Founding Engineer - Ditto

Remote-first, with access to Soho Works, 180 Strand, London

About Ditto

Ditto is building the new generation of social network—an AI-native platform where users don’t scroll or consume, they share authentic personal knowledge. In the words of a recently test user: “this is some Black Mirror BS and I low key love it!” We’re reinventing chat as a form of creative play, using generative AI to help people express what they know and feel in new, surprising ways.

We’re launching at a leading UK university in Q2 and already have a well polished iOS v1. We’re starting with a tight loop: one campus, one product with rapid iteration cycles to (hopefully!) make something that sticks and early feedback is super positive. We’re backed by leading VCs, supported by Founders Factory and Pico, and led by an experienced founder with a track record in viral consumer apps. Now we’re looking for a founding engineer to join the team.

Why This Role?

You’ll be the engineer everyone else remembers. The one who wrote the core systems, chose the early stack, and laid down the patterns the next 10 hires follow. You’ll work with frontier AI tooling, ship directly to users, and build features that feel like magic.

We’re not building yet another CRUD app. We’re building a social playground powered by agents, where conversations happen between AI-enhanced avatars representing real people—and you’ll help architect how that works.

What You’ll Do

• Build core systems from scratch, across backend and AI infrastructure.
• Implement and scale LangChain/LangGraph agent workflows (yes, deeply—not just toy demos).
• Work with LLM APIs, embeddings, memory architecture, vector search, and structured output parsing.
• Optimise for latency and cost across real-time GenAI interactions.
• Design composable pipelines for input/output transforms, context injection, and user feedback loops.
• Contribute to the product direction—everyone is a builder here and we GSD.
• Experiment rapidly: we test ideas live with users and ship daily.
  
  

You Should Have

• LangChain / LangGraph: Real experience wiring up multi-step agents, not just plugging in a chain. You know how to debug traces, tune tool invocations, and reason about agent behaviors.
• Python Backend Mastery: Django, FastAPI or similar. You know how to build robust APIs and scale them.
• DevOps Chops: AWS, Docker, CI/CD—you’ve shipped and scaled infra before.
• AI Native: You’ve built with OpenAI, Claude, or open models; prompt-engineering isn’t new to you.
• Database Fluency: MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Redis—you know when and why to use each.
• High Agency: You don’t wait for tickets. You move fast, question assumptions, and love wearing multiple hats.
  
  

Bonus Points If You

• Have worked with knowledge graphs (e.g., Neo4j) or concept embedding frameworks.
• Love hacking on side projects, mods, or AI agents in your spare time.
• Have shipped a consumer product or scaled a B2C platform.
• Have open-source contributions or a personal blog sharing your dev learnings.
• Studied maths, cognitive science, or similar—deep thinkers welcome.
• Enjoy games, social psychology, or making weird internet toys.
  
  

Why Join Us?

• Equity Upside: Founding team equity. Build value, own it.
• Flexible + Focused: Remote-first, async culture, but optional desk at 180 Strand if you like IRL deep work.
• Playful Vibes: We’re building a chat toy, not a SaaS dashboard. Joy in the process is part of the product.
• VC-Backed & Founder-Led: We’ve got funding, but we’re still scrappy. No middle management, no politics.