Founding Product Engineer (m/f/x) (Berlin, Germany)

Founding Product Engineer (m/f/x)

Company Overview

We’re Cortea, a Berlin startup transforming audits with AI. Manual, document-heavy audits waste expert time while demand keeps rising. Our AI-powered software and specialized AI agents remove the repetitive work so auditors can focus on judgment. Backed by top-tier VCs with >10m funding, with a working product and paying customers, we’re rapidly scaling. We value first-principles thinking, speed, trust, and kindness. We build side by side in our Berlin office.

Job Summary

As our Founding Product Engineer, you’ll ship user-facing features end to end. You’ll focus on the frontend while comfortably building APIs and shaping database models. You’ll collaborate daily with product design and founders to turn complex audit flows into fast, elegant product experiences.

Key Responsibilities

• Own features across the stack: UI → API → data model → tests → rollout
• Work closely with design to turn ideas into high-quality interfaces
• Raise code quality with reviews, tests, and pragmatic performance work
• Help evolve our architecture, tooling, and developer experience

Requirements / Qualifications

• 6+ years engineering experience
• Strong product mindset and ownership
• Frontend React 18+: Proficiency with modern React, hooks and concurrent features
• TypeScript: Strong typing skills, generic patterns, and complex type manipulations
• Backend APIs: Experience building production-level APIs
• SQL: Experience modeling relational databases and implementing them

Preferred Qualifications

• PostgreSQL: Strong SQL skills, specifically with PostgreSQL. Understanding of multi-tenant architectures, indexing strategies, and migration management
• No one checks every box. If you’re strong on the frontend and comfortable going down-stack, we want to talk.

Location

Berlin, Berlin, Germany, Remote: False

Employment Type

Full Time

Salary & Benefits

High impact & growth: Front-row seat to scaling an AI startup with real ownership from day one. Mission-driven culture: First-principles thinking, bold ideas, and a supportive team. Compensation: €80–110k salary + meaningful equity. Personal development: Learning budget for courses and conferences. In-office setup: Central Berlin office, team lunches, retreats, flexible vacation. Compensation Range: €80K - €110K. Employer-provided Pay range in Berlin. Exact compensation may vary based on skills, experience, and location. Base salary €80,000/yr - €110,000/yr.

Application Process

First Call — Intro to Cortea with Peter. Second Call — Technical interview with Rino. Third Call — Deep dive into our culture with Philipp. On-site Half-Day (Berlin) — Meet the team and work on a real problem together.