Founding Engineer ? Future Head of Engineering

Founding Engineer Future Head of Engineering

Salary: £80,000 - £110,000 + Equity

Location: Manchester | Flexible Working

Type: Permanent

Join an Ambitious Tech Startup

We're working with a fast-growing, venture-backed technology business that has gained strong early traction and is now looking for a Founding Engineer to help shape its next stage of growth.

This is a rare opportunity to join at an early stage, taking ownership of the core mobile product while working closely with the founders to define the technical vision. The successful candidate will have a clear pathway to progress into Head of Engineering within 9-18 months.

This role is ideal for someone who wants more than just a coding position and is excited by the opportunity to build, influence strategy, and lead a future engineering team.

The Role

You'll take ownership of the company's mobile application, leading development from architecture through to deployment while helping shape the wider technology strategy.

Key responsibilities include

Leading development of a production-grade mobile application

Delivering features end-to-end, from design through to deployment

Driving product performance, scalability, security, and user experience

Leveraging AI tools to improve engineering productivity

Contributing to AI-powered product features and innovation

Working closely with founders on product and technical decisions

Helping define the future engineering roadmap and team structure

About You

You'll be a highly capable engineer with a strong ownership mentality and ambitions to move into leadership.

Essential Skills

5+ years' software engineering experience

Strong mobile development background

Proven experience building and shipping mobile applications

Strong React Native experience

Experience with APIs, backend integrations, and cloud platforms

Familiarity with AI tools and modern development workflows

Excellent communication skills

Desirable

Startup or scale-up experience

Exposure to AI-powered products or machine learning

Previous leadership, mentoring, or technical ownership responsibilities

Package

£80,000 - £110,000 salary

Equity options

Remote-first and flexible working

Personal development budget

Access to the latest AI tooling

Direct exposure to founders and strategic decision-making

Clear progression to Head of Engineering

Why Apply?

This is an opportunity to join a business at a pivotal stage, take ownership of a core product, influence technical direction, and build an engineering function from the ground up.

If you're a hands-on engineer looking for a genuine path into technical leadership, we'd love to hear from you.

Founding Engineer Future Head of Engineering