Tech Lead / VP Engineering (all genders)
Company Overview
At ellamind, we build evaluation-first AI infrastructure. Our platform elluminate turns AI evaluation from ad-hoc “vibe checks” into rigorous, repeatable engineering to enable teams to test, measure, and improve LLM applications with confidence.
We are a cash-flow-positive Germany-based AI startup building elluminate—the enterprise platform that turns AI evaluation from ad-hoc experiments into rigorous, repeatable workflows so teams can ship reliable AI with confidence. Teams use elluminate to design test suites, benchmark models, track regressions, and ship reliable AI with clear, measurable quality gates. We pair elluminate with custom large-language-model solutions and full on-prem deployment options. Our products have already earned the trust of renowned clients such as Deutsche Telekom, the German Federal Government, and leading health insurers like hkk.
Rooted in Bremen and collaborating with leading organizations, our team has a track record in advanced model and dataset development. We like owning problems end-to-end and shipping pragmatically, and contribute to the open-source community across initiatives like OpenEuroLLM, and regularly publish models and tools to accelerate the broader ecosystem.
Job Summary
Define the technical future of AI evaluation: You'll have huge influence on our architecture, technology choices, and product direction—building infrastructure that becomes fundamental to how AI teams work, similar to how version control is essential to software development. Lead at the frontier of AI infrastructure: Work on genuinely hard technical problems: distributed evaluation systems, multi-LLM orchestration, hybrid cloud/on-prem architectures, and AI-powered development workflows. With a modern, well-architected stack built without legacy constraints. Leadership opportunity: Shape engineering culture and build a world-class team during a critical growth phase. You’ll be building essential AI evaluation infrastructure during a massive market transformation. As systematic testing becomes fundamental to AI development, you’ll be at the center of this shift, working on technology that’s becoming as critical as version control. Ownership with immediate impact: Lead technical strategy, make decisions that shape the company's trajectory, and see your architectural choices enable teams to ship better AI products. Your leadership directly influences both our technical excellence and business success. Hands-on technical leadership, not pure management: Stay deeply involved in code, architecture, and key technical decisions while building and leading the team. We value leaders who can both set direction and dive deep when needed.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead technical strategy and architecture: Own the technical vision and roadmap for our AI evaluation platform, making critical architectural decisions that balance scalability, maintainability, and business impact across cloud and on-premise deployments.
- Build and scale the engineering organization: Lead and mentor a growing team of fullstack engineers, AI/ML engineers, and researchers while staying hands-on with code. Establish engineering culture, hire exceptional talent, and create an environment where everyone does their best work.
- Drive technical excellence: Set and enforce standards for code quality, system design, testing, and deployment practices. Conduct high-impact code reviews, establish best practices, and continuously improve our development workflows and infrastructure.
- Shape product and platform evolution: Work directly with founders and product teams to translate business requirements into technical strategy. Make build-vs-buy decisions, evaluate new technologies, and ensure our platform stays ahead of the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
- Architect distributed systems at scale: Design and evolve our platform architecture to handle high-volume evaluation workloads, multi-tenant deployments, hybrid cloud/on-premise scenarios, and seamless integration with multiple LLM providers and AI platforms.
- Advance AI-powered development: Build and integrate AI agents that accelerate development velocity, from code generation and review to testing and deployment automation. Push the boundaries of AI-assisted engineering.
- Manage the technical roadmap: Balance innovation with execution, prioritizing initiatives that deliver customer value while building the technical foundation for long-term growth. Navigate trade-offs between speed, quality, and technical debt.
- Bridge technical and business leadership: Collaborate closely with leadership to align technical capabilities with product vision, communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders, and ensure engineering investments drive business outcomes.
- You'll work across our full stack—Python/Django Ninja backend, React/Next.js frontend, PostgreSQL, Docker/Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, and integrations with cutting-edge LLM technologies—while shaping how we build, deploy, and scale critical AI infrastructure.
Requirements / Qualifications
- Proven technical leadership experience: 5+ years building and scaling software platforms, with demonstrated success leading engineering teams through rapid growth phases, ideally in SaaS or fast-moving startup environments.
- Full-stack engineering excellence: Deep expertise across modern web technologies—TypeScript/React/Next.js on frontend and Python on backend—with the ability to make informed architectural decisions across the entire stack.
- System architecture and scalability expertise: Experience designing distributed systems that scale efficiently, handle high-volume workloads, and support both cloud and on-premise deployment models with proper security and reliability considerations.
- DevOps and infrastructure proficiency: Solid understanding of container orchestration (Docker/Kubernetes), CI/CD workflows, monitoring, and deployment automation. Bonus for MLOps experience and managing AI/ML infrastructure at scale.
- Team leadership and mentorship: Track record of building, leading, and growing high-performing engineering teams. You know how to hire well, provide effective feedback, unblock your team, and create a culture of ownership and excellence.
- Strategic thinking with execution focus: Ability to balance long-term technical vision with pragmatic short-term delivery. You make smart trade-offs, prioritize ruthlessly, and know when to build for scale vs. ship fast.
- On-site collaboration: ≥3 days/week in Bremen or Berlin. Travel to our Bremen HQ during onboarding and for key strategic planning sessions.
- Fluency in German and English: Minimum B2 level in both languages for team leadership, stakeholder communication, and technical discussions.
- Valid EU work authorization.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience building AI/ML platforms, evaluation frameworks, or developer tools for AI teams—understanding the unique challenges of LLM-based applications.
- Background in MLOps workflows, experiment tracking systems, model versioning, or AI infrastructure at scale.
- Track record of technical hiring and building engineering organizations from 10-100+ people.
- Experience with hybrid cloud/on-premise architectures, especially in security-sensitive or regulated environments.
- Comfort with AI agent development and practical understanding of how LLMs can augment development workflows.
- Previous experience as VP Engineering, CTO, Tech Lead, or similar leadership role in a high-growth startup.
- Open-source contributions or technical thought leadership (blog posts, talks, papers).
- Experience working with enterprise customers and translating their technical requirements into platform features.
Location
Berlin, Berlin, Germany, Remote: False
Employment Type
Full Time
Salary & Benefits
Competitive package with upside: In addition to a competitive salary, we offer a VSOP (Virtual Stock Option Program) to give you a real stake in the company’s success as we grow this essential AI infrastructure. Best-in-class development experience: Fast and streamlined access to all AI technologies that make your life (and development work) easier, plus the latest tools and platforms to maximize your productivity. Work environment: Our Bremen office features stunning waterfront views, complimentary beverages, smoothies, and a boat. We’re opening our Berlin office at the end of 2025, giving you flexibility as we expand. Compensation Range: €90K - €125K Employer-provided Pay range in Berlin Exact compensation may vary based on skills, experience, and location. Base salary €90,000/yr - €125,000/yr
Equal Opportunity Statement
Diversity & inclusion Different perspectives make us stronger. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and encourage you to apply.
