✨ AI Insights & Summary
Strictly Boring is seeking its first technical lead to revolutionize AI and automation for E-commerce brands. This is an exceptional chance to build impactful, production-ready systems from the ground up, directly collaborating with the founder and clients. If you thrive in a lean, fast-paced environment and are passionate about delivering tangible results with AI, this role offers significant ownership and the opportunity to shape the future technical direction of a rapidly growing company.
About Strictly Boring
Strictly Boring builds AI and automation systems for e-commerce brands generating approximately €5M+ in revenue. We solve operational challenges that consume time, erode margins, and distract growing DTC teams, such as manual reporting, repetitive support processes, and error-prone data flows between platforms like Shopify, Klaviyo, and ERPs. Our commitment is to deliver systems that function seamlessly in daily operations, provide measurable relief, and perform reliably even during peak periods like Black Week, rather than just offering AI demos.
Founded by Leon Ruddat, formerly Head of AI & Automation at SNOCKS, Strictly Boring is transitioning from a solo founder model to a focused delivery organization. We are looking for a key technical individual to independently build client solutions, co-shape the architecture, and eventually establish the technical team.
The Opportunity
You won't be just another developer; you'll be the technical linchpin for client projects. We operate with agility and directness: no corporate politics, no unnecessary meetings, and no lengthy decision-making processes. You'll work closely with Leon, tackle real customer problems, and enjoy substantial creative freedom.
Our current tech stack includes Google Cloud, Supabase, Firebase, Shopify, Klaviyo, Google Workspace APIs, and LLMs such as Anthropic, OpenAI, and Gemini where they provide genuine value. AI tools like Claude Code, Cursor, and Copilot are integral to our daily workflow, but we emphasize clean architecture, quality, and rigorous review discipline.
Responsibilities
- Full Project Ownership: Own client projects technically from A to Z – from understanding the problem, designing the architecture, coding the solution, to go-live and ongoing operation.
- AI System Development: Build productive solutions for use cases including support triage, order anomaly detection, influencer reporting, and returns automation.
- Architecture Design: Architect solutions considering data sources, orchestration, LLMs, persistence, frontend, hosting, monitoring, and handover.
- Tech Stack Utilization: Work with Google Cloud, Supabase, Firebase, Shopify, Klaviyo, and Google Workspace APIs.
- AI Workflow Integration: Productively use tools like Claude Code, Cursor, and Copilot, critically evaluating their outputs.
- Client Communication: Engage directly with Leon on technical solutions and progressively transition into client-facing technical guidance.
- Scalability Foundation: Establish foundational elements like boilerplate code, deployment pipelines, documentation, and code standards for future team growth.
What you will NOT do: Process predefined tickets, create PowerPoint decks for steering committees, or develop AI demos that never go live.
Qualifications
We value your ability to build, think, decide, and deliver, regardless of your formal education or specific framework expertise.
Must-Haves:
- Proven Coding Ability: Successfully brought at least 2-3 applications from concept to live production independently and operated them.
- Cloud Proficiency: Deployed productive applications on GCP, AWS, or Azure, including managing secrets, logging, and monitoring.
- Architectural Thinking: Ability to translate client problems into technical components and articulate trade-offs.
- LLM Integration Experience: Built at least one productive LLM integration, understanding concepts like tool calling, structured outputs, evaluations, cost control, and failure modes.
- AI Tool Fluency: Daily use of AI tools like Claude Code, Cursor, or Copilot, with the ability to describe your workflow.
- Pragmatism: Understanding that code is a means to an end; focus on delivering client results.
- Ownership Mentality: Desire to take responsibility and actively participate in building something substantial.
- Direct Communication: Ability to communicate clearly, honestly, and respectfully, even in difficult situations.
Nice-to-Haves:
- E-commerce experience (Shopify, Klaviyo, Meta Ads, Sendcloud).
- Agency, freelancing, or solo-builder background.
- Experience with agentic workflows (LangGraph, n8n) or custom orchestration.
- Located in or willing to relocate to Mannheim or the Rhein-Neckar region.
- Personal projects, repositories, or open-source contributions in AI or automation.
What we do NOT expect: Elite university degrees, decade-long experience, or exhaustive knowledge of every current framework.
Benefits
- Maximum Impact: As our first technical hire, you will significantly influence our work processes, delivery methods, and growth trajectory.
- Real Client Projects: Build systems that operate daily for clients, directly impacting revenue or saving operational time.
- Direct Communication Channels: Operate without corporate layers or politics; good ideas are implemented swiftly.
- Hybrid Work Model: Mannheim serves as our home base.
- Tech Lead Trajectory: Opportunity to build and lead the development team in the long term.
- Potential Equity: While not guaranteed, we are open to discussing participation if the long-term collaboration is a strong fit.
Working Environment Considerations:
- Ambiguity: Many aspects are still being defined. If you require fully established processes and clearly defined tickets, this role may not be the right fit.
- Responsibility: You will share accountability with Leon for production incidents.
- Prioritization: Our client list is growing faster than our capacity. The ability to say no and prioritize effectively is crucial.
- AI Review: We leverage AI extensively for development, which requires consistent and thorough validation.
If this sounds like a genuine opportunity to build something significant, you're welcome aboard. If not, we understand completely.