Berlin • Cybersecurity & AI Startup • Recently Funded
A newly funded cybersecurity startup in Berlin is looking for a Engineering Team Lead to join as a founding team member and help design the core security, identity, and enforcement foundations of a next-generation AI-powered risk management platform.
We are an early-stage startup founded by experienced cybersecurity leaders with backgrounds in Israeli intelligence units.
We are looking for a hands-on Founding Engineering Team Lead for a hybrid role based in central Berlin. If you are passionate about cybersecurity and AI, thrive in fast-paced startup environments, and enjoy building complex platforms from the ground up, this is an opportunity to make a real impact.
We’re building a next-generation cyber risk platform that helps enterprises understand, measure, and reduce identity risk at scale. Our goal is to turn complex identity and security data into clear, actionable risk insights that CISOs and CTOs can trust. You will work from scratch on core platform components from day one, shaping how modern enterprises manage and reason about risk using cloud-native systems, AI-driven analysis, and automated enforcement through AI agents.
Key Responsibilities
Lead and grow a small, high-performing engineering team while remaining hands-on
Design, build, and review production backend and platform code alongside the team
Own delivery of the engineering roadmap, balancing speed, quality, and security
Act as a technical leader by setting architecture direction and enforcing engineering standards
Contribute directly to critical features, integrations, and platform foundations
Establish lightweight engineering processes that enable fast execution without bureaucracy
Mentor engineers through code reviews, pairing, and technical guidance
Contribute hands-on in design and build architecture, configure systems, code part time(optional).
Remove blockers and unblock delivery across backend, frontend, data, and DevOps
Collaborate closely with CEO, CPTO, and product leadership on technical and execution decisions
Support hiring, onboarding, and technical evaluation of engineers
Foster a culture of ownership, pragmatism, and low ego
Build whole Security platform setup from scratch
Partner closely with backend and AI engineers to design secure service boundaries and deployment models
Troubleshoot and resolve complex production incidents across infrastructure, networking, and application layers
Build PoCs and validate infrastructure and security design decisions in an early-stage environment
Support compliance readiness by enabling controls, logging, and evidence collection for security frameworks
Continuously improve platform cost efficiency, reliability, and operational maturity
This role reports directly to CEO & CPTO
Must have skills
10+ years of professional software engineering experience
5+ years of experience leading engineering teams while remaining hands-on
5+ years experience with AWS in production environments
Ability to write or at least review production code (Go, Python)
Strong code quality bar and experience with architectural reviews
Ability to context-switch between technical topics and people leadership
Strong execution mindset and comfort operating under ambiguity
Hands-on coding mentality; can build things from scratch including security architecture yourself
Hands-on experience with Docker, Kubernetes (EKS) and containerized workloads
Experience with CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions or similar)
Experience operating PostgreSQL (RDS / Aurora), Neo4J(or similar)
Practical knowledge of AWS networking, VPC, subnets, ALB, security groups, AWS IAM
Experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform)
Experience with monitoring, logging, observability (Grafana, OpenTelemetry, Prometheus)
Experience with Coding CoPilots(Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, AWS CodeWhisperer, Codex, etc.)
Knowledge of Experience supporting production SaaS platforms
High ownership mentality, startup mindset, and ability to move quickly
Experience in startup or scale-up environments
Low ego, high commitment, and a true tech startup mentality
Excellent English communication skills
Nice-to-have requirements
Previous experience as a founding or early-stage Engineering Manager
Experience in cybersecurity, identity, or enterprise SaaS platforms
Exposure to DevOps, SRE, or data engineering
Experience scaling teams and systems simultaneously
Experience with security architecture, identity security, or security engineering
Familiarity with compliance frameworks (NIS2, DORA, ISO 27001, SOC 2)
Understanding of OAuth/OIDC, API tokens, IdP, scopes, SSO, SCIM, roles, RBAC/ABAC, service accounts
Familiarity with cloud identity and security controls (e.g. IAM, CloudTrail, Azure Active Directory / Entra ID)
Hands-on with SIEM platforms such as Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, or IBM QRadar
Experience designing permission models, identity graphs, or access control frameworks
Knowledge of tokenization, Zero Trust principles, least privilege, and continuous verification
Experience with Security related to AI/LLM systems, agent logic, or willingness to learn fast
Familiarity with AI agent behavior, LLM security, or agent sandboxing
Previous experience in cybersecurity, identity startups
You are a fan of rock or metal music
Excellent German communication skills
Benefits
Founding Team Member Equity — ESOPs in a well funded cybersecurity company.
Competitive Compensation — salary aligned with market, flexible early-stage arrangements possible.
Founding Team Member Status — shape the company from day one and own critical security technical decisions.
Fresh Funding Secured — immediate runway to build, hire, and execute fast.
Security Contribution — contribute to security tech architecture across identity, AI agents, and enforcement.
High Autonomy — freedom to design and build without corporate overhead.
Work with a Technical CEO and CPTO — fast iteration, strong alignment, clear direction.
Cutting-Edge Domain — identity security, SaaS-to-SaaS access, AI agent governance.
Massive Learning Curve — quickly gain depth in cybersecurity, identity, and AI systems.
Fast Career Path — opportunity evolve into higher leadership as we scale the engineering team
Berlin Location — top-tier tech environment with strong cybersecurity and AI ecosystems.
Direct Impact — your architecture and code become the foundation of the entire platform.
Best Equipment and Tools - High quality equipment and modern tools to help you do your best work from day one.
Team Offsites - Regular team offsites designed to build strong connections, alignment, and shared momentum.
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