Founding Engineer

Amicus; England; On-site; GBP 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A pioneering technology company based in London is seeking a Founding ML Engineer to serve as the first senior technical hire. You will architect a reasoning and simulation engine to model building construction and manage the initial engineering team. The ideal candidate has over 8 years of experience in deploying machine learning systems, strong expertise in data architecture, and proficiency in Python. The role offers a competitive salary of £120,000, with the opportunity to shape the future of the engineering organization.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience deploying ML systems in production.
• Experience leading teams or cross-functional AI/ML initiatives.
• Advanced proficiency in Python and modern ML frameworks.
• Strong background in data architecture and knowledge graphs.

Responsibilities

• Architect a reasoning and simulation engine for construction.
• Build end-to-end data pipelines for cost catalogues.
• Lead research on construction knowledge representation.
• Define hiring needs and recruit the initial engineering team.
• Establish early engineering processes and culture.

Skills

Machine Learning

Data Architecture

Python

Knowledge Graphs

Leadership

Education

Advanced degree from a top university

Job description

Founding ML Engineer / Founding Head of Engineering - London- £120,000

Seniority: First senior technical hire

Focus: Reasoning engine design, data strategy, early engineering team building

Role Overview

You will serve as the company’s founding technical leader, architecting a reasoning and simulation engine that models how buildings are constructed. The role blends applied machine learning, data architecture, knowledge-graph design, and organizational leadership. You will help define the technical roadmap through seed stage and lay the foundation for a future Series A engineering organization.

This position requires comfort with ambiguity, strong product intuition, and the ability to translate real-world construction workflows into computational systems. You’ll work directly with field teams to ensure models reflect practical construction realities.

Key Responsibilities

Technical

• Build end-to-end data pipelines for, cost catalogues, and historical project information.
• Select, train, and fine‑tune models for sequencing and dependency prediction.
• Develop multimodal embeddings that unify text, geometry, schedules, and metadata.
• Implement continuous‑learning loops using simulation outputs and field feedback.
• Lead research on construction knowledge representation, ontology design, and explainable reasoning.
• Collaborate with platform and simulation engineers to integrate models into wider platform.
• Design multi‑agent reasoning systems powered by a shared knowledge graph.

Leadership

• Operate as the founding technical leader prior to CTO hire; then report to the CTO.
• Define hiring needs and recruit the initial engineering team.
• Establish early engineering processes (sprints, documentation, compliance, road mapping).
• Convert customer and field insights into product and model requirements.
• Represent the technical vision with early partners and construction stakeholders.
• Contribute to a culture centred on collaboration with manual workers.

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience deploying ML systems in production (start-up or fast‑iteration environment strongly preferred).
• Experience leading teams or cross‑functional AI / ML initiatives with PM‑style responsibilities.
• Advanced proficiency in Python and modern ML frameworks.
• Strong background in data architecture and knowledge graphs.
• Strong education from top university.

Bonus

• familiarity with 3D Vison model / construction data or something similar
• Track record of combining research with solid engineering practices.
• Graduate training in AI, robotics, or computational design is a plus.
• digital‑twin work highly beneficial.