Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE)

Mercura ( YC W25) helps the companies that build the real world move at software speed, automating the back-office work that runs the $12 trillion industry behind every hospital, school, and power plant. We started with one of their biggest bottlenecks - turning messy technical requests into accurate quotes - and grew to $2M ARR in our first year . With a team of 16, we're now targeting $10M by the end of 2026 as well as our expansion into the US.

About the role

As a Forward Deployed Engineer , you will be the technical face of Mercura - the person who turns a signed deal into a live, working AI deployment.

You'll spend most of your time deep in technical work: integrating our software into complex enterprise systems, structuring customer data for AI, and adapting models to fit real-world workflows. But you'll also engage directly with users and senior stakeholders daily - debugging their problems, understanding their processes, and walking C-level stakeholders through a prototype you built overnight.

If you're a builder who gets energy from talking to customers and solving hard technical problems in messy, real-world environments - this role is for you.

What you will be working on

• Customer Implementation: Own the full technical implementation of our software after the sales handoff - from first kickoff to go-live. You are the person who makes it work.

• AI Adaptation: Configure and finetune Mercura's AI for customer specific use cases - including prompt engineering and model behavior adjustments to match their domain and processes.

• Data Structuring & System Integration: Bring customer data into shape and build customer system integrations (e.g., SAP, APIs)

• Prototyping: Build prototypes that demonstrate new features or solve emerging customer problems and evolve them into scalable solutions

• Customer Relationships: Engage daily with technical, senior business stakeholders and users at customer organizations. You translate their pain into engineering decisions - and back again.

• Feedback Loop: Be the voice of the customer inside Mercura. Surface patterns, edge cases, and product gaps to the core engineering team with enough context to move fast.

What we offer:

• Steepest possible learning curve: There's no faster way to grow than building a company from scratch. You'll be thrown into the cold water, do things no one has done before, and have founder-like freedom in your domain. Over five Mercura alumni have gone on to found their own companies and raise millions after their time with us.

• Build something with real-world impact : We ship code that directly helps a massive, yet overlooked manual industry run more efficiently and sustainably. With us, you can work on AI that contributes to economic growth and stability on a huge scale.

• Ownership over comfort: You own a real area end to end. No one stands between you and your problem. It's uncomfortable at times, and that's exactly why you'll grow faster here than in any normal job.

• Exceptional colleagues: You'll work alongside experienced operators, ex-founders, Science Olympiad medallists, and top graduates from Google, Bain, MIT, TUM, Harvard, CDTM, Oxford, and Cambridge. The bar stays high because the people next to you are the biggest lever for your growth.

• Radical clarity: You'll always know where the company stands and why we decide what we decide — the real numbers, the wins and the setbacks, and the thinking behind them. Your input is genuinely wanted, and the best argument wins.

• Tools, no questions: Your own company card and any AI or productivity tools you need to do your best work, without approval theater.

• Real shares: Real equity in Mercura with the most favorable tax treatment. No VSOP, no ESOP.

• The everyday: Free team dinners up to 4x/week, UrbanSportsClub membership, a company bike, and team workouts 3x/week. Easy relocation to Munich — our office sits in the WERK1 startup incubator, with an apartment next door for around €800/month.

What we're looking for

Technical Skills & Experience:

• Full-Stack Engineering : You are comfortable across frontend, backend, and data pipelines (Python, React, Typescript, SQL, APIs)

• System Integrations: Experience connecting software to ERP systems, REST/GraphQL APIs, webhooks or B2B SaaS implementations is a plus

• Data Wrangling : Ability to make sense of messy, inconsistent real-world data and build reliable structure around it fast

• AI & LLMs: Practical experience with LLMs, agents, and prompt engineering — you know how to adapt model behavior to fit a specific domain and workflow

Commitment & Mindset:

• Customer obsession: You thrive at the intersection of engineering, product, and real customer environments, and find it genuinely satisfying to solve customer problems end-to-end - not just hand it off

• High agency & ownership: You don't wait to be told what to do. When something is broken or missing, you fix it

• Communication: You can explain technical features to engineer, users and a CFO - and know which mode you're in

• Mission-driven: Your job is part of how you define yourself. You treat your work as a top priority, and you're fully committed to achieving ambitious goals amid uncertainty

• Scrappiness: You're comfortable with ambiguity, imperfect data, and legacy systems. You find a way

• You want to work in-person in Munich with a higher intensity than in a 9-5 job

Why Mercura

• Join an ambitious and caring team : Your future colleagues are experienced operators, ex-founders, Science Olympiad medallists, and top graduates from places such as Google, Bain, MIT, TUM, Harvard, CDTM, and Cambridge . We bring extraordinary people together and deeply invest in your growth as your mentors, teammates and friends. We care, trust, and support one another, and we make sure that fun is at the heart of everything we do.

• Work with the latest tech : AI is at the core of our product, and use the latest tech across our product and processes to tackle meaningful challenges and shape how users interact with AI.

• Thrive in a high-growth, high-commitment environment : We’re growing extremely fast because we always put our work and our customers first. If you excel in fast-paced settings and want to grow as part of something big from day one, Mercura is for you.

• Build something with real-world impact : We ship code that directly helps a massive, yet overlooked manual industry run more efficiently and sustainably. With us, you can work on AI that contributes to economic growth and stability on a huge scale.

• Build a company : As an early team member, you will have a direct, lasting impact on our culture, processes, technology, and product. Joining us offers immense rewards: ownership, financial upside, and hands-on experience building a company from the ground up. Our track record speaks for itself - over five Mercura alumni have gone on to found their own companies and raise millions after their time with us.

Your team & mentors

You will work with

• Sean (Co-Founder & CTO; Silver Medallist at the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO))

• Kolya (prev. SWE at SF-based startup Etleap)

• Ben (prev. AI Engineer at Aleph Alpha)

• Gabriel (built Maastricht University's course selection system; Oxford graduate)

• Admir (Bronze Medallist at the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI))

• Mark (prev. SWE at Capital One, Cambridge Graduate)

• Nico (prev. Engineering at SaaS startups Luminovo & Fides)

Your mentors will be

• Rohan Ramanath (General Manager AI Product at Nubank, prev. co-founder Hyperplane)

• Daniel Ribeiro Silva (Senior Director of ML at Nubank, prev. co-founder Hyperplane)

About the process

1. Intro Call – Casual chat with one of our founders to get to know each other and learn about Mercura.

2. Technical Take-Home – A 3-hour exercise based on a real problem from our work

3. Technical Interview – Present your results in a 45-minute session and discuss your approach.

4. On-Site – Get to know the team at our Munich office.

5. Offer – If we see a great fit, we'll make you an offer. Once you accept, we'll do 2–3 reference checks.

About the Founders

We are Lukas, Stefan & Sean , the co-founders of Mercura.

We share a deep commitment to excellence and the discipline to pursue what others might consider impossible.

Two of us come from non-academic families, and we all know what it means to create our own paths and overcome barriers. This experience shapes our belief in equal opportunity and fuels our dedication to social mobility.

Lukas (left) is responsible for business development at Mercura. With his background as a Data Scientist at Allianz and at Google in Silicon Valley, he brings extensive expertise in data and AI.
Lukas’ family has been active in the construction industry for over 100 years, giving him a deep understanding and passion for the sector's specific needs.

Sean (middle) is responsible for technical development at Mercura. As a top 0.01% physicist, Sean earned a Silver medal for Germany at the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO), began researching with the Max Planck Institute at the age of 16, and has since published at leading machine learning conferences.

Stefan (right) leads product development at Mercura. Previously, he worked in management consulting at Bain & Company, where he helped manufacturers improve their operations.
Stefan leverages his research experience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard Business School to develop innovative solutions for the industry.

At Mercura, we believe that the best ideas emerge when people from different backgrounds collaborate together. We hire based on ability, mindset, and values, and we live by one simple rule: the best idea wins.

Beyond Mercura, we actively support initiatives that promote diversity and gender equity and commit a portion of our personal income each year to organizations expanding opportunity for others.

Our company values

Customer first. We stay close to our customer’s reality and use their feedback to build what truly matters and earn their lasting trust.

Ownership. We take responsibility end-to-end and act proactively to pursue the most ambitious goals.

Enjoy the ride. We build a culture where people can be themselves, have fun doing meaningful work, and celebrate wins along the way.

Let the best ideas win. We challenge each other respectfully and judge ideas by merit, not who said it.

Down-to-earth. We are approachable, humble, and hands-on, bringing both heart and mind to everything we do.