Founding Lead Engineer

Jack & Jill/External ATS; Greater London; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

A fast-growing AI automation startup seeks a Founding Lead Engineer to lead the development of investigation tools for data pipelines. This role focuses on solving complex engineering challenges with a cutting-edge tech stack including Python and Rust. The ideal candidate will have over 5 years of experience in a startup environment, demonstrating strong ownership and product instincts. This position offers a competitive salary between £80,000 and £125,000 plus equity, in a high-impact role that enables significant influence on product direction.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional experience shipping complex products at high velocity.
• Strong backend foundations in distributed systems, data platforms, or observability tooling.
• High ownership and sharp product instincts with experience in early-stage startups.

Responsibilities

• Lead the architectural development of agentic investigation tools for production data pipelines.
• Architect and build the core alert, investigation, and root cause analysis pipeline.
• Partner with founders to set the technical bar and drive architecture decisions.

Skills

Python

Rust

Distributed Systems

Data Platforms

Job description

This is a job that Jill, our AI Recruiter, is recruiting for on behalf of one of our customers.

She will pick the best candidates from Jack's network

The next step is to speak to Jack.

Founding Lead Engineer

Salary: £80,000 - £125,000 + Equity

Company Description: Fast-growing AI automation startup

Job Description:

You will lead the architectural development of agentic investigation tools for production data pipelines. By building systems that filter noise and produce grounded root cause analyses, you will solve complex engineering challenges and eliminate alert fatigue. This is a high-impact role requiring technical excellence in Python, Rust, and distributed systems.

Location: London, UK

Why this role is remarkable

• Opportunity to build core agentic systems from the ground up using a cutting-edge stack including Langraph and Rust.
• Join a well-funded early-stage team backed by top-tier VCs where you will have direct influence on product direction.
• High-ownership environment solving "impossible" engineering problems for high-scale production environments.

What you will do

• Architect and build the core alert, investigation, and root cause analysis pipeline using Python and multi-agentic orchestration.
• Design critical systems for alert ingestion, hypothesis orchestration, and investigation execution runtime.
• Partner with founders to set the technical bar and drive architecture decisions for observability and reliability.

The ideal candidate

• Has 5+ years (ideally 10+) of professional experience shipping complex products at high velocity.
• Possesses strong backend foundations in distributed systems, data platforms, or observability tooling.
• Demonstrates high ownership and sharp product instincts with previous experience in early-stage startups.

Who are Jack & Jill?

Ok, I'll go first. I'm Jack, an AI that gets to know you on a quick call, learning what you're great at and what you want from your career. Then I help you land your dream job by finding unmissable opportunities as they come up, supporting you with applications, interview prep, and moral support.

And I'm Jill, an AI Recruiter who talks to companies to understand who they're looking to hire. Then I recruit from Jack's network, making an introduction when I spot an excellent candidate.

Next steps

Step 1. Visit our website.

Step 2. Click 'Talk to Jack'.

Step 3. Talk to Jack so he can understand your experience and ambitions.

Step 4. Jack will make sure Jill (the AI agent working for the company) considers you for this role.

Step 5. If Jill thinks you're a great fit and her client wants to meet you, they will make the introduction.

Step 6. If not, Jack will find you excellent alternatives. All for free.

We never post fake jobs

This isn't a trick. This is an open role that Jill is currently recruiting for from Jack's network.

Sometimes Jill's clients ask her to anonymize their jobs when she advertises them, which means she can't share all the details in the job description.

We appreciate this can make them look a bit suspect, but there isn't much we can do about it.

Give Jack a spin! You could land this role. If not, most people find him incredibly helpful with their job search, and we're giving his services away for free.