Founding Engineer

Job description

The Local Agency is looking for an entrepreneurial Founding Engineer to lead the development of the TLA Creator Intelligence Platform, known as TLA CIP.

TLA CIP is being developed as a decision and reporting platform for the African creator economy. It will help brands and agencies evaluate creators, compare performance, create defensible shortlists and produce more credible campaign reporting.

We are looking for more than a developer who can complete a predefined list of tasks. We need a technical builder who can work closely with the founder, challenge assumptions, shape the product architecture and turn an ambitious product vision into a practical working MVP.

The successful candidate will take technical ownership of the platform’s first build and have the opportunity to grow into a long-term technical leadership, technical co-founder or CTO position.

This is an early-stage, equity-led opportunity. It is best suited to someone who wants to help build and own a meaningful technology company rather than join a conventional salaried development role.
The Initial MVP
The first version of TLA CIP will focus on a defined business-to-business workflow, including:

• Creator profiles and permissioned data collection.
• Manual and API-assisted data ingestion.
• Standardised creator and campaign information.
• Comparable creator scorecards.
• Creator discovery and shortlist creation.
• Campaign-performance tracking.
• Professional client-report exports.
• Secure user, creator and administrative access.
• A scalable technical foundation for future data and intelligence products.

Future product layers may include local pricing benchmarks, audience-fit and brand-affinity signals, creator-facing analytics, affiliate intelligence and wider African creator-market insights.

The founding engineer will help determine what should and should not be included in the first build.

Key responsibilities

• Translate the existing product brief and business requirements into a clear technical roadmap.
• Define the MVP architecture, technology stack and data model.
• Build and launch the first functional version of TLA CIP.
• Develop secure front-end, back-end and database functionality.
• Design creator, agency, brand and administrative user workflows.
• Build manual-assisted processes before introducing unnecessary automation.
• Assess and implement suitable social-platform or third-party data integrations.
• Establish appropriate data-permission, privacy and security practices.
• Create technical documentation and maintain clean, scalable code.
• Identify technical risks, platform dependencies and API limitations.
• Work directly with the founder on product priorities and user feedback.
• Participate in customer discovery and early-product demonstrations.
• Support future recruitment and management of additional developers.
• Take long-term ownership of the platform’s technical direction.

The person we are looking for

You are comfortable operating in the uncertainty of an early-stage product.

You can take a business problem, ask the right questions and turn it into a simple technical solution. You understand that the objective is not to build the most complicated platform—it is to launch the smallest credible product that customers will use and pay for.

You should be able to operate independently while communicating technical decisions clearly to a non-technical founding team.

Requirements

Skills and experience

• Strong full-stack software-development experience.
• Experience building and launching web-based software products.
• Proficiency in modern front-end and back-end development frameworks.
• Strong understanding of databases, APIs and cloud infrastructure.
• Experience designing scalable product and data architecture.
• Experience integrating third-party platforms or APIs.
• Understanding of authentication, permissions, privacy and data security.
• Ability to convert product requirements into a prioritised development roadmap.
• Strong problem-solving and technical decision-making ability.
• Experience working in a startup or early-stage product environment.
• Ability to communicate technical topics clearly to non-technical stakeholders.
• Product thinking and a strong understanding of MVP development.
• Experience in data products, analytics, marketing technology, creator technology or social-platform integrations would be advantageous.
• Experience leading developers or technical teams would be advantageous.

Formal qualifications are welcome but are not the deciding factor. We are more interested in demonstrated ability, previous products, technical judgment and the capacity to build.

What TLA brings
TLA CIP is being developed from inside an operating creator and culture agency.

The business already has access to creator relationships, campaign workflows, historical campaign evidence and prospective brand and agency users. This gives the technical team the ability to build alongside real users and validate the product against genuine commercial problems.

The founding team brings creator-market experience, customer access, product direction, industry relationships and the operational environment required to test the platform.
What We Offer

• Meaningful equity participation for the right long-term technical partner.
• The opportunity to become the technical co-founder or CTO of TLA CIP.
• Direct influence over the product, architecture and technology strategy.
• Flexible and remote working.
• Direct collaboration with the founder.
• Access to real creator-marketing workflows and prospective users.
• The opportunity to build infrastructure for a rapidly growing African industry.
• Potential future cash compensation once funding or sustainable product revenue permits.
• The opportunity to recruit and lead the future technical team.

Equity will be subject to an agreed vesting structure, contribution expectations, development milestones and long-term commitment.

Important Remuneration Note
This is currently an equity-led founding opportunity and does not initially include a guaranteed monthly salary.

Candidates should only apply if they understand the nature and risk of joining an early-stage venture. The remuneration and equity structure will be discussed transparently with shortlisted candidates before any commitment is made.

Application requirements

Please submit:

• A short introduction explaining why the opportunity interests you.
• Your CV or LinkedIn profile.
• Links to products, platforms or technical projects you have built.
• A description of your role in those projects.
• Your preferred technology stack and why.
• Your current availability and expected weekly commitment.
• Whether you are seeking a founding role, a part-time opportunity or a project-based engagement.
• Your expectations regarding equity and any minimum cash contribution required.

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to review a controlled version of the product brief and complete a technical-product discussion. We will not ask candidates to build unpaid production functionality as part of the interview process.

Company Description

The Local Agency (TLA) is a South African creator and culture agency helping brands connect with audiences through creator marketing, culturally relevant content, campaign strategy, experiential activations and content production.

We partner with brands, agencies and creators to deliver platform-native campaigns that resonate with modern African audiences. Alongside our agency business, we’re building innovative products that support the future of creator marketing across the continent.

Posted on 20 Jul 08:43, Closing date 16 Sep