Founding AI Engineer / Engineering Lead

Founding AI Engineer / Engineering Lead Location: UK, remote-first with regular London working sessions Initial commitment: One to two days per week before funding Equity: 2% to 3% founding equity, depending on experience and commitment Post-funding salary: £100,000 to £130,000 Start: As soon as possible About General Intelligence Holdings General Intelligence Holdings is building an AI-native professional-services group, starting with UK accountancy. We acquire established firms and turn their verified work, expert corrections and operational data into evaluations, learning environments and production AI agents. Our model is simple: We buy firms to improve the AI. The AI improves every firm we buy. Applied is our shared AI platform. It will automate professional workflows, improve the performance of every firm in the group and learn from real-world outcomes under expert supervision. Our ambition is to build a major technology-led professional-services group across accountancy and adjacent markets in the UK, before expanding internationally. The role We are looking for an exceptional Founding AI Engineer to become the hands-on engineering leader for Applied. You will work directly with founder Chris Worsey and Technical Architect Jim Collins. You will own the day-to-day building and shipping of the platform, taking it from its first design-partner deployment into a production system operating across multiple acquired firms. This is not primarily a management role. You will personally design architecture, write code, deploy systems and work directly with accountants and other users. As the platform grows, you will help recruit and lead a small, exceptional engineering team. For the right person, there is a clear opportunity to develop into the long-term CTO of the group. What you will build Your initial objective will be to deploy a working production version of Applied with our accountancy design partner. You will: * Build production firm-mirror and workflow-replay infrastructure. * Turn completed accounting engagements and practitioner corrections into reusable evaluations, regression tests and training signals. * Develop reliable AI agents for bookkeeping, reconciliation, accounts preparation, client communication and tax workflows. * Integrate Applied with Xero, accounting practice-management systems, document stores, email and filing systems. * Build human-approval gates, permissions, audit trails, regression testing and production monitoring. * Create secure multi-firm data boundaries and deployment controls. * Design systems that allow agents to operate safely across long, multi-step professional workflows. * Capture production traces and expert corrections so that Applied improves with every deployment. * Deploy Applied inside our first acquired accountancy firm. * Establish the engineering foundations required to deploy the platform across dozens of firms. * Help recruit and lead the initial engineering team. Who we are looking for You have personally built and shipped important software in a demanding startup or product environment. You have probably: * Built a substantial B2B, fintech or AI product from zero to production. * Operated as an early, senior, staff or founding engineer. * Worked directly with users and taken responsibility for production outcomes. * Built systems involving APIs, OAuth, webhooks and event-driven workflows. * Worked with LLM or agentic systems, including tool calling, structured outputs, evaluations and monitoring. * Built software involving sensitive data, regulated activity or high-consequence workflows. * Worked across product, backend, infrastructure and AI rather than remaining inside a narrow specialism. * Developed strong judgement about the difference between a useful production product and an impressive demonstration. - You should be comfortable working across: * Python * TypeScript and React * Modern backend development * PostgreSQL * Cloud infrastructure * APIs and third-party integrations * LLM and agent orchestration * Evaluations and regression testing * Observability and production monitoring * Security, permissions and auditability Accountancy experience would be useful, but it is not required. A PhD is not required. Production ownership is. Relevant backgrounds We are especially interested in people who have built at companies such as: Ramp, Stripe, Revolut, Wise, Monzo, Checkout.com, GoCardless, Thought Machine, Palantir, Google DeepMind, ElevenLabs, Synthesia, Wayve, Faculty, Xero, Dext, Rippling or Brex. The company name is only a signal. What matters is what you personally built, the responsibility you held and whether you can create an exceptional product from first principles. We are also interested in founders and early engineers who have built impressive products at companies that are not yet widely known. Why join now This is an opportunity to become the founding engineering leader of a company combining AI development with direct ownership of the businesses in which the technology operates. Unlike a conventional software company, we do not need to persuade external customers to give us limited access to their workflows. We acquire the operating companies, deploy the technology directly and create a continuous learning loop between practitioners, production systems and AI development. You will have: * Direct access to real professional workflows and expert practitioners. * The ability to deploy into live operating companies. * A central role in shaping the product, architecture and engineering culture. * Meaningful founding ownership. * The opportunity to build the initial engineering team around you. * A potential path to becoming the group’s CTO. * The opportunity to build an AI platform that compounds as the group acquires more firms and enters additional professional-services markets. - Compensation and initial structure This is an equity-first founding role. Before the completion of our current funding round, we expect the successful candidate to work with us for approximately one to two days per week. You will receive 2% to 3% founding equity , depending on your experience, level of commitment and the scope of the role. The equity will vest over four years, with vesting beginning when you start working with us. The vesting period will not restart when the role becomes full-time. The exact equity structure and terms will be documented before work begins. Your initial objective will be to deploy the first production version of Applied with our design partner. When General Intelligence Holdings completes its current funding round, with at least £2 million of new investment received, the position will convert automatically into a full-time role paying £100,000 to £130,000 per year . Your existing equity will continue to vest. We are looking for someone who wants to begin building now, shape the company from its earliest stage and become its long-term engineering leader. Application process Please send: * A short introduction. * Your LinkedIn, GitHub or personal website. * Details of the most important production system you have personally built. * A brief explanation of exactly what you owned and delivered. * Your availability before and after the funding round. - The process will begin with a conversation about the company, followed by a technical and product discussion based on systems you have already built. We will not ask you to complete an unpaid take-home project. We will then agree the initial scope, equity terms and first deployment objective before beginning the engagement.