Founding Engineering Lead
FutureTech RecruitmentAbout the role
Founding Engineering Lead
Onsite - New York City, NY
Base $250k - $400k + Significant Equity
FutureTech Recruitment is partnered with a $11M funded seed-stage enterprise AI startup backed by top-tier institutional investors. The company is building AI-powered analytics and workflow automation for enterprise GTM teams - combining LLMs with structured customer data to surface actionable insights and automate manual revenue operations work. Strong early commercial traction with customers ranging from fast-growth startups to Fortune 500 enterprises.
They’re now hiring a Founding Engineering Lead - 75% hands-on IC, 25% technical leadership. You’ll ship product end-to-end, own architecture decisions alongside the CTO, and lead a small pod of 2-3 engineers. Explicitly above-market comp, significant equity, and a clear path to Head of Engineering / VP of Engineering as the company scales.
Responsibilities
Ship product enhancements end-to-end - moving the platform from early stage to scalable product
Own technical architecture decisions and re-architect existing systems alongside the CTO
Build custom AI agent-driven development workflows and harnesses to maximise engineering velocity
Lead a pod of 2-3 engineers - technical mentorship, sprint scoping, and eventually people management
Shape the ML and product roadmap including longer-term plans around custom model training and agentic pipelines
Requirements
5-12 years of full-stack engineering experience in Python, building data-heavy or applied AI products
Founding engineer, tech lead, or staff IC at a high-bar startup - Big Tech acceptable if core product ownership can be demonstrated
Shipped a product end-to-end with minimal oversight
Deeply AI-native - builds with AI agents daily, custom dev workflows, multi-agent orchestration - not just default Copilot use
Strong applied ML fundamentals - classical algorithms, validation design, informed opinions on LLMs and transformers
Full-stack capable - React/Next.js frontend, Python/Node backend - with a stronger backend lean
Based in or willing to relocate to New York City - fully onsite
Tech Stack
Python, React, Next.js, Node.js, GCP, LLMs, Machine Learning, AI Agents, Applied ML, Transformers
$11M raised, strong early commercial traction, Fortune 500 customers, and explicitly above-market comp. If you’re a deeply technical, AI-native engineer who wants founding-level ownership at a company tackling one of the largest untapped markets in enterprise software, we’d love to hear from you.
Responsibilities
- Ship product enhancements end-to-end - moving the platform from early stage to scalable product
- Own technical architecture decisions and re-architect existing systems alongside the CTO
- Build custom AI agent-driven development workflows and harnesses to maximise engineering velocity
- Lead a pod of 2-3 engineers - technical mentorship, sprint scoping, and eventually people management
- Shape the ML and product roadmap including longer-term plans around custom model training and agentic pipelines
Qualifications
- 5-12 years of full-stack engineering experience in Python, building data-heavy or applied AI products
- Founding engineer, tech lead, or staff IC at a high-bar startup - Big Tech acceptable if core product ownership can be demonstrated
- Shipped a product end-to-end with minimal oversight
- Deeply AI-native - builds with AI agents daily, custom dev workflows, multi-agent orchestration - not just default Copilot use
- Strong applied ML fundamentals - classical algorithms, validation design, informed opinions on LLMs and transformers
- Full-stack capable - React/Next.js frontend, Python/Node backend - with a stronger backend lean
Benefits
- Significant equity
- Explicitly above-market compensation
- Clear path to Head of Engineering / VP of Engineering as the company scales
Skills mentioned
About FutureTech Recruitment
At FutureTech Recruitment, our purpose is to drive transformative growth by connecting talent with innovative FinTech and AI companies. We specialize in sourcing and placing top-tier software engineers and executives who are crucial for the success of well-funded start-ups and businesses approaching IPO. Our commitment goes beyond traditional recruitment; we prioritize genuine customer service and long-term relationships. By understanding the unique needs of both our clients and candidates, we ensure precise matches that foster innovation and success. With a fast turnaround and transparent process, we aim to be the trusted partner in your journey to excellence and growth.