Founding Engineer

Founding Engineer

Own the entire product and engineering function at an AI-native startup from day one.

• First engineering hire — full ownership of tech stack, architecture, and product direction
• A$200,000 – A$250,000 + generous equity
• Fully remote, anywhere in Australia or New Zealand

The Role

An early-stage startup in the automotive marketplace space is looking for their first engineer. The company has an MVP in market with two mobile apps and a backend, and is in active conversations with dealer groups and investors. You'll work alongside a well-known repeat founder and a commercially-minded operator as a team of three. Your job is to evaluate what exists, decide what stays and what goes, and build an AI-native product from the ground up. There's something to work with, but you'll shape everything from here.

About You

• You've been a CTO, founding engineer, or first hire at a startup that shipped real product and got traction
• You're product-minded, you understand customers, not just code. You've been in discovery calls, not just standups.
• You're actively building with AI tools (LLMs, Cursor, AI orchestration) and excited about making AI core to a product, not bolted on.
• You're comfortable across the stack — mobile, backend, infra.
• You can explain complex technical decisions to non-technical people without reaching for jargon
• You thrive in ambiguity and don't need a PM to tell you what to build next

The Offer

• A$200,000 – A$250,000 base (excluding super)
• Generous equity, 12-month cliff, standard vesting
• Fully remote and ANZ timezone (east coast preferred)
• Work directly with a repeat founder with a strong track record