About ZBOS
ZBOS is building the operating system for modern businesses, bringing operations, payments and AI into one modular platform.
Think Square + Shopify + Toast, reimagined as a single AI-native platform that eliminates fragmented software and gives businesses one place to run everything.
We've already validated strong market demand with approximately $200 million in Expressions of Interest from established Australian hospitality businesses, built a fully interactive product prototype, and completed a comprehensive technical architecture for the platform.
Now we're assembling our founding engineering team to build one of Australia's most ambitious AI-native enterprise software companies.
The Opportunity
This isn't an AI research position.
We're looking for an engineer who wants to build AI that people actually use.
You'll work directly alongside the founders and the founding engineering team to embed AI into every layer of the ZBOS platform, from intelligent workflows and automation to AI agents that genuinely improve how businesses operate.
The architecture has already been designed. The product vision is clear. Now we're looking for someone who can turn that vision into production-ready AI systems.
If you're excited about shipping AI into real products instead of building demos, we'd love to meet you.
Responsibilities
- Design and build AI-powered features across the ZBOS platform.
- Develop intelligent workflows using modern Large Language Models (LLMs).
- Build AI agents and autonomous workflows.
- Design Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems.
- Optimise prompts, context management and AI performance.
- Evaluate emerging AI technologies and frameworks.
- Collaborate closely with backend and full-stack engineers to deploy AI into production.
- Help define the long-term AI strategy of the platform.
Requirements
- 3+ years of professional software engineering experience.
- Strong Python development experience.
- Experience integrating LLMs into production applications.
- Experience building AI-powered software.
- Strong understanding of prompt engineering.
- Experience working with APIs and cloud platforms.
- Excellent communication and problem-solving skills.
- Comfortable working in a fast-moving startup environment.
Preferred Experience
- OpenAI APIs.
- Anthropic Claude APIs.
- LangChain.
- LangGraph.
- MCP (Model Context Protocol).
- Vector databases.
- RAG architectures.
- AI agents.
- AWS.
- Docker.
- Kubernetes.
- Startup or scale-up experience.
- Experience at companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Atlassian, Canva, Block, Stripe, Airwallex, Xero or similar.
Technology Stack
Our current technology stack includes:
- Python
- TypeScript
- OpenAI APIs
- Anthropic Claude APIs
- LangChain
- LangGraph
- MCP (Model Context Protocol)
- PostgreSQL
- Docker
- Kubernetes
- AWS
- GitHub Actions
Founding Equity & Compensation
Please read this section carefully before applying.
ZBOS is currently a pre-seed startup.
This is not a conventional salaried engineering position.
We're looking for engineers who genuinely want to build a company from the ground up and understand the risks and rewards that come with joining at this stage.
Successful candidates will receive meaningful founding equity based on experience, expected contribution and long-term commitment.
At this stage, participation is equity-based. As ZBOS grows and subject to successful fundraising and the company's financial position, remuneration arrangements will be reviewed.
If you're primarily looking for an immediate salary or guaranteed cash compensation, this opportunity isn't the right fit.
We're looking for builders, people willing to take founder-level risk because they believe in building something extraordinary.
Why Join ZBOS?
- Become one of the first AI engineers in an ambitious Australian technology company.
- Build AI into a platform from day one instead of adding it later.
- Work directly alongside experienced founders and the founding engineering team.
- Solve real-world business problems using modern AI technologies.
- Influence the long-term AI strategy and architecture of the platform.
- Receive meaningful founding equity with significant long-term upside.
- Help build software designed to redefine how businesses operate.
Commitment
We're looking for someone who wants to make a significant contribution during the company's earliest stage.
Ideally, you'll be available for full-time involvement, although we're open to discussing suitable arrangements with exceptional candidates.
Application Question(s):
- How many years of professional software engineering experience do you have?
- Which AI technologies, frameworks or LLMs have you used in production applications?
- Tell us about the most interesting AI product or feature you've built. What was your role?
- Have you built applications using OpenAI, Claude or other Large Language Models? Tell us about your experience.
- Have you built AI agents, RAG systems or other production AI workflows? Please describe your experience.
- This is an early-stage founding opportunity where initial participation is equity-based rather than salary-based. Are you genuinely comfortable with this arrangement? If yes, what motivates you to join a company at this stage?
- Why do you want to become a founding AI engineer rather than join an established technology company?
- If selected, what would you hope to accomplish during your first six months at ZBOS?
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Melbourne VIC 3000
