Job description
ABOUT THE ROLE
An early-stage AI startup in the freight and logistics space is looking for a Founding Engineer to help shape the product, technology, and company direction from the ground up. This is a rare opportunity to sit at the intersection of deep customer engagement and hands-on engineering — translating real operational problems in sea and air freight into scalable, production-ready AI-powered solutions.
You'll be one of the first technical hires, working closely with the founding team to move from demos to a robust, globally deployed product. The company builds purpose-built AI agents that automate freight operations — think rate requests, bookings, exception handling, and operational intelligence — for top-tier freight forwarders worldwide.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
- Lead customer conversations and translate insights directly into product features and technical strategy.
- Design, build, and ship full-stack applications across the entire product surface.
- Push the AI capabilities of the product forward — working with LLMs, vector stores, and model fine-tuning.
- Drive the transition from demo-mode to scalable, high-quality production systems.
- Help define and shape the product roadmap, technical architecture, and company direction.
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR
- 2+ years of software engineering experience.
- Full-stack development proficiency with Node.js, TypeScript, and React, plus backend experience with Python. Required:
- Hands-on experience with LLM design patterns, vector stores, and model fine-tuning.
- Proven track record designing, building, and deploying scalable products from MVP through to production.
- Demonstrated ability to lead customer conversations and translate feedback into clear product requirements.
- Experience working in a startup or early-stage environment — you're comfortable with ambiguity and moving fast. LOCATION & WORK ARRANGEMENT
- Location: Berlin, Germany (hybrid)
- Visa sponsorship: Available WHY THIS ROLE
- Founding-level ownership and influence over a product being deployed globally in a massive, underserved industry.
- Work alongside a team with backgrounds at top-tier strategy consultancies and leading logistics technology companies.
- Backed and operating at an early venture stage with strong industry traction.