Job description
Senior Product Engineer (all genders) - Coding & People Leadership
About the job
In a nutshell koppla is building the next-gen collaborative scheduling platform for construction, helping project managers keep projects on time by identifying delays and disruptions before they impact timelines. We're looking for a Senior Product Engineer* who combines building software with coaching and direct people management. You'll write and review code, grow mainly junior and mid level engineers, and take responsibility for their feedback, performance, and career development. Together, you'll keep shipping a high-quality product. This is a hands-on engineering role, not a hands-off management-only position or a role leading the entire engineering organisation.
Compensation: €90-110k+ 45% of your base salary in equity on top
Location: Berlin (Hybrid, 2+ days/week in office); open for candidates willing to relocate to Berlin all genders welcome
About Koppla
At koppla, we're a fun and ambitious team on a mission to help the construction industry build more efficiently. We're already partnering with top construction companies and delivering impressive results for our customers (multi-months speed-ups discovered through koppla). Our ambitions are backed by leading VCs (Earlybird, Newion) and industry angels as we tackle a billion-dollar opportunity problem in an underdigitized and underserved market.
Our culture is core to who we are and we've built one we're genuinely proud of. We are not looking for hypergrowth - we believe in hiring slowly to create an environment of few but very high-performing team members that build a truly great product (similar to Netflix, Ashby or Linear).
What you'll be doing
Our engineers work in two product development streams. In a ramp up phase, you'll initially coach our junior engineers across both streams while learning our product, codebase, and ways of working. Our existing stream leads own project delivery, as you build context, you'll progressively take on project leadership and people management yourself.
- Build and ship product. Build and own the success of features from end to end. Understand the user problem behind the work and collaborate with Product, Design, and other Engineers to find pragmatic solutions. Hands-on contribution is a core part of the role, not something you leave behind as you take on leadership.
- Coach through the work. Pair with other Engineers, explain your reasoning, and give specific, actionable feedback. Help them build sound technical judgment and become more independent.
- Take people responsibility. Run regular 1:1s after an onboarding period, set development goals, discuss performance, and have honest conversations when something isn't working. This is formal line management, not just informal mentoring. Work closely with our VP Product and the stream leads to connect development goals with everyday project work.
- Grow into project leadership. Initially, learn alongside our existing stream leads. As your understanding grows, take responsibility for increasingly substantial projects, and in the future stream responsibility: clarify scope, coordinate implementation, surface risks, and help the team deliver.
Our Tech Stack
- Frontend: Typescript, Vue 3, Tailwind, Netlify, GH Actions
- Backend: Typescript, AWS, NestJS, Prisma, PostgreSQL, REST, Websockets, Terraform, GH Actions
Who we're looking for
There isn't one required career path into this role. You might be:
- A senior engineer who regularly works with junior engineers and genuinely enjoys helping them grow, now ready to take formal responsibility for their development and performance.
- A hands-on team lead from a small team, looking for a role where building software and developing people belong together.
- An engineer who has moved into management and consciously wants to return to more hands-on development, while keeping meaningful people responsibility.
What Matters Across All Three Paths
- You believe in quality and want to build the best possible experience for our end users - because you care about them.
- You have senior-level engineering abilities. You can independently build and ship production software, debug unfamiliar systems, review code thoughtfully, and explain technical trade-offs.
- You are flexible to switch between FE and BE however needed, it could be 50/50 at times, but also 80/20.
- You have coaching experience. You've helped less experienced engineers improve over time and can explain what you did and what changed. Occasional onboarding or code review alone isn't enough.
- Prior formal management experience is welcome, but not required. You are willing to own all parts of people leadership over time. You listen, give direct feedback, set clear expectations, and address performance issues rather than avoiding them. You want responsibility for people, not just the enjoyable parts of mentoring.
- Product-mindedness, structure and collaborative judgment. You care about user outcomes, and collaborate closely with engineering and non-engineering colleagues. You're comfortable with startup ambiguity and improve how work gets done without adding unnecessary bureaucracy.
- Clear communication and presence. You're fluent in written and spoken English and want to work closely with the team in our Berlin office at least 2-3 days a week. Beyond the role-specific requirements, you also see your own values reflected in our Culture Playbook
What we offer
- A company of co-owners through tax-optimized equity grants.
- A culture with a focus on transparency, respect, ownership, collaboration and the well-being of each team member on this exciting journey.
- An environment that values hard-work while still allowing work-life/family integration through 28 days PTO, flexible working hours, workation and a hybrid setup.
- Dog-friendly office in Berlin with free lunch, besides beverages and snacks as well as a home office budget at start.
- Annual personal training budget of 1,500€ (FTE), Company supported pension Scheme ("BAV", 30% contribution), Urban Sports Club Membership, Mental Health Support, Home Office budget and more.
