What are the responsibilities and job description for the Founding Engineer - AI & Communication Systems (Equity Role, 25-30 Hours/Week) position at SourceIQ (formerly TalkDEI)?
SourceIQ.Cloud is seeking a highly skilled and motivated founding engineer to build our AI-powered RFP automation and enterprise communication system. This role is an equity-based opportunity for a developer passionate about building scalable AI-driven platforms and integrating Microsoft Azure’s AI and Communication APIs. As an early team member, you will be responsible for architecting, developing, and deploying these core systems.
Responsibilities
AI & Machine Learning
✔You are a technical founder mindset engineer who wants to own the development of AI-powered procurement tools and messaging systems.
✔ You have deep expertise in Azure AI and Communication APIs and can execute quickly.
✔ You are looking for a long-term equity opportunity in an early-stage startup.
✔ You are comfortable building from scratch in an environment with high ownership and impact.
✔ You have a track record of delivering production-level AI and cloud applications.
✔ You thrive in early-stage startup environments and want to be part of a mission-driven company.
Responsibilities
- Build AI-Powered RFP Matching & Automation
- Develop Azure OpenAI-powered RFP parsing and ranking algorithms.
- Implement vector search and supplier recommendation models.
- Design a scalable AI pipeline for supplier diversity matching.
- Optimize ML models for low-latency inference in a cloud environment
- Develop the Microsoft Communication API-Powered System
- Integrate Azure Communication Services (ACS) for messaging and notifications.
- Build a role-based chat and collaboration system for buyers & suppliers.
- Implement secure, real-time messaging and document-sharing workflows.
- Ensure API security and compliance with enterprise-grade encryption.
- Backend Development & API Engineering
- Architect NestJS-based scalable APIs for RFP automation and communication.
- Implement GraphQL / RESTful APIs for AI, messaging, and marketplace integration.
- Integrate Cosmos DB and Azure Functions for a serverless backend approach.
- Ensure high performance, low latency, and secure data transactions.
- Azure Cloud Infrastructure & DevOps
- Deploy AI models and APIs on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) or Azure App Services.
- Implement CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions & Azure DevOps.
- Optimize infrastructure for scalability, monitoring, and cost efficiency.
- Security & Authentication
- Implement Microsoft Identity Platform (OAuth 2.0, OpenID, Azure AD SSO).
- Enforce RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) and multi-factor authentication (MFA).
- Secure all API transactions with JWT authentication and OAuth scopes.
AI & Machine Learning
- Experience with Azure OpenAI (GPT, Cognitive Services, AI Search).
- Strong Natural Language Processing (NLP) and document parsing background.
- Familiarity with vector search (Pinecone, FAISS, Azure AI Search)
- Expertise in Azure Communication Services (ACS) API for chat, notifications, and voice/video.
- Experience integrating Microsoft Graph API (Outlook, Teams).
- Knowledge of real-time WebSocket messaging and event-driven architectures.
- Strong Node.js / NestJS experience for API development.
- Proficiency in GraphQL & RESTful API design.
- Database expertise in Cosmos DB, PostgreSQL, or NoSQL solutions.
- Experience deploying on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) or Azure App Services.
- Hands-on knowledge of CI/CD (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions).
- Understanding of Azure Functions & serverless computing.
- Experience with OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect (OIDC), Azure AD SSO.
- Knowledge of RBAC and multi-factor authentication (MFA).
✔You are a technical founder mindset engineer who wants to own the development of AI-powered procurement tools and messaging systems.
✔ You have deep expertise in Azure AI and Communication APIs and can execute quickly.
✔ You are looking for a long-term equity opportunity in an early-stage startup.
✔ You are comfortable building from scratch in an environment with high ownership and impact.
✔ You have a track record of delivering production-level AI and cloud applications.
✔ You thrive in early-stage startup environments and want to be part of a mission-driven company.
- 30 hours per week (part-time commitment with full ownership of technical execution).
- Equity-based compensation (founding engineer role, high-impact ownership).
- Fully remote with flexible work hours.
- Direct collaboration with the founder & early team to shape SourceIQ’s technology stack.
- Apply with examples of past work (GitHub, project links, case studies).
- Be ready for a technical deep dive and discussion on scaling AI and communication APIs.
- Let’s build the future of AI-powered supplier engagement and procurement automation together.
