Founding Engineer

📋 Description

• • This is a rare founding-team opportunity at an early-stage AI logistics SaaS startup building purpose-built AI agents for the sea and air freight industry.
• • As a Founding Engineer, you will be one of the first technical hires, working at the intersection of customer engagement, product strategy, and hands-on engineering.
• • You'll help transition the product from demo-stage to a scalable, production-ready platform — and leave a lasting imprint on the company's technical and strategic direction.
• • The company operates in the freight forwarding space, helping top-tier operators automate rate requests, bookings, and exception handling through AI agents that interpret operational processes described in plain language.
• • The stack spans Node.js, TypeScript, React, and Python, with a strong emphasis on LLM design patterns and AI capabilities.
• • This role is based in Berlin, Germany on a hybrid basis.
• • Visa sponsorship is available.
• • Lead direct customer conversations, translating real-world operational insights into concrete product features and technical strategy.
• • Design, build, and ship full-stack applications — frontend in Node.js, TypeScript, and React; backend in Python.
• • Drive the transition from prototype/demo-mode to scalable, high-quality, production-grade systems.
• • Advance the product's AI capabilities, including LLM integrations, vector stores, and model fine-tuning.
• • Shape the overall product, technology, and company direction as a founding team member.
• • Must-haves:
• • 2+ years of professional software engineering experience building and shipping production applications.
• • Full-stack development proficiency: Node.js, TypeScript, and React on the frontend; Python on the backend.
• • Hands-on experience with LLM design patterns, vector stores, and model fine-tuning.
• • Demonstrated experience designing, building, and deploying scalable products from MVP to production.
• • Comfort leading customer conversations and translating feedback into product requirements.
• • Prior experience in a startup or early-stage environment.
• • Nice to have:
• • Experience transitioning products from prototype/demo stage to production-ready systems.
• • Hands-on experience with vector databases or semantic search implementations.
• • Background in logistics, freight forwarding, or supply chain technology.
• • Location: Berlin, Germany
• • Work arrangement: Hybrid (on-site + remote flexibility)
• • Visa sponsorship: Available