, Expo, Next.js, GraphQL.
Stack
- Core: Node.js, React, Next.js, React Native, Expo, GraphQL, REST, WebSockets, OAuth2, JWT
- AI and orchestration: LangChain, LangGraph, Mastra, CrewAI, Autogen, MCP, function calling, structured outputs
- Observability: OpenTelemetry, Langfuse, Prometheus, Datadog or equivalents
- Practices: Git, CI/CD, Jira, ADR, SRS
Success metrics
This is what the work in this role is measured against, and what we'll walk through at the final interview.
- Time to production-ready: no more than 14 calendar days from kickoff to release on a typical MVP increment.
- On-scope delivery: 100% of the agreed definition of done closed by the release date, or a written fix plan with dates.
- Post-release quality: zero critical defects in the first 7 days, or an agreed hotfix SLA.
- Automation depth: the share of routine work — tests, documentation, release scripts — handled by agents.
Employment terms
- Format
- Full-time, remote. Sync windows by agreement, CET as the anchor.
- Location
- Europe and LATAM
- Compensation
- $6,000–10,000/mo: base plus bonuses for shipped releases
- Equity
- Options or equity in the products you lead
- Venture studio
- The option to launch your own startup inside the studio: infrastructure, team, funding, network
- Network
- Direct work with Silicon Valley funds and the studio founders
What we offer
- The option to launch your own startup inside the venture studio.
- A fixed base set by role and stream, plus bonuses for shipped releases and metrics hit.
- Revenue share on the product or stream and options in the pool. You earn like a co-owner.
- A fast track earned by results: more products, more budget, more equity.
- Remote-first, flexible hours, core overlap 15:00–19:00 CET. Work from anywhere.
- Direct access to the founders and an AI-native stack with a budget. No five layers of approvals.
How the process works
We hire slowly and deliberately. Every step is about keeping it honest and aligned for both sides.
Screening
We read every application ourselves, no ATS black box. Then a short call with the hiring team to align on experience, expectations and motivation.
Deep interview
A long conversation with the stream lead about your track record, real cases and how you decide under uncertainty.
Culture fit
One-on-ones with the core team and a founder. We look at values, ethics and how you behave when things get hard.
References
We talk to people you've actually worked with. Hygiene for us, not a formality, and we always do it.
Pilot contract
Two to four weeks on a real product with a clear Definition of Done and concrete artifacts. We don't give take-home tasks.
A 30/60/90 plan and the long game
We match results both ways, set a plan for the first three months and go long. Or part ways honestly.