Founding Product Engineer

<h3>About the Role</h3><p style="min-height:1.5em">We're a fast-growing, Vienna-headquartered AI communication startup building an AI phone assistant platform for SMEs across Europe — and we're looking for a <strong>Founding Product Engineer</strong> to join our engineering team. This is a high-ownership, end-to-end role at the intersection of product thinking and full-stack engineering. You'll help shape the product from hypothesis to production, working closely with customers, partners, and sales to deliver features that create real, measurable business value.</p><p style="min-height:1.5em">We're a <strong>remote-first team</strong> with an optional office in Vienna. You'll need meaningful overlap with Central European Time (CET). Our product is German-language-first, so <strong>native-level German proficiency is essential</strong>.</p><h3>What You'll Do</h3><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Own features end-to-end — from hypothesis and prototype through architecture, implementation, and production release.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Lead product discovery by designing and running rapid experiments to validate ideas before committing to large-scale builds.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Maintain close, recurring contact with customers, partners, and the sales team to surface real pain points and translate them into product decisions.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Design and implement tracking and analytics to enable data-driven iteration.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Drive architecture choices across the full stack and take responsibility through to release.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Prioritize pragmatic, scalable solutions that balance speed of validation with long-term quality.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Take radical ownership of your initiatives — move things forward without waiting for sign-offs.</p></li></ul><h3>What We're Looking For</h3><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Must-haves (dealbreakers):</strong></p><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">3+ years of experience in Product Engineering delivering end-to-end software features.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Strong full-stack proficiency: <strong>Node.js, TypeScript, NestJS, and React</strong>.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Native-level German fluency</strong> (Deutsch auf Muttersprache-Niveau) — essential for our German-language product and customer interactions.</p></li></ul><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Required:</strong></p><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Experience integrating software with external systems (CRMs, calendar tools, databases, APIs).</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Ability to gather customer feedback and convert pain points into prioritized product decisions.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Comfort identifying, tracking, and analyzing product metrics to drive data-informed choices.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Proven experience owning the full development lifecycle from architecture to production.</p></li></ul><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Nice to have:</strong></p><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Experience working with AI/LLM integrations (e.g., OpenAI or similar) — this is a strong advantage.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Familiarity with GDPR compliance and EU AI Act considerations in product development.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Background working in remote-first, asynchronous environments at early-stage or high-growth startups.</p></li></ul><h3>Compensation &amp; Benefits</h3><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Salary:</strong> €80,000 – €120,000 annually, depending on experience.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Equity:</strong> Meaningful equity stake as part of a high-growth founding team environment.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Remote-first flexibility with optional office access in Vienna.</p></li></ul><p style="min-height:1.5em"><em>Please note: visa sponsorship is not available for this role.</em></p><h3>Location</h3><p style="min-height:1.5em">Fully remote, with a preference for candidates based in <strong>Germany</strong> or able to work with significant CET overlap. An optional co-working office is available in Vienna, Austria.</p><p>Find <a href="https://www.arbeitnow.com">Jobs in Germany</a> on Arbeitnow</a>