Technical Lead – Kotlin, Platform Engineering & AI

Trust in SODA; Hamburg; Hybrid; EUR 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

30 days leave

Hybrid work

Learning budget

Mobility allowance

Pension scheme

Wellpass

Tech ownership

Job summary

Trust in SODA is seeking a Technical Lead to steer a backend engineering team in Hamburg. You will shape architecture, own core services and remain hands-on with Kotlin and Spring Boot, while exploring AI-driven improvements for scalable systems.

You will lead architecture decisions, improve APIs and collaborate with Product Management and other engineering teams, driving engineering practices and ownership across the platform.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading software teams.
• Hands-on Kotlin and Spring Boot expertise.
• Experience with MongoDB and/or PostgreSQL.
• Strong knowledge of microservices, Kubernetes and production systems.
• Experience with REST APIs and event-driven architectures; Kafka is a plus.
• Collaborative leadership focused on trust, autonomy and ownership.
• Curiosity about AI-assisted development; agentic AI is a bonus.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor and develop a backend engineering team.
• Shape architecture and make technical decisions with your engineers.
• Stay hands-on with Kotlin and Spring Boot.
• Build and operate scalable microservices with a You build it, you run it approach.
• Improve APIs, event-driven architectures and engineering practices across the platform.
• Collaborate with Product Management and other engineering teams.
• Explore AI-assisted development to improve engineering workflows.

Skills

Leadership

Kotlin

Spring Boot

MongoDB

PostgreSQL

Microservices

Kubernetes

REST APIs

Event-driven

Kafka

Collaboration

AI in development

Job description

Lead the team. Shape the technology. Stay close to the code.

Are you ready to take the next step in your career without leaving hands-on engineering behind?

Our client is an established international e-commerce company with around 350 employees and millions of users. Its platform powers a growing range of digital products, B2B services and complex business processes.

As a Technical Lead, you'll lead a backend engineering team, influence architectural decisions and help evolve a platform already operating at significant scale. You'll have the freedom to improve engineering practices, take ownership of core services and explore how AI can make software development more effective.

Your responsibilities

• Lead, mentor and develop a backend engineering team.
• Shape architecture and make technical decisions together with your engineers.
• Stay hands-on with Kotlin and Spring Boot.
• Build and operate scalable microservices using a “You build it, you run it” approach.
• Improve APIs, event-driven architectures and engineering practices across the platform.
• Collaborate with Product Management and other engineering teams.
• Explore AI-assisted development and new ways to improve engineering workflows.

What you'll bring

• Experience leading and developing software engineering teams.
• Strong hands-on experience with Kotlin and Spring Boot.
• Experience with MongoDB and/or PostgreSQL.
• Solid knowledge of microservices, Kubernetes and production systems.
• Experience with REST APIs and event-driven architectures; Kafka is a plus.
• A collaborative leadership style focused on trust, autonomy and ownership.
• Curiosity about AI-assisted development; experience with agentic AI is a bonus.

What's in it for you?

• 30 days of annual leave, plus unlimited additional unpaid leave.
• Flexible hybrid working and workation options, with typically just 3 days per quarter in the Hamburg office and travel expenses covered.
• €1,500 annual learning and development budget.
• €30 monthly mobility allowance and bike leasing.
• Company pension scheme.
• EGYM Wellpass for a €25 monthly employee contribution.
• Real technical ownership and the freedom to influence architecture and engineering practices.

You'll join an established international business with a pragmatic engineering culture, where engineers are encouraged to take responsibility, challenge existing approaches and make a real difference.

Ready for your next step?

If you're an experienced engineer who enjoys leading people, solving technical challenges and shaping systems at scale, this could be the right opportunity for you.