Founding Software Engineer

JR United Kingdom; Lincoln; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A pioneering EdTech startup in the UK seeks a Founding Engineer to design and build their MVP. This role offers the chance to influence AI transparency in higher education. The ideal candidate has strong backend or full-stack engineering experience and is comfortable in early-stage environments. You will collaborate closely with the founder and have opportunities for autonomy with competitive compensation of £70-£80K. Equity is also offered, making this a unique opportunity to shape the future of responsible AI in education.

Benefits

Competitive Salary

Founding-level equity

High autonomy

Opportunity to build meaningful infrastructure

Qualifications

• Strong experience as a backend or full-stack engineer.
• Comfortable working early-stage with ambiguity and ownership.
• Experience with APIs, authentication, integrations, and data security.

Responsibilities

• Architect and build the initial MVP.
• Make foundational technical decisions across backend and integrations.
• Collaborate directly with the founder and designer on product direction.

Skills

Backend or Full-Stack Engineering

Experience with APIs

Data Security

Collaboration

Interest in AI systems

Job description

Social network you want to login/join with:

**** LinkedIn applications will be ignored, please send your CV and a short cover letter to [emailprotected] ****

Build the trust layer for AI in Higher Education

ShowMyAI is building the infrastructure for AI transparency in universities - helping students, educators, employers, and regulators understand how AI is used, not just whether it was used.

We’re looking for a Founding Engineer to partner closely with the founder to design and build the MVP from first principles.

Why this matters

AI use in education is accelerating while trust, policy alignment, and verification are lagging behind. ShowMyAI exists to close that gap by making AI use transparent, auditable, and fair.

This is a chance to shape a product that could become core infrastructure for responsible AI in Higher Ed. Restoring academic integrity and empowering students to use AI in responsible way.

What you’ll do

• Architect and build the initial MVP (LTI-first, LMS-integrated)
• Make foundational technical decisions across backend, data models, and integrations
• Build LLM interaction tracking, verification flows, and regulator-ready exports
• Collaborate directly with the founder and designer on product direction and roadmap
• Set technical standards and culture from day one

About the founder

The company is led by a founder with 12 years’ experience in EdTech, most recently helping scale a startup from zero to eight-figure ARR, culminating in a strong exit last year. The founder’s background is in go-to-market, partnerships, and growth; allowing the founding engineer to focus on building the product properly, while adoption and commercialisation are handled in parallel.

What we’re looking for

• Strong experience as a backend or full-stack engineer
• Comfortable working early-stage with ambiguity and ownership
• Experience with APIs, authentication, integrations, and data security
• Interest in AI systems, education, or responsible technology
• Pragmatic, opinionated, and collaborative mindset
• Founder experience isn’t required, good judgement and curiosity matter more.

What’s on offer

• Competitive Salary between £70-£80K
• Founding-level equity
• High autonomy and real technical ownership
• Opportunity to build meaningful infrastructure in EdTech & AI