Job Description
Job Description
Job Title: Founding Engineer
Package: $120k - $180k + equity
Location: New York City (3 days per week in office)
Launchpad Recruitment are partnering with a high-growth, VC-backed (GV & YC) AI-native investment infrastructure company building the operating system for alternative investments.
We’re hiring a Founding Engineer to join a small, elite team building mission-critical AI systems from the ground up.
This is a true 0→1, founder-mentality role - ideal for someone who thrives in ambiguity, owns problems end-to-end, and has already shipped production systems with real user traction.
The company is a Series A business modernising an $11T alternative investments market that still runs on heavily manual, legacy processes. The platform is already processing $5B+ in transactions and is backed by top-tier investors including Google Ventures and Y Combinator.
The Role
You’ll sit at the core of the engineering team building AI systems that replace manual operational workflows with scalable automation.
Key responsibilities:
→ Build and deploy AI-powered agents to automate ingestion, parsing, and standardisation of complex financial documents
→ Own end-to-end system architecture (design, build, deploy, operate)
→ Lead consolidation of multiple engineering systems into a unified, scalable platform
→ Improve CI/CD pipelines to increase deployment velocity and system reliability
→ Work directly with operations teams to map manual workflows into automated systems
→ Own production systems handling real financial data and live customer workflows
Tech Environment
→ Python
→ Angular
→ React
→ Express.js
→ PostgreSQL
→ AWS
The team care far more about engineering ownership, product thinking, and production experience than matching every technology exactly.
Why this role is different
→ Direct work with the CTO on high-impact systems from day one
→ Full ownership of production systems, not feature tickets
→ Building AI infrastructure that replaces real operational cost in financial services
→ True 0→1 environment - ambiguous, fast-moving, high trust
→ Significant autonomy and product influence from day one
What we’re looking for
→ Proven experience shipping 0→1 products with real production user traction
→ Strong backend or full-stack engineering background
→ Experience building and deploying AI systems or agents into production
→ Startup background (Seed → Series C preferred)
→ Strong system design ability - scalable architecture, edge cases, reliability
→ Comfortable operating in ambiguity with founder-level ownership
→ Track record of shipping quickly and iterating in production environments
Compensation & Logistics
→ $120,000 – $180,000 base salary + competitive equity
→ Hybrid working - 3–5 days onsite in New York City
→ Backed by top-tier investors (GV, YC)
Ideal Candidate Profile
Most likely someone who has:
→ Worked in early-stage startups or accelerator environments
→ Built and shipped production AI / backend systems end-to-end
→ Operated with founder-level ownership (not just feature delivery)
→ Strong opinions on system design and building for scale
→ Experience turning messy operational problems into working systems