Engineering Lead (Ref: 197449)

Forsyth Barnes; Berlin; Vor Ort; EUR 120.000 - 180.000; Vollzeit

Benefits dieser Stelle

Autonomy over tech decisions

Founders access

28 days annual leave

Laptop choice

Company pension

Central Berlin office

Fully onsite

Team meals budget

AI tools access

Learning culture

Zusammenfassung

Forsyth Barnes in Berlin is seeking an Engineering Lead to shape technology and engineering culture from the ground up. This is a hands-on role spanning infrastructure, backend, integrations, AI and frontend, with ownership from problem definition through production.

You'll work directly with the CTO and founding team, influencing architecture, setting technical direction and building scalable solutions that power thousands of SMEs across Europe.

Qualifikationen

• 8–10+ years of professional software engineering experience.
• Senior/Staff/Principal engineer with hands-on ownership.
• Strong system design and software architecture experience.
• Proficiency in at least two: React/React Native and Python.

Aufgaben

• Design, build and deploy solutions across the full technology stack.
• Work across backend services, infrastructure, integrations, AI and frontend development.
• Take end-to-end ownership of architectural decisions from design to implementation.
• Translate evolving business requirements into scalable, maintainable technical solutions.
• Collaborate with founding engineers to refine technical approaches and document decisions.
• Move between different technical domains as priorities evolve and production systems require changes.

Kenntnisse

8+ years exp

Senior/Staff/Principal

System design

Software architecture

React/React Native

Python

Tools

LLMs integration

Jobbeschreibung

The Opportunity

Our client is an ambitious, well-funded technology company building AI-powered solutions that are transforming accounting, taxation and payroll for SMEs across Europe.

As an Engineering Lead, you'll play a key role in shaping the technology and engineering culture from the ground up. This is a highly hands‑on role where you'll move across different areas of the stack, solving problems across infrastructure, backend, integrations, AI and frontend.

You'll work closely with the founding engineering team, taking ownership from problem definition through to production, while helping shape the architecture and technical direction of the platform.

This is a fully onsite role based in Berlin, working closely with the CTO, founders and senior engineering team.

What You'll Do

• Design, build and deploy solutions across the full technology stack
• Work across backend services, infrastructure, integrations, AI and frontend development
• Take end‑to‑end ownership of architectural decisions, from initial design through to implementation
• Translate evolving business requirements into scalable, maintainable technical solutions
• Work closely with senior engineers to evaluate and refine technical approaches
• Document architectural decisions, technical processes and system design
• Collaborate directly with the founding engineering team on the core platform
• Move comfortably between different technical and business problems as priorities evolve
• Take ownership of systems in production, including ongoing improvement and support
• Help shape engineering standards, practices and culture as the team grows

What Makes the Role Interesting

• True technical ownership: Your decisions directly influence the architecture rather than simply contributing to a backlog
• Broad technical exposure: Move between infrastructure, backend, AI, integrations and frontend
• Direct founder access: Work closely with the CTO and founding engineering team
• Small, senior team: Collaborate with experienced engineers who care about quality and craftsmanship
• Immediate impact: Build technology supporting the financial operations of thousands of SMEs
• Shape the culture: Help define how the engineering team builds, ships and learns
• AI‑native environment: Work with modern AI development tools and production AI systems

Your Experience

We're looking for someone with:

• 8–10+ years of professional software engineering experience
• A strong track record of building and shipping products within startups or scale-ups
• A background as a Senior, Staff or Principal Engineer, where hands‑on engineering and ownership were central
• Strong experience with system design and software architecture
• Strong proficiency in at least two of:
• React / React Native
• Python
• Experience making architectural decisions that balance complexity, scalability and long‑term maintainability
• The ability to work autonomously and take problems from definition through to execution
• Strong written communication and a habit of documenting technical decisions
• A pragmatic, hands‑on approach focused on shipping and measurable outcomes
• The ability to comfortably switch between different technical domains and priorities

Particularly Relevant Experience

• Experience building products in regulated or compliance‑heavy environments
• Experience with accounting, payroll, tax or other financial systems
• Experience integrating LLMs or AI capabilities into production systems
• Experience working across multiple startups or scale‑ups and exposure to different architectural environments
• German accounting, payroll or tax knowledge would be a plus

Interview Process

The client moves quickly, with the potential for the full process to be completed in under 10 days.

• Introductory call with the Talent Acquisition Lead
• Technical deep‑dive with the CTO and founding engineering team
• On‑site interview in Berlin, including a real engineering problem
• Reference call

What's on Offer

• Above-market salary
• Direct access to the founders and CTO
• Significant autonomy over technical decisions and what you build
• Opportunity to directly shape the company's engineering culture
• Access to leading AI development tools including Claude Max, Cursor and OpenAI
• Internal tooling designed to support agentic AI development at scale
• 28 days' annual leave, with December 24 and 31 treated as half‑days
• Choice of MacBook or Windows Pro laptop
• Company pension scheme
• Modern office in central Berlin
• Fully onsite working environment
• Weekly team lunches, office BBQs and dinner budget for late evenings
• Ambitious and growing engineering team with a strong focus on learning and building