Job Title: Founding Product Engineer
Salary: £50,000 FTE (£40k - 4-day week)
Location: Remote (UK-based)
Employment Type: Permanent
About Swellbase
Swellbase is the booking and operations platform built for outdoor activity centres. I own a surf school myself, and I built Swellbase to replace the generic tools that never fit how operators actually work.
We're now working with 25 operators across the UK, Canada, and Australia and have managed over £800k in bookings to date. We're moving the industry away from generic booking tools towards one platform that runs the whole centre.
The role
I'm hiring our first engineer to own the build while I focus on selling. I set the roadmap and priorities; you turn them into great product. That means:
- Taking roadmap items from a short brief to production: scoping them, designing the UX and making the technical calls, without needing to be chased
- Bringing a product mindset to every feature: thinking through edge cases, keeping things simple and asking "what does the operator actually need?"
- Working directly with me as your reference customer. I own a surf school, so you get answers from a real operator in minutes, not weeks of research
- Getting stuck in wherever you're most useful. It's an early-stage startup, so priorities shift, and some weeks the most valuable thing will be unblocking a deal or helping a new operator get going
The stack
Next.js, TypeScript, Supabase (Postgres), Stripe Connect and Vercel. The codebase is well documented, has good test coverage, and was set up from day one for AI-assisted development.
You'll probably
- Have about 2–6 years' experience building and shipping full-stack web products
- Be comfortable with TypeScript and React, ideally with Next.js and Postgres
- Have shipped things on your own: a side project, freelance work, or features you owned from start to finish
- Have a good taste in UI: functional, clean, visually appealing
- Use AI coding tools every day and enjoy experimenting with new ways to ship faster
- Communicate clearly and work happily on your own, with a weekly planning call and async the rest of the time
- Be happy to roll up your sleeves when priorities change. No job is too small when it moves the company forward
Bonus
You surf, climb, paddle, ski or spend your weekends outdoors, or you've worked in outdoor activities or tourism.
What we offer
- £40,000 for a 4-day week (£50,000 FTE)
- Full-time options
- Share options through an EMI scheme, committed in writing in your offer and vesting from your first day
- A set pay rise tied to a revenue milestone
- Fully remote, with the occasional in-person day in Scotland
- Ownership of how features are designed and built, with a direct line to the customer you're building for
How we hire
An interview, then a short paid trial (2 days) working in the codebase on a real roadmap item in the way we would work together week-on-week.
To apply
Please send a note to adam@swellbase.io covering:
- Your relevant experience
- Something you've built and shipped (with a link)
- How you use AI tools in your day-to-day development
- Why Swellbase interests you