Tech Lead

ABOUT THE ROLE Lead a small backend engineering team at a Series A messaging and AI software company. This hands-on role balances technical leadership and people development, with about half your time spent designing and building production software. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Contribute to architecture, development, code reviews, and important technical projects. - Lead a team of up to four engineers and support its effectiveness, technical quality, and delivery. - Partner with product to understand customer problems, shape solutions, scope work, and set priorities. - Set technical direction while helping engineers build judgment and own decisions. - Hold regular one-to-ones, give actionable feedback, and support team members' development. - Remove blockers, manage dependencies, and identify delivery risks early. - Improve engineering practices and explore useful applications of AI across the development lifecycle. - Contribute to hiring through technical interviews and candidate discussions. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR - At least three years of experience as a Senior or Staff Engineer, with recent hands-on backend engineering work. - Substantial experience with Java, Kotlin, or another JVM language; experience with Kotlin, Quarkus, and AWS is beneficial. - Experience designing and building production systems, making architecture decisions, and contributing to implementation and code reviews. - A backend engineering background and experience working in a startup environment with a strong delivery record. - Experience in a hybrid technical leadership role, leading projects, or beginning a transition into people leadership. - Clear communication skills, product judgment, fluency in English, and experience with AI-assisted development. COMPENSATION & BENEFITS Equity is available through a virtual stock option plan. Visa sponsorship is not available. LOCATION Hybrid role based in Berlin, Germany, with three days per week in the office. Candidates must already be authorized to work in Germany or relocate without requiring visa sponsorship.