Founding engineer at whybrilliant

This is a role that Atlas, our AI Recruiter, is hiring for on behalf of one of our customers. He'll pick the best candidates from Nova's network.

The next step is to .

The Role

Job Title: Founding Engineer

Company: WhyBrilliant — WhyBrilliant is the Berlin-based AI recruiting platform that inverts hiring: talent doesn't apply — companies request the meeting. Its AI agent Nova represents professionals, watching more than a million open roles and reaching out only when one truly fits. Atlas represents companies, turning an open role into a pre-screened shortlist. Founded on the conviction that every professional deserves an agent in their corner, WhyBrilliant is built in Germany, backed by Merantix Capital, and paid only on a successful hire. More at whybrilliant.com.

Location: Berlin, Germany

Why this role matters

Backed by Tier 1 AI investor Merantix Capital, our founding team has proven our prototype and captured early traction. As Technical Hire #2, you are the missing bridge between raw LLM capabilities and a production-grade, highly scalable matching engine. Without your expertise, we cannot transition from a validated concept to a highly defensible, scaling marketplace.

What you'll do

You will own the end-to-end architecture and execution of our core platform, taking our voice-first matching engine from 0 to 1.

• Architect and build the core Next.js and FastAPI platform, including candidate experiences and employer dashboards.
• Orchestrate production-grade LLM workflows for structured data extraction, retrieval, and explainable matching.
• Optimize low-latency voice infrastructure, vector databases, and audio processing pipelines to ensure a seamless conversational UX.
• Design a secure data stack handling authentication, secrets, and the safe processing of sensitive candidate data.
• Establish pragmatic technical standards, choosing tools like Cursor and Claude Code to prioritize development speed.

What success looks like

• Month 1: Deep dive into our existing prototype and voice-first codebase, establishing your local setup with Cursor and Claude Code, and shipping your first production updates to the FastAPI/Next.js core.
• Month 2-3: Own the end-to-end refactoring of the LLM orchestration layer and optimize the low-latency voice API pipeline to handle real-time conversational data seamlessly.
• By end of Q1: Launch the production-ready market network with fully secure data handling and a functional matching engine, transitioning us entirely from a validated concept to a scalable, live marketplace.

Who this is a fit for

• Strong full-stack developer in TypeScript (Next.js) and asynchronous Python (FastAPI).
• Hands-on creator who has shipped production-grade LLM orchestration or data-heavy ML systems.
• Pragmatic builder who excels at zero-to-one architecture and rapid deployment.
• Security-minded engineer who bakes robust data safety into early-stage code.
• AI-first developer leveraging modern tools like Cursor and Claude Code.

What it's like to work here

A cozy, high-trust, fast-moving, and collaborative environment. The team is not politically correct (often saying things left-wing liberals might find offensive) and values curious, execution-heavy, and AI-first product development in a hybrid Berlin setup. Pitching competitive base salaries plus equity options (VSOP) to reward a true founder mindset.

The offer

• Competitive base salary of EUR 100,000+.
• Generous equity options (VSOP) to reward a true founder mindset.
• Hybrid setup in Berlin within a cozy, high-trust, and collaborative team.
• Deep technical autonomy with no legacy baggage or corporate red tape.
• Direct backing and resources from Tier 1 AI investor Merantix Capital.

This probably isn't for you if

• You prefer highly structured corporate processes, rigid definitions of duty, or slow-moving environments.
• You prefer politically correct, consensus-driven cultures; our team is direct, fast-moving, and often says things left-wing liberals might find offensive.
• You prefer optimizing existing enterprise systems rather than building zero-to-one architecture under tight timelines.

Who are Atlas & Nova?

I'll go first. I'm Nova, an AI that gets to know you on a quick call — what you're great at and what you want from your career. Then I help you land your dream job: surfacing roles you'd never want to miss, and backing you up with applications, interview prep, and a bit of moral support.

And I'm Atlas, an AI Recruiter who talks to companies to understand exactly who they're looking to hire. Then I recruit from Nova's network and make an introduction the moment I spot an excellent candidate.

How does this work?

Nova is an AI agent for job searching and career coaching. She works for you.

Atlas is the AI recruiter working for the company. He recruits from Nova's network.

If it's a match and the company wants to meet you, they'll make the intro. In the meantime, if you'd like, Nova will keep sending you strong alternatives.

We never post fake jobs

This isn't a trick. It's a real, open role that Atlas is recruiting for right now from Nova's network.

Sometimes Atlas's clients ask him to anonymise their roles when he advertises them, which means he can't share every detail in the job description. We know that can make a post look a little vague — but there isn't much we can do about it.

Give Nova a try. You could land this role. And if not, most people find her genuinely useful in their job search — and we're giving her help away for free.