About Native
Native is a VC-backed AI startup building the world’s most accurate AI for database reasoning. This is hard.
This is an unsolved problem that, once solved, will change how every enterprise operates.
We recently published our results, achieving rank #1 on the industry-standard benchmark.
Our research team is based in London.
Everyone at Native has high agency, is obsessed with the problem we are solving, embraces the
intensity of a 6-day week, and has the ambition to build something world-changing.
We are exceptional engineers and researchers taking a novel approach to accurate database reasoning.
About the role
This is a founding leadership role responsible for building, scaling, and setting the technical direction of Native’s engineering function. You will work directly with the founder and research team to turn frontier research into a world-class, production-grade AI platform, while building the team, culture, and systems that can scale.
This role combines deep technical ownership, architectural leadership, and people leadership.
What you’ll do
* Develop the technical execution of Native’s platform and products
* Translate research breakthroughs into scalable, reliable production systems
* Set and evolve the overall engineering architecture across platform, data, and infrastructure
* Build and lead an elite engineering team with a very high bar
* Hire exceptional engineers and help shape the company’s engineering culture
* Establish best practices around correctness, reliability, observability, and security
* Make high-leverage technical decisions under ambiguity and time pressure
* Partner closely with research to align long-term technical strategy with product and company goals
* Take responsibility for engineering delivery, quality, and velocity
Required experience
* Proven experience leading engineering teams building complex, production systems
* Strong hands-on background in backend, platform, or systems engineering
* Experience operating in early-stage or high-growth environments
* Ability to move seamlessly between high-level architecture and hands-on execution
* Deep understanding of distributed systems, databases, and production infrastructure
* Track record of hiring, mentoring, and retaining exceptional engineers
* High ownership mindset: you take responsibility for outcomes, not just decisions
What we’re looking for
* You are an exceptional engineer first, and a leader because of it
* You care deeply about correctness, quality, and long-term system design
* You are comfortable making big decisions with incomplete information
* You enjoy working closely with research and turning ideas into reality
* You want to build something foundational that changes how enterprises operate
Why join Native
This is a rare opportunity to take a central technical leadership role at a company operating at the frontier of AI.
* Impact: Define the technical foundation of a new class of AI system in a massively valuable domain
* Ownership: Meaningful equity with real upside
* Team: A small, world-class research and engineering team based in central London
* Scope: Full ownership over engineering direction, execution, and culture
* Growth: Opportunity to grow with the company as it scales
Culture
At Native, we set an exceptionally high bar.
* We run towards hard problems
* We value first-principles thinking and technical rigor
* We care deeply about systems that must be correct, reliable, and trusted
* We hire people who want ownership, responsibility, and impact
* If you are excited by hard problems, high standards, and building something world-changing from the ground up, we would love to hear from you.