About this role

ABOUT THE ROLE We're an early-stage, AI-first startup automating operations for the global freight forwarding industry — think quoting, booking, customs, and invoicing, all handled by AI. Backed by a world-class accelerator and unicorn founders, we're building the infrastructure to make international logistics truly autonomous. As a Founding Engineer (Full-Stack/AI), you'll join the core engineering team on-site in Munich and own the most critical parts of our product from day one.

This is a high-ownership, high-impact role for someone who thinks and acts like a founder — you'll shape architecture, ship full-stack features, and push the frontier of applied AI in a real production environment. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Own end-to-end design, development, and maintenance of the product's most critical components. - Build reliable full-stack features that make users radically more efficient in their daily workflows.

- Evaluate, benchmark, and fine-tune AI/LLM capabilities to maximize domain accuracy and contextual understanding. - Continuously experiment with new model releases, frameworks, and agentic techniques directly in production. - Ship promising approaches quickly and iterate based on data and real user feedback. - Navigate and improve large-scale legacy codebases, adding structure and long-term scalability. - Engineer infrastructure and automation to support heavy data and AI workloads.

- Collaborate closely with founders and teammates as a hands-on, high-ownership contributor. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR Required: - Founder-level drive, adaptability, extreme ownership, and a results-oriented, autonomous work style. - Strong full-stack engineering experience with fluency across backend and cloud environments. - Fluent in Python; familiarity with Go is a strong plus. - Practical, production experience with AI/ML systems: benchmarking, fine-tuning, integrating LLMs, and running live experiments.

- Comfort engineering for scale, automating systems, and working within complex legacy codebases. - Strong CS fundamentals, intellectual humility, and exceptional self-discipline. Nice to Have: - 2–3 years of professional engineering experience (strong personal projects or other demonstrated track record also welcome). - Prior startup or entrepreneurial experience. - Background or interest in logistics, freight forwarding, or supply chain technology.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS - Salary: €60,000 – €90,000 annually, depending on experience. - Equity: Meaningful early-stage options (up to ~1.5%). - Opportunity to shape the technical direction and culture of a fast-moving, well-backed startup from the ground floor. LOCATION - On-site in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. This role requires full-time presence in our Munich office. - Visa sponsorship is not available — candidates must already have the right to work in Germany.

Source listing: ashby_clera