Lead Software Engineer (f/m/d)

Lead Software Engineer (f/m/d) at Kaiko Systems

Founded in 2020, Kaiko Systems is a tech company driving digital innovation in the global maritime industry. Our mission is to make shipping safer, smarter, and more collaborative by transforming manual processes into actionable intelligence. With our products, ship crews can collect reliable vessel data on the job, while our AI-powered analysis generates actionable insights for technical teams onshore. These insights help predict incidents, reduce downtime, and enhance safety and efficiency, empowering shipping companies to operate at their best.

We are looking for a highly experienced Lead Software Engineer to set the technical direction of our Engineering team, establish and uphold coding best practices, and build scalable, high-availability systems that power our core products. This role requires a blend of deep technical expertise, functional leadership, and a strong sense of ownership to drive innovation for our products, while ensuring reliability, security, and performance.

You will lead by example: guiding architectural designs, mentoring developers, managing risks, and simplifying complex challenges into clear, actionable goals. Beyond technical excellence, you will promote a culture of respect, collaboration, and customer focus across the organization.

What You’ll Do

• Define, document, and uphold technical standards and coding best practices across the engineering team.
• Architect and maintain large-scale, high-availability systems that are secure, resilient, and performant.
• Ensure technical areas of ownership remain low in entropy and easy to evolve.

Mentorship

• Serve as a role model for engineers by demonstrating technical excellence, accountability, and ownership.
• Mentor other developers, promoting growth through knowledge sharing and code reviews.
• Drive a culture of respect, collaboration, and innovation within the team.

DevOps & System Reliability

• Lead DevOps initiatives by optimizing CI/CD workflows and managing infrastructure.
• Implement and enforce best practices for test automation and continuous testing.
• Oversee server management, deployment pipelines, and system monitoring.

Security & Risk Management

• Design and maintain security architectures, proactively leading threat mitigation efforts.
• Identify and manage technical risks, ensuring alignment with business goals.
• Embed security best practices into all stages of the development process.

Process & Organizational Impact

• Lead and continuously optimize the development process for efficiency and quality.
• Simplify complex organizational challenges into actionable strategies.
• Inspire and drive company-wide transformations with innovative technical strategies.
• Prioritize customer success by aligning engineering decisions with long-term impact and trust.

Our Current Tech Stack

• Python
• Django
• Celery
• PostgreSQL
• HTMX
• Tailwind

Your Skillset To Navigate Success

• Proven experience as a Senior/Lead Software/Principal/Staff Engineer or in a similar leadership role.
• Expertise in Python, Django, Celery, and PostgreSQL.
• Proficiency with HTMX and Tailwind for building modern, efficient web applications.
• Demonstrated experience architecting and scaling large, distributed, and high-availability systems.
• Hands-on experience with CI/CD pipelines, test automation, and server management.
• Strong background in security architecture and proactive threat mitigation.
• Excellent communication and leadership skills, with the ability to inspire teams and stakeholders.
• Previous experience in leading DevOps transformations within a fast-paced environment.
• Deep understanding of software development methodologies and process optimization.
• Experience in fostering engineering cultures built on collaboration, ownership, and customer focus.

Worried you don’t check every box? If this role excites you, but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification, we encourage you to apply anyway. You could be exactly what we’re looking for — either for this role or another one!

Why us?

• Join a highly ambitious and diverse team with a collaborative working environment at a very exciting time in the company’s development, as we scale on the back of significant product market fit
• Be at the forefront of digitalization in a critical global industry
• Great office in the heart of Berlin as well as flexible / remote options
• Flexible and hybrid work environment that values work-life balance
• Generous vacation policy on top of bank holidays

Benefits

• Global Benefit: OpenUp – Mental Wellbeing Support: Free, confidential access to psychologists, group sessions, and mindfulness tools for you and your family.
• Germany: Urban Sports Club, Probonio Vouchers, Public Transport Support (up to €50/month)
• Philippines: Maxicare HMO with comprehensive health coverage

About Us

• We’re a growing company with values: Be the G.O.A.T; Promote Joy, Respect & Sincerity; Have the Customer at Heart.
• These values guide how we work and will be part of the recruiting process.

Seniority level: Mid-Senior level

Employment type: Full-time

Job function: Engineering and Information Technology

Industries: Software Development