Founding Engineer

Founding Engineer (AI) with product focus — Build the "operating system" for SMEs Location: Sydney, Australia (Remote/Hybrid)Type: Full-time (or contract‑to‑perm)Comp: Below‑market salary + meaningful equity (details shared with shortlisted candidates)Stage: Fully funded startup | Existing product in market | Entering scale‑up hardening phase The opportunity Alice/AI is building the platform that gives SME owners back 15+ hours per week by automating the operational work that currently lives across disconnected tools (email, calendars, files, CRM/accounting). We’ve built the core agentic AI engine and now we’re entering a critical phase: architectural hardening, security uplift, and deep integrations into the systems our customers live in every day. If you’re a senior, hands‑on engineer who enjoys turning a promising platform into a production‑ready system—and you’re open to a startup‑style package (lower cash, higher upside via equity) —we’d love to talk. What you’ll do (high impact, hands‑on) You’ll operate as a CTO/Lean Engineering Lead: with a product focus, making pragmatic decisions, shipping core foundations, and setting us up to scale. 1) Architecture & security hardening (first 4–8 weeks) Review current platform architecture for scalability, maintainability, and reliability Identify and mitigate priority security risks (auth, tenancy/data isolation, API security, secrets management, audit/logging) Produce and execute a practical roadmap for improvement (12–18 month horizon, MVP‑first) 2) Build core product integrations (our MCP foundation) Own end‑to‑end integrations including OAuth, sync logic, rate limits, retries, observability and data modelling: Google Workspace: Gmail, Calendar, Drive Microsoft 365: Outlook, Calendar, OneDrive Xero: invoices, contacts, cashflow basics 3) Evolve the core platform Strengthen backend services and APIs (Java ) and work closely with the AI orchestration layer (Python with LangChain/LangGraph ) Improve data pipelines that feed our agents and enable reliable automation Establish pragmatic engineering practices (CI/CD, test strategy, release hygiene, monitoring) Our stack Cloud: AWS (Australia region) Backend: Java Frontend: React Native AI Orchestration: Python, LangChain, LangGraph LLM integrations: OpenAI API, Google Vertex AI, Groq, AWS Bedrock What we’re looking for Must‑haves Strong senior experience building and shipping backend/platform systems (ideally Java) Ideally 7‑8 years of experience in backend/platform systems development Proven experience integrating with third‑party SaaS APIs and managing OAuth flows in production Practical cloud security mindset (AWS, IAM, auth patterns, API security, data isolation/tenancy) Comfortable collaborating across Java + Python systems High ownership: you don’t just identify problems—you ship fixes Australian work rights will be considered on a case‑by‑case basis for this remote/hybrid position. Nice‑to‑haves Experience with SMEs, vertical SaaS, or workflow automation products Familiarity with agentic AI patterns, LLM tooling, or ML‑adjacent product development Exposure to compliance/security baselines (SOC2‑style controls, even if informal) Why join Real product, real users, real mission (SMEs are under‑served and drowning in admin) Fully funded with runway to build properly (not "week‑to‑week survival") Meaningful equity and the chance to shape the technical direction from here Work on a modern AI stack with practical constraints (security, reliability, integrations) About the compensation (transparent) This role is not Big Tech cash . We’re offering a below‑market salary balanced by meaningful equity because we’re optimising for long‑term upside and impact. We’ll share the band and equity range with candidates who reach first interview, and we’re happy to discuss structuring (e.g., contract‑to‑perm, milestone‑based increases). How to apply Send a short note with: LinkedIn/GitHub (or a brief overview of what you’ve built) 1–2 examples of AI focused application you’ve shipped What you’re looking for in terms of role structure (FT vs contract‑to‑perm) and location Be careful – Don’t provide your bank or credit card details when applying for jobs. Report suspicious activity to the platform. #J-18808-Ljbffr