Founding Product Engineer

About the Role A fast-moving, early-stage startup building an enterprise-grade AI platform for industrial energy procurement and cost optimization is looking for a Founding Product Engineer to join as one of the first engineers on the team. This is a high-ownership, high-impact role where you'll work directly with founders and customers to shape the product from the ground up. The platform is data-intensive and technically deep — spanning time-series forecasting, linear optimization, real-time market data, and complex decision-support UIs for industrial energy buyers. You'll have meaningful input into the tech stack and product direction from day one. What You'll Do Own the full product lifecycle from design through deployment. Translate product objectives into concrete requirements through close collaboration with customers. Design simple, iterative solutions to complex energy procurement and optimization problems. Build performant backend services for a data-intensive application. Develop intuitive, elegant frontend UIs for complex decision-support workflows. Train time-series forecasting models for power consumption and renewables production. Develop linear optimization algorithms that reduce customer energy costs. Help choose and evolve the core tech stack (PostgreSQL, TypeScript, React, Python). What We're Looking For Required: 2+ years of software engineering experience delivering scalable web applications, ideally in an early-stage startup environment . Proven ability to deliver full product features independently in close collaboration with customers. Strong fundamentals for building robust, maintainable, and scalable full-stack web applications. Experience building backend services for data-intensive applications . Experience building frontend UIs for complex, data-rich decision-support systems . A genuine product mindset — you think about outcomes, not just output. Comfort with ambiguity and a high-ownership, fast-paced startup culture. Nice to Have: Hands-on experience with time-series forecasting and/or linear optimization . Familiarity with PostgreSQL, TypeScript, React, Python, FastAPI, or Supabase. Background as a startup CTO, founding engineer, or technical co-founder. Interest in or knowledge of energy markets , industrial operations, or sustainability tech. Experience at companies in the industrial technology, energy management, or AI/data space. Location & Work Arrangement This role is based in Munich, Bavaria, Germany . You'll be expected to work on-site the majority of the week, with flexibility for occasional remote days. Visa sponsorship is not available — candidates must have an existing right to work in Germany. Compensation & Benefits Salary: €85,000 – €140,000 annually, depending on experience. Early-stage equity opportunity. Direct influence over product, architecture, and company direction. Work closely with an experienced founding team at the intersection of AI and the energy transition.