Founding Engineer

About the Role

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.

What You'll Do

• 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.

What We're Looking For

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 & Work Arrangement

• Location: Berlin, Germany

• Work arrangement: Hybrid (on-site + remote flexibility)

• Visa sponsorship: Available