Lead Engineer - Stealth AI Startup

Lead Engineer / Founding Engineering - Stealth AI Startup

London (Moorgate) | 2–3 days per week in-office (relocation £ available)

To £150,000 + Equity

We’re working with a stealth-mode, venture-backed startup building an AI-enabled platform that’s reinventing how an entire industry operates.

We’re looking for a London-based Lead Engineer to own both technical direction and team leadership as the business scales.

This is a founding-level role, ideal for someone who’s already taken a startup from 0→1, thrives in ambiguity, and wants to shape the architecture, product, and team from day one.

What You’ll Do

• Lead and grow a talented cross-functional engineering team in London (initially 2–3 days/week in-office, with greater flexibility later).
• Set technical direction and make foundational decisions as the product scales from early MVP to platform maturity.
• Stay hands-on: ship code, build tools, review PRs, and set the engineering bar high.
• Drive the architecture and delivery of AI-enabled workflows that power real-world operations at scale.
• Partner closely with founders to define the technical roadmap and deliver mission-critical projects end to end.
• Act as a people manager, inspiring a high-performing team and shaping engineering culture.

What We’re Looking For

• London-based or willing to relocate (relocation £ support provided).
• Proven experience taking a startup from 0→1 — ideally in stealth or early-stage mode.
• People leadership experience — able to grow, mentor, and lead small, sharp teams.
• Track record of shipping real software, not just managing from a distance.
• Strong software engineering background (Python experience a plus) with the ability to move fast and make pragmatic decisions.
• AI-native mindset — must be able to demonstrate how you’ve taken AI/LLM capabilities and built actual tools, systems, or features that increased code output, efficiency, or product capability.
• Experience in project delivery: taking ideas from concept to production under tight timelines.
• Comfort with ambiguity and speed — this is an early-stage, high-autonomy environment.

Tech Snapshot

• Python 3.11+, FastAPI, SQLAlchemy, Alembic, PostgreSQL
• AWS (IAM, SES, Bedrock)
• Event-driven architecture, API-first development
• AI/ML pipelines integrated into core workflows

Why This Role

• Take over a Lead position and make it your own, this isn’t building a feature, it’s building the company’s core product and engineering culture.
• Join at the ground floor of a stealth AI-enabled business tackling a massive industry problem.
• Work closely with experienced founders on a bold, technically ambitious roadmap.
• London-based leadership role with meaningful equity upside and real autonomy.
• Relocation support available for exceptional talent.

If you’ve led teams, shipped real AI-enabled products, and thrived in early-stage environments, this is a rare opportunity to build something meaningful, fast!