Founding Product Engineer

FOUNDING PRODUCT ENGINEER

COMPANY: CultureTest / Steven.com

REPORTING TO: CTO, CultureTest

LOCATION: London

ABOUT CULTURETEST

This role sits within CultureTest, a venture within theSteven.com ecosystem - one of the companies we are building and backing as we scale the infrastructure behind high-performing teams.

Most hiring decisions rely on CVs, interviews and gut feel - all weak signals that rarely predict how someone will actually behave inside a company. As teams scale and founders step back from hiring, the decisions that matter most often get made with the least structure.

CultureTest introduces company-specific, scenario-based behavioural screening early in the hiring process. Instead of generic personality tests, we help teams evaluate candidates against how their company actually works, before interviews shape perception.

Culture Test are early-stage, working directly with customers, shipping quickly and iterating based on real usage.

ROLE MISSION

Own the front-end experience end to end - designing and shipping the interfaces hiring teams and candidates interact with every day - and help define how CultureTest builds product as the platform scales.

As the first dedicated frontend engineer, you'll take ownership of the existing frontend, build in Next.js and TypeScript, and have the opportunity to contribute across the whole stack over time. You'll work closely with the CTO to shape frontend architecture, product decisions and engineering standards, with a high level of autonomy and real influence over both the product and the engineering culture.

KEY OUTCOMES

• Take ownership of the existing frontend and ship core product features in Next.js (App Router) and TypeScript

• Define and own the frontend architecture across a growing SaaS platform

• Translate product ideas into fast, polished, highly usable experiences

• Shape how behavioural data is presented so hiring teams can interpret and act on it

• Collaborate on API contracts and system design with the CTO

• Help establish early engineering practices and standards as the team grows

CORE COMPETENCIES

• Deep expertise in React, Next.js (App Router) and TypeScript

• Strong product instincts and a high bar for UX quality

• Systems thinking - designs in systems, not just components

• Comfort operating in ambiguity, defining solutions without heavy process

• Clear collaboration on API design and full-stack concerns

YOU'LL THRIVE HERE IF

• You've shipped real SaaS products and want first-engineer-level ownership

• You enjoy high autonomy, minimal process, and shaping both product and engineering culture

• You're curious about the full system (Go / PostgreSQL / AWS), even with a frontend focus

• You like working directly with customers and iterating on real usage

• You hold a high bar for UX and care about how the work feels, not just that it ships

IDEAL BACKGROUND

• A strong frontend or product engineer who has shipped real, production SaaS

• Deep, hands-on experience with React, Next.js and TypeScript

• Able to think in systems and interested in broader system ownership over time

• Startup or early-stage experience is a strong plus