Founding Engineer

Founding Engineer / Hands-On CTO - London - £200,000 + Benefits We're partnering with one of the most exciting AI companies in the market. Having recently secured significant Series C funding, they're entering a critical phase of growth and are looking for a Founding Engineer / Hands-On CTO to help shape the next stage of their journey.This is not a traditional leadership role.We're looking for a builder. Someone who thrives in ambiguity, loves creating products from the ground up, and can balance deep technical excellence with business influence. You'll sit at the heart of the organisation, working alongside executives, customers, engineers, product leaders, and GTM teams to define what's next.The roleAs a key technical leader, you'll lead and mentor a team of four Staff Engineers while remaining close to architecture, engineering decisions, and product development.You'll be the technical voice both internally and externally, influencing strategic direction, engaging directly with customers, and helping translate complex business challenges into innovative AI-powered solutions.This role offers an exceptional level of visibility and impact, with exposure to more than 100 stakeholders across Engineering, Product, Design, AI, Commercial, and Executive Leadership teams.What You'll Be DoingLeading and developing a high-performing team of Staff EngineersShaping technical strategy, architecture, and engineering best practiceRemaining hands-on with design, development, and critical technical decisionsPartnering closely with Product, Design, and AI teams to accelerate innovationWorking directly with customers to understand challenges and influence product directionDriving collaboration across a broad stakeholder landscape of 100+ internal partnersInfluencing go-to-market strategy and helping align technology with commercial objectivesIdentifying opportunities for new products, capabilities, and market expansionChampioning engineering excellence, scalability, reliability, and performanceActing as a trusted advisor to executive leadership on technology and product strategyWhat We're Looking ForProven experience as a Founding Engineer, CTO, VP Engineering, Principal Engineer, Distinguished Engineer, or similar senior technical leadership roleStrong software engineering background with a passion for building products from scratchExpert hands-on development experience using Rust, Golang. C++ or a JVM based language.Deep understanding of distributed systems, cloud-native architectures, and modern software engineering practicesExperience scaling products and engineering functions within high-growth technology businessesAbility to move seamlessly between coding, architecture, customer engagement, and executive-level strategyExceptional communication and stakeholder management skillsCommercial awareness and the ability to influence product and GTM decisionsExperience working in AI, machine learning, data-intensive, or highly technical environments is highly desirableWhy Join?Opportunity to shape a category-defining AI company at a pivotal stage of growthSignificant influence over product, technology, and business strategyWork directly with founders, executive leadership, and key customersBuild alongside some of the industry's strongest engineering talentCompetitive compensation package including meaningful equityThe chance to leave a lasting imprint on a rapidly scaling businessFor more information, send your CV to P.bower@tenthrevolution.com