Founding Software Engineer (Path to CTO)

Founding Software Engineer (Path to CTO)

📍 Remote (Europe preferred) | ✈️ Regular travel to South America
🏢 Partner Company – AgTech / IoT Startup (Pre-seed)

🧠 This is not a typical engineering role

We’re not looking for someone who just wants to write code.

We’re looking for a builder — someone excited by ambiguity, ownership, real-world problems, and the opportunity to help build a company from the ground up.

You’ll be the sole engineer, working AI-first, shipping a real hardware + software product, and testing it in cattle fields in South America.

If you’re looking for a polished corporate environment, a large team, or clearly defined processes from day one, this role is not for you — and that’s completely fine.

🏢 About the Partner Company

Our partner is an early-stage AgTech / IoT startup focused on building sustainable, technology-driven solutions with real-world impact.

• Stage: Pre-seed

• Focus: Virtual fencing technology for livestock

• Operations: Europe (founders & HQ) + South America (field operations)

• Mission: Create sustainable value where progress and responsibility for people and planet go hand in hand

• Culture: High ownership, AI-first mindset, field-driven problem solving

This is a company where one strong engineer + AI is expected to outperform traditional teams.

💼 The Role

As Founding Software Engineer, you’ll own and ship the entire technical stack and play a central role in shaping the product, the architecture, and the technical direction of the company.

This role offers a clear path to Head of Engineering / CTO, depending on interest and performance.

You’ll work directly with the founders and have full technical ownership from day one.

🛠 What You’ll Be Doing

• Own the entire technical stack: embedded firmware, cloud backend, and iOS app

• Take over, iterate, and optimise existing STM32-based firmware

• Design and build cloud infrastructure from scratch (APIs, data, scalability)

• Build an iOS app designed for low-literacy, non-technical users (UX, visuals, text-to-speech)

• Collaborate closely with hardware manufacturing partners

• Use AI coding tools (Cursor, Claude, GitHub Copilot) as core development partners

• Travel regularly for hands-on field testing and product launches

• Ship V1 to market in 2025 and continuously improve reliability and usability

✅ What We’re Looking For (Must-Haves)

• Strong software engineering fundamentals (language-agnostic)

• Heavy, demonstrated use of AI coding tools in daily development

• Experience shipping complete products independently

• iOS development experience (Swift / SwiftUI)

• Systems thinking across firmware, backend, and mobile

• Comfort working autonomously as the sole engineer

• At least 5+ years of hands-on engineering experience

➕ Nice to Have

• Embedded / firmware experience (C, STM32)

• IoT protocols (e.g. LoRaWAN)

• Cloud backend development (any modern stack)

• Experience with hardware products

• Spanish language skills

• AgTech, robotics, or physical-world product exposure

🚫 This Role Is NOT for You If…

• You need a large team to be productive

• You’re skeptical about AI-assisted development

• You prefer highly structured corporate environments

• You’re looking for feature-only work without ownership

• You’re uncomfortable with ambiguity, iteration, and field conditions

🧠 Who Thrives in This Role

• Autonomous, resourceful builders

• Low-ego, high-ownership mindset

• Comfortable with uncertainty and responsibility

• Strong product sense and user empathy

• Excited by real-world, physical impact

💶 Compensation & Benefits

• Base salary: €40,000 – €120,000 (depending on equity track and seniority)

• Equity: Significant founding-team level equity with vesting over 3 years

• Contract: Full-time employment

• Vacation: 28 days per year

• Working model: Remote-first (Europe preferred) with regular travel

• Upside: Clear path to Head of Engineering / CTO

🧩 Why Join?

• Founding-team level ownership

• Full technical control across hardware & software

• Real-world impact on sustainable agriculture

• Opportunity to prove the power of AI-first development

• Build something tangible, meaningful, and challenging