Software Engineer (f/m/d) | 50-78k EUR | Cologne

United Manufacturing Hub; Köln; Hybrid; EUR 50.000 - 78.000; Vollzeit

Zusammenfassung

A technology company in manufacturing is seeking a Software Engineer to contribute to an innovative real-time data platform built on open-source software. This role requires a strong foundation in software engineering, particularly in understanding distributed systems, and spans both backend and frontend development. The ideal candidate has a track record of solving complex issues, preferably in early-stage startup environments, and is comfortable working in a hybrid setup with team collaboration in Cologne. A competitive salary and equity options are offered.

Leistungen

Well designed office in Cologne

Free drinks and snacks

Ergonomic furniture

Urban Sports Club membership

Qualifikationen

• 3-5 years of professional software engineering experience.
• Proven track record of solving complex bugs.
• Experience in small teams with high autonomy.

Aufgaben

• Contribute to the real-time data platform development.
• Collaborate with Customer Success and the user community.
• Ship features quickly with safety nets in place.

Kenntnisse

Understanding distributed systems

Building local-first software

Solving complex bugs

Collaboration with customers and community

Experience in early-stage startup environment

Practical use of AI tools

Familiarity with IT/OT protocols

Tools

Kafka (Redpanda)

Docker

Node-RED

Go

Svelte

Typescript

Jobbeschreibung

Hi, Alex and Jeremy here from UMH. 8 years ago, Jeremy was absolutely frustrated with the status quo of data infrastructure in manufacturing. Companies paid millions per year for "shitty 90s software" and are still doing that today, when there is much better software out there for open‑source. So we decided that we can do this better, first founded a System Integrator, realized most of the tasks in setting up and maintaining a data infrastructure can be standardized, and decided to found the currently VC‑backed UMH, which is built on open source software and is open source itself.

What we're actually building: We build and scale a real‑time data platform that runs hundreds of Benthos pipelines inside a single Docker container (UMH Core), processing millions of industrial messages that control actual production processes. Plus a local‑first user interface (Management Console) where both non‑technical factory workers and power‑users/developers can work together. And yes, we care about UI in enterprise/industrial software.

You'll love this if you want to:

• Understand distributed systems. And by that we don’t mean deploying an Ingress into a k8s cluster. We mean actually understanding the difficulties of controlling physical manufacturing production lines across resource constrained edge devices and network outages. This could include understanding the IoT protocol MQTT or why moving away from Kubernetes made us more cloud‑native.
• You want to build truly local‑first software—browser‑based databases, E2E encryption, efficient sync of hundreds of thousands of datapoints, all while keeping the UI as snappy as Linear/Superhuman.
• You believe good engineering means solving the whole problem—this is sometimes adding a new industrial protocol converter, and sometimes just guiding the user better through the UI so that he finds a slightly different but still applicable and already existing protocol converter.
• Want to ship fast with safety nets. PRs to production in 3‑4h through automated testing, code reviews, and staged rollouts.
• Collaborate closely with our Customer Success and the user community via Discord, Slack, Linear, and GitHub.
• Disrupt an industry that needs it. Ask our customers. Ask any of our community members. Controlling manufacturing systems is so complex, the existing vendors are stuck somewhere in the 90s, because they never managed to update their systems.
• Contribute to an Open‑Source project.
• Want to work with technologies like Kafka (Redpanda), Docker, S6, fly.io, Grafana, Node‑RED, k3s, Helm, Go, Svelte, Typescript. But look for yourself.

Your profile

You might be a fit if you have:

• A proven track record of solving complex bugs, with evidence such as post‑mortem, blog post, or PR link.
• Experience in early‑stage startup environments (small teams, high autonomy) and the intention for learning new technologies and self‑reliance to take responsibility.
• 3–5 years of professional software engineering experience.
• Practical use of AI tools in development.
• Ideally examples of product ownership from idea to measurable success.
• Ideally active contributions to open‑source projects.
• Ideally familiarity with IT/OT protocols (MQTT, OPC UA) or Industrial IoT.

But honestly, we care more that you can learn what's needed than what you already know.

What we offer?

FAQ

• Backend or Frontend?: ~70% backend, ~30% frontend, but varies by week and your interests.
• Remote: Honest answer — it depends if you can handle it. One dev thrived fully remote for 2 years, others felt left out. Office 2–3x/week works for most (collaborate there, deep work at home). Full remote possible if you're genuinely self‑directed (+ monthly on‑sites).
• Salary: 50-78k EUR (depending on your experience) + equity.
• Benefits: the standard stuff you’ll expect in a startup (well designed office in the heart of Cologne, free drinks/snacks, ergonomic tables/chairs, Urban Sports Club/EGYM Wellpass, etc.).

Apply through Personio by uploading your CV and include a link to something you’ve built or written that you’re proud of.

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About us

United Manufacturing Hub is an equal‑opportunity employer and welcomes applications from all qualified individuals regardless of ethnicity, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation, or age.