What does a founding engineer in europe earn?

European base salaries typically run 25–40% below US comp, partially offset by smaller equity grants, lower cost of living, and richer benefits. The typical band for a founding engineer runs $130k–$220k base + 0.5%–2% equity.

Are founding engineer jobs in europe remote-friendly?

7 of the current 18 listings (39%) allow remote work; the rest are on-site or hybrid in Europe.

What companies hire founding engineer jobs in europe?

Jobs Base aggregates listings across YC-backed startups, growth-stage companies, and selected larger companies hiring with builder-role characteristics.

What's the difference between a founding engineer and a regular founding engineer?

Jobs Base only lists builder roles. Positions where one person owns the product end-to-end. We filter out ticket-driven, narrowly-scoped roles even when the title matches. About 9% of listings scraped match this definition.

Founding Engineer Jobs in Europe

European founding engineer roles split across London (fintech, AI, deep tech), Berlin (B2B SaaS, climate, AI), Amsterdam (logistics, fintech), Paris (AI, deeptech), and Stockholm (consumer, gaming). Base pay typically lands 25–40% below the equivalent US offer. Equity grants are smaller in absolute terms but the dilution math is often friendlier at later stages. Visa sponsorship is common but varies sharply by country. UK and Netherlands routine, Germany medium, France harder for non-EU.

18 active 39% remote median salary $152k

1.	Founding Engineer, (Construction Operations) (Marble) Bristol, United Kingdom+2 \| remote \| full-time \| lead \| software engineering fundamentals, cs foundations, data structures \| 3w ago
2.	Founding Engineer (Stilta) New York, NY, United States+1 \| $100,000 – $200,000/yr \| on-site \| full-time \| lead \| python, typescript, ai agents \| 1mo ago
3.	Founding Engineer (Letty) London, London, United Kingdom \| £80,000 – £120,000/yr \| on-site \| full-time \| lead \| python, fastapi, backend fundamentals \| 1mo ago
4.	Founding AI Engineer (Healthcare) (ReClym Health) United States+1 \| remote \| full-time \| lead \| fastapi, react, next.js \| 1mo ago
5.	Founding Product Engineer (Moyai) Amsterdam, Netherlands \| on-site \| full-time \| lead \| typescript, python, api first \| 1mo ago
6.	Founding Head of Engineering (AI) (Deploy IQ) United Kingdom \| remote \| full-time \| executive \| ai/ml, llms, agent systems \| 1mo ago
7.	Founding Fullstack Engineer (AI) (Pragmatike) United Kingdom+27 \| remote \| full-time \| lead \| fullstack development, backend development, frontend development \| 4w ago
8.	Founding Fullstack Engineer (AI) (Pragmatike) United Kingdom+14 \| remote \| full-time \| lead \| fullstack development, backend development, frontend development \| 1mo ago
9.	Founding / Software Engineer (Atarus) London, United Kingdom \| on-site \| full-time \| lead \| python, typescript, cloud infrastructure \| 1mo ago
10.	Founding Research Scientist + Founding Engineering Lead (Burnin) London, United Kingdom+1 \| hybrid \| full-time \| lead \| type system design, compiler analysis, model fine-tuning \| 1mo ago
11.	Principle Software Engineer (Block MB) London, United Kingdom \| Up to £160,000/yr \| on-site \| full-time \| lead \| python, async python, llms \| 1mo ago
12.	AI Builder / Junior Founding Engineer (Planetary Labour) Stockholm, Stockholm County, Sweden \| on-site \| full-time \| entry \| go, ai, backend \| 1mo ago
13.	Senior Backend / Full-Stack Engineer (Founding Team) (Karma) London, United Kingdom \| £75,000 – £100,000/yr \| on-site \| full-time \| senior \| python, go, node.js \| 1mo ago
14.	Head of AI (MultiBase GmbH) Germany \| remote \| full-time \| executive \| python, llms, ai agents \| 1mo ago
15.	Open Role — Builder (Objection) United States+4 \| $50,000 – $150,000/yr \| hybrid \| full-time \| mid \| 1mo ago
16.	AI Engineer (trg.recruitment) London, London, United Kingdom \| From £200,000/yr \| on-site \| full-time \| mid \| python, typescript, react \| 1mo ago
17.	Staff Software Engineer - Data Platform (Pave) San Francisco, California, United States+4 \| hybrid \| full-time \| senior \| data pipelines, platform infrastructure, integrations \| 1mo ago
18.	Head of Product - AIVM (Agentic AI & Blockchain Platform) - Asia (ChainGPT) India+417 \| remote \| full-time \| executive \| product management, ai/ml infrastructure, blockchain \| 1mo ago

Frequently asked questions

What does a founding engineer in europe earn?: European base salaries typically run 25–40% below US comp, partially offset by smaller equity grants, lower cost of living, and richer benefits. The typical band for a founding engineer runs $130k–$220k base + 0.5%–2% equity.
Are founding engineer jobs in europe remote-friendly?: 7 of the current 18 listings (39%) allow remote work; the rest are on-site or hybrid in Europe.
What companies hire founding engineer jobs in europe?: Jobs Base aggregates listings across YC-backed startups, growth-stage companies, and selected larger companies hiring with builder-role characteristics.
What's the difference between a founding engineer and a regular founding engineer?: Jobs Base only lists builder roles. Positions where one person owns the product end-to-end. We filter out ticket-driven, narrowly-scoped roles even when the title matches. About 9% of listings scraped match this definition.