Founding Engineer

Oliver Bernard; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

A charitable platform in London is looking for a Founding Engineer to lead and deliver its technology strategy. The role includes full ownership of technical architecture and integration of multi-entity financial systems. The ideal candidate enjoys high ownership and building from first principles in a mission-driven setting where technology has a direct impact on charitable outcomes. The position offers 2–3 days a week in the office with the possibility of flexible remote work.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in building technical strategies from the ground up.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment.
• Ability to lead and integrate multi-entity financial structures.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical strategy and architecture for technology delivery.
• Integrate systems across multi-currency financial structures.
• Implement AI/LLM-enabled workflow automation.

Skills

Technical strategy ownership

Architecture design

Integration of financial systems

AI and LLM knowledge

Job description

I have a unique Founding Engineer opportunity with a London-based charitable platform managing c.£400M in assets across 40+ investment firms.

The organisation operates Donor Advised Funds and Collective Funds, and is now at a major inflection point. They are seeking a senior technologist to own and deliver their end-to-end technology strategy, reporting directly to the SLT and to build a modern, scalable platform from the ground up.

Key aspects of the role:

• Full ownership of technical strategy and architecture
• Integration across multi-entity, multi-currency financial structures
• AI/LLM-enabled workflow automation
• No existing internal tech team — this is a founding role

Location: Central London (2–3 days/week in office - with long-term flex for more remote working)

This would suit someone who enjoys high ownership, building from first principles, and working in a mission-driven environment where technology directly enables charitable impact.