Engineering Manager – Risk Management

PPRO; Berlin; Hybrid; EUR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid on-site 3 days/week

€1,000 annual learning budget

Insurance: accident, disability, life

Gym membership

Enhanced family leave

Mental health platform

Pet-friendly office

Job summary

PPRO is seeking an Engineering Manager in Berlin to lead and grow a risk-focused development team. You will drive the technology strategy with the Product Manager, mentor engineers, and shape a centralized Fraud Risk Alerting platform with automated Disputes APIs.

You will stay close to coding and collaborate with Legal, Compliance and Operations to align risk with product goals, while embracing a hybrid work model and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Experience leading engineers to deliver scalable products.
• Ability to coach and grow a high performing, diverse team.
• Strong communication skills with stakeholders across product, legal, compliance and operations.
• Ability to design and build a cohesive risk platform and fraud-related APIs.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the technology strategy in partnership with the Product Manager.
• Inspire, coach and mentor engineers to grow their strengths.
• Lead centralized Fraud Risk Alerting and automated Disputes APIs.
• Architect risk-oriented product features turning risk into a service.
• Stay close to code and manage technical risks.

Skills

Java & Spring Boot

AWS

Docker

Kubernetes

Terraform

Leadership

Communication

Risk/Fintech domain

Tools

AWS

Docker

Kubernetes

Terraform

Job description

At PPRO, we simplify access to local payments - providing a local payments platform that empowers giants like PayPal, Stripe, and Microsoft to connect with billions of consumers worldwide. We are on an ambitious, fast-paced mission to 3x our growth by 2028 - and we’re just getting started. Our magic lies in our team of proud payments nerds. Spanning over 50 nationalities across 10+ global locations, our diverse cultures aren't a checklist; they are the competitive advantage driving our innovation. This is a people-first, high trust environment where you’ll have the autonomy to make a massive impact, own your work end-to-end, and grow through broad exposure, meaningful challenges, and continuous learning. We get things done, challenge respectfully, put the customer first, and recognise that our biggest successes are those we create as a team. If you’re ready to leave your footprint on global commerce, join us.

The Purpose:

Engineering Managers at PPRO have the passion and abilities to build collaborative teams that deliver high-quality, scalable and performant products. At Risk management domain we are transitioning from building purely internal mitigation tools to creating external, value-adding products and features for our customers

Think of yourself as the hands-on “mini-CTO” of a small startup within the supportive environment of PPRO, where you can succeed, fail and learn together as part of a team.

You will not only lead the engineering strategy but will play a hands-on role in enabling financial inclusion and global eCommerce. You will help us move away from isolated risk scoring toward a cohesive, transparent roadmap that includes merchant-facing Fraud Scores and automated Dispute APIs.

Responsibilities include:

• Work in partnership with your Product Manager to develop the technology strategy. You will specifically tackle the challenge of defining undefined boundaries in transaction monitoring and financial risk exposure
• Inspire, coach and mentor engineers’ growth and success, helping them to find and develop their strengths
• Lead the technical strategy to move away from fragmented risk scoring across teams and establish a centralized ownership model for Fraud Risk Alerting
• Architect solutions that turn risk into a product, such as laying the foundation for our Merchant-Facing Fraud Alerts and enhancing our Disputes API for fully automated handling.
• Lead by example and work close to the code, making informed decisions while you identify technical risks
• Collaborate with stakeholders (Legal, Compliance, Operations) to identify opportunity areas. You must be able to influence decisions where you do not have direct authority, using persuasive, data-backed communication
• Facilitate technical discussions, help guide resolutions and navigate trade-offs
• Own operational excellence for your product, establishing metrics and processes for regular assessment and improvement
• Lead your team like a startup - succeed, fail and learn together

What would make you a great fit:

• Strong communication skills and the ability to work with a diverse group of stakeholders
• Humble and inclusive leadership style
• Experience designing and building scalable products using Java and Spring Boot
• Experience in developing, mentoring and growing a high performing collaborative and diverse team
• Results-orientation, collaborative, pragmatic, and with a continuous improvement mindset
• Desire to spend ~50% of your time close to the code
• Ability to analyse and articulate tradeoffs of technical problems to a broad audience
• Experience designing and building scalable products and services
• Strong experience with AWS , Docker, Kubernetes , and Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform).
• Risk management/Fintech Domain (Desiderable): Experience or a strong interest in the complexities of Fraud, KYC (Know Your Customer), Disputes, or Transaction Monitoring is highly distinct. You understand that Risk is not just a blocker, but a service we offer to customers
• Event-driven architectures (Desiderable)
• Working proficiency in English

Tech stack:

• Java and Spring Boot
• Cloud-native microservice architecture on AWS
• Docker and Kubernetes
• Event-driven architectures
• Infrastructure-as-Code, e.g., Terraform

What's in it for you?

• Hybrid working - We offer a hybrid structure with a 3 days / week on site expectation, so you can strike the balance between office and home working. In addition to our 30-day holiday allowance, we also provide a work from abroad policy, enabling employees to work remotely for up to another 30 days per year.
• Learning and Development - We offer a €1,000 annual budget to support your professional growth—because investing in your development benefits us all. In addition, we provide leadership cafés, on-the-job training, and other opportunities to help you grow your skills and thrive in your role.
• Insurance - Because better safe than sorry - we want our employees to benefit from various insurances including accident insurance, disability insurance, direct insurance (bAV) and travel insurance.
• Gym membership - PPRO helps contribute towards the costs of your gym membership, supporting your physical fitness journey while easing the burden on your wallet.
• Enhance Family Leave - We understand the importance of family - that's why we offer enhanced family leave to support you during key life moments.
• Mental Health Platform - We’ve teamed up with a top well-being platform to provide one-on-one therapy, chat therapy, therapist-led courses, guided meditations, and more.
• Pet-friendly office - Because work is better with your paw-tners by your side.

Our Principles:

We get things done: We are courageous; we take ownership, make decisions and get things done.

We act with trust and integrity: We listen first and challenge respectfully. We seek out and leverage diverse perspectives. We welcome and offer honest and open feedback, always assuming positive intent

We put the customer first: We are laser focused on delivering outstanding outcomes for our customers. We put the customer at the heart of what we do.

We make things better: We boldly explore new ideas and have an unwavering commitment to continuous improvement.

We work as a team: We collaborate closely and value team success over individual achievement.

Payments only work when they reflect how different people actually pay, and we build teams the same way: our people span more than 50 nationalities, and that mix is exactly what makes us good at this. So if you're reading this and wondering whether you tick every box, apply anyway. We're far more interested in what you'll bring than a perfect match on paper.

We welcome applicants of every background, identity, and experience, and we make sure our hiring process is accessible to everyone. If you need an adjustment at any stage, just let us know: we're happy to help.

A few more things:

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please refer to our Candidate Privacy Policy.