About Us
We're Cortea, a Berlin-based B2B SaaS startup transforming audits through AI technology.
The challenge: Manual audits of unstructured data and documents frustrate both auditors and regulated companies at huge cost, while demand for audits continues to skyrocket.
Our solution: AI-powered software and specialized AI-agents for auditors streamlining workflows and eliminating all repetitive tasks. Starting with IT audits for regulated companies.
With multi-million Euro funding from top-tier VCs, a working AI product, and paying customers, we're now expanding our product and scaling the team.
We value first-principles thinking, speed, trust, and the joy of tackling big challenges together!
The Opportunity
We are looking for a Founding Head of Engineering / CTO to lead our engineering team, architect our technical foundation, contribute hands-on code, and transform our ambitious vision into reality.
You'll build next-level SaaS and AI solutions while partnering with our co-founders on strategy, tech, and culture. We want you involved in every discussion and decision!
What You’ll Do
- Own and define our technical architecture and roadmap, turning business and user challenges into scalable solutions
- Build, mentor, grow, and empower our engineering team (starting with 4+ engineers)
- Stay hands-on with coding, ensuring best practices with a modern tech stack
- Drive AI innovation and experimentation (LLMs, RAG) to keep us ahead of the curve
- Create a positive, engineering-driven culture, fostering innovation and pragmatism
- Shape company strategy and direction together with our two existing co-founders
Tech stack: Python, TypeScript, Postgres, GCP, Terraform, and RAG pipelines (we're open to evolve, but some familiarity is expected)
Who You Are
- Deep technical background: You've owned architecture end-to-end and still get your hands dirty with code
- Proven leadership experience (Engineering Lead, Head of Eng, VP Eng, CTO) with a talent for scaling teams in fast-paced environments
- Strong focus on customer needs and ability to align technical decisions with business goals
- Proven track record of driving results and fostering a culture of excellence
- Experience building SaaS solutions, managing cloud platforms like GCP, improving developer experience, and working with data-first solutions
- Positive, direct, and no-BS style of communication
- You enjoy working office-based with our team to build the product collaboratively
- (Bonus) Experience with LLMs/RAG-based solutions
- (Bonus) Entrepreneurial experience or broad leadership across multiple teams
We seek talented leaders passionate about learning and delivering impactful solutions, even if you don't check every box above.
What We Offer
- Impact & ownership – Shape technology, culture, and strategy from the ground up
- Growth – Scale our team, work with AI, and transform the 250bn€ audit industry
- High-performing, supportive & senior team – Focused on first-principles thinking, trust, and speed while valuing diverse perspectives and expert knowledge
- Modern tech stack and lean processes — Focus on building pragmatic and efficient solutions
- Competitive compensation – Highly competitive salary plus significant equity package
- Benefits – Flexible vacation, team offsites, and L&D budget
Interview Process
- Initial Call (45 min) – Meet Valentin (Co-founder) to discuss our vision and your experience
- Founder Chat (60 min) – Deep-dive with Philipp (Co-founder) on product fit and values
- Technical Interview (60 min) – System design and leadership discussion with a technical advisor
- On-site – Meet the team in Berlin and collaborate on a real problem
