Founding
Builder

We are at the most important juncture in human history. AI is advancing at unprecedented speed, and the impact window for people who can harness it effectively is finite. The work we do today will define our contribution for years to come.

Publicus is building the data and intelligence layer for government procurement — helping businesses find and win government contracts, and helping governments save money, prevent fraud, and buy Canadian. Our goal is to take this marketplace global.

You will be our founding builder, working directly with the founders to solve problems across the entire business. Not customer-facing — you're building the systems, agents, and infrastructure that power everything.

One week: automated outbound pipeline. Next: a procurement data enrichment system. Week after: a research agent pulling intelligence from contract notices across the globe.

You manage agents to write code. You identify problems nobody asked you to solve — then solve them.

“Traditionally, this would be called a founding engineer role.”

• Build AI-powered systems that multiply the team's output
• Create business processes, data pipelines, and internal tools
• Ship fast, learn faster, iterate relentlessly
• Work directly with the CTO on technical infrastructure and product

We're “vibe coding” with standards:

• AI-assisted development is expected — correctness is owned by you
• We ship with evidence: tests, logs, clear validation steps, measurable impact
• If it's not verifiable, it's not done

“The differentiator is no longer ‘can you code?’ — it's can you identify problems, deliver outcomes, verify them, and keep them working in production.”

• Ship multiple meaningful features to production — with tests, instrumentation, and a “how to verify” checklist
• Take a messy workflow and turn it into a repeatable system

You see something broken and you fix it. You don't wait for permission or a ticket.

• High-agency operator: you don't wait for perfect specs
• Evidence-first engineer: you prove what you shipped works
• You use AI tools aggressively, but can debug when the model is wrong
• Ruthlessly prioritize the 80% that provides customer value
• You understand AI is a force multiplier — your value is taste, judgment, and domain expertise
• You want your work to matter. You're here for the mission.

• 2–6 years of experience, ideally at startups building software products
• You ship. You have things you've built that you're proud of.
• Obsessed with AI and what's possible with it
• Strong opinions about how to build things, loosely held
• Here for the mission · Based in Toronto

Where you land depends on experience and what you bring. Equity is meaningful — we're building something real.