Founding Software Engineer

About the role

A Y Combinator-backed AI creative tools startup is hiring its founding software engineer . You'll work directly with the founding team to shape the technical foundation of an AI-powered motion design platform - turning what once took hours into minutes for professionals and video teams worldwide. This is a high-ownership, zero-to-one role at a company with strong early traction and rapid revenue growth.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the founders to deliver user-centric product features from concept to production.
• Own end-to-end full-stack development with a focus on scalable architecture.
• Build and optimize agentic LLM systems, including tool-calling, multi-step reasoning, and MCP protocols.
• Design and implement comprehensive LLM evaluation frameworks - automated benchmarks, human-in-the-loop validation, and A/B testing.
• Optimize LLM inference performance, cost efficiency, and latency across multiple model architectures.
• Develop a high-performance motion graphics engine.
• Drive architectural decisions to support growth to millions of users.

Requirements

• Required:
• 2+ years of software engineering experience with strong CS fundamentals.
• Proficiency in TypeScript (dealbreaker); hands-on experience with React.js, Next.js, PostgreSQL, GCP, and/or AWS.
• Proven experience building or integrating LLMs - tool-calling, multi-step reasoning, and MCP protocols.
• Experience designing LLM evaluation frameworks with automated benchmarks, human-in-the-loop validation, and A/B testing.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver end-to-end full-stack features at scale.
• Background in startups or early-stage environments with a strong ownership mindset.
• Ability to optimize LLM inference for performance, cost, and latency across multiple model architectures.
• Experience in AI creative tools, motion graphics, or animation-adjacent products.
• High learning velocity and ability to ramp quickly in a fast-moving environment.
• Compensation & Benefits
• Salary: €80,000 - €160,000 annually, depending on experience.
• Equity participation as a founding team member.
• No visa sponsorship available.
• Location
• This role is on-site in Berlin, Germany . Candidates must be willing and able to work from the Berlin office full-time.

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Company Intel

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