Engineering Lead (f/m/d) (Berlin, Germany)

Engineering Lead (f/m/d)

Company Overview

Founded in 2024 by Lukas Zörner and Anil Can Baykal, Integral set out to redefine how accounting, taxation and payroll works for SMEs in Europe, starting with Germany. The company is backed by General Catalyst, Cherry Ventures, Puzzle Ventures and entrepreneurs across Europe.

Job Summary

As our Engineering Lead, you will help define our tech stack and shape our engineering culture. This role suits a seasoned generalist who thrives in fast-paced, low-hierarchy environments and enjoys wearing multiple hats: building scalable backend systems, integrating AI solutions, and solving frontend challenges. You will work alongside experienced engineers in a small, high-impact team that takes pride in crafting quality solutions and learning together. This role is fully onsite at our Berlin office.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy across the entire technology stack: from backend services and infrastructure to frontend development; build, test, and ship solutions based on evolving business requirements without sacrificing quality
• Take end-to-end ownership of architectural decisions from initial design through to implementation; collaborate with the senior team to refine solutions and ensure they meet real business objectives
• Maintain detailed documentation of technical decisions, processes, and system architecture; foster transparency and continuity by sharing insights clearly and consistently across the team
• Work directly with the founding engineering team on the core platform that powers Integral's accounting, payroll, and tax services for thousands of SMEs across Germany.

What makes this role special

• You are joining a small, senior team where your decisions shape the architecture, not just a ticket in a backlog
• Direct collaboration with the CTO & Co-Founder from day one
• High ownership, low bureaucracy: you ship, you learn, you improve
• Your work has immediate, visible impact on a product used by SME founders who rely on Integral for their financial operations
• The engineering culture is yours to help define, not just inherit.

Requirements / Qualifications

• 8 to 10+ years of professional experience in software engineering with a strong track record of building and shipping in startup or scaleup environments
• Experience across multiple companies and environments; you have seen different architecture patterns, made the mistakes, and know what actually works
• Staff, Principal, or Senior Engineer background where building and owning was the main focus, not coordinating or managing
• Proficiency across a broad technical background with a strong foundation in system design and architecture
• Strong command of at least two of the following: Java/Kotlin, JavaScript/TypeScript, React/React Native, Python
• Expertise in architectural decision-making: you can design systems that balance complexity with long-term maintainability
• Autonomous and pragmatic: you frame problems independently, design solutions, and execute without needing extensive support from other teams
• Strong written communication: you write detailed technical documentation and decision rationale as a default, not an afterthought
• Focused execution: you thrive in a hands-on role and are energised by practical outcomes, not by building a team around you.

You are not a fit if:

• You require extensive support from other teams to deliver working software
• You rely rigidly on conventional sprint ceremonies rather than adapting their approach to what already drives quality and impact.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building in regulated or compliance-heavy domains
• Familiarity with German accounting, payroll, or tax systems is a plus but not required
• Experience integrating LLMs or AI capabilities into production systems.

Salary & Benefits

• Internal tooling and resources purpose-built to support agentic AI development at scale
• 28 vacation days per year with December 24th and 31st each counting as half days
• Urban Sports Club membership or Deutschland Ticket, your choice
• Laptop of your choice: MacBook or Windows Pro
• Company pension plan (betriebliche Altersvorsorge)
• Modern office in the heart of Berlin Prenzlauer Berg, steps away from Mauerpark
• Weekly team lunches provided by us, office BBQs and a dinner budget for late office nights past 8pm
• A team of 50+ (and growing!) ambitious, diverse people learning and building together.

Location

Fully onsite at our Berlin office (Prenzlauer Berg).

Hiring Process

• Intro call with our Talent Acquisition Lead
• Technical deep-dive with our CTO and founding engineering team
• On-site in Berlin: meet the team and work through a real engineering problem together
• Reference call