Head of Engineering (m/f/x) — Hands-on & AI-Driven

Permanent employee, Full-time · Berlin, Germany

Your mission

The Role

We are looking for a Head of Engineering who is as comfortable in a high-level strategy meeting as they are deep-diving into a complex pull request. This isn't just a "manager" role; we need a builder who leads by example and is a strong communicator, managing different stakeholders and investors.

You will be the driving force behind our technical vision, responsible for scaling our platform while maintaining a lean, high-performing team. You are someone who views AI not just as a buzzword, but as a fundamental shift in how we build and ship software. You will champion the use of AI tools (like GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and custom LLM integrations) to multiply our team’s impact.

What you will do

Lead & Scale: Direct and grow a world-class team of engineers. You’ll be responsible for hiring, mentorship, and building a culture of ownership and "humble excellence."
Hands-on Technical Leadership: You still love coding. You will stay close to the stack (Go, TypeScript, React, GoogleCloud), leading architectural decisions and occasionally shipping critical features alongside your team.
AI Integration: You will lead the charge in making topi an "AI-first" engineering organization. From optimizing internal workflows to exploring AI-driven risk assessment or customer features, you’ll ensure we are using the best tools available.
Product Collaboration: Work as a peer to our Product Lead to translate business goals into a technical roadmap that is both ambitious and achievable.
Communication & Stakeholders: Act as the technical bridge between engineering, the founders, and our partners at PEAC Solutions and our owners HPS-Blackrock. You can explain complex infrastructure to non-techies and business goals to engineers.
Operational Excellence: Uphold our high standards for code quality, security (fintech-grade), and system reliability.

Your profile

Proven Leadership: You have successfully led engineering teams in a fast-paced startup environment. You know how to hire, how to fire, and how to motivate.
The "Player-Coach" Mentality: You don't want to stop building. You are a senior-level individual contributor who chose the management path but kept your skills sharp.
AI Power User: You are a "big fan" of AI tools. You can demonstrate how you use LLMs to speed up development, improve code quality, or automate the mundane.
Communication Mastery: You are a great communicator. You can resolve conflicts, pitch a technical vision, and write documentation that people actually want to read.
Tech Stack Expertise: Deep experience with modern stacks—ideally Go (Golang), TypeScript and React. Experience in Fintech or B2B platforms is a massive plus.
Driven & Proactive: You don't wait for instructions. You see a bottleneck and you fix it. You see a gap in the architecture and you propose a solution.

Why topi?

Impact from Day One - Your ideas are valued, and you actively shape our direction. No long feedback loops or complex hierarchies - you’ll have a direct impact on what you do.
Trust - We believe in our mission and in our team, offering trust-based working hours, permanent contracts, flexibility for home-country working.
Flexibility - We offer flexible working hour arrangements to ensure a healthy work-life balance.
Team Spirit - Shared rituals connect us, whether online or offline. We have regular formats like all-hands meetings, demo sessions, quizzes, and offsites - perfect opportunities to spend time as a team.
Personal Growth - Learn from experienced colleagues and leverage the latest technologies and methodologies to succeed in your role.

Our Values

Be a Team Player: We build things together. No silos.
Act with Integrity: We are authentic and transparent, especially with our code and our customers.
Be Humble: No egos. We value joint learning over individual bragging.
Be Customer-Obsessed: Everything we build should make the hardware rental experience feel like magic for the end-user.
Show Ownership: You treat the topi codebase and business as if it were your own.

What we care about

Teamwork: collaborating and supporting each other within engineering and across functions
Inclusion: creating an environment where everybody can bring their whole self and do their best work
Ownership: empowering you to do the work that is most impactful
Sustainability: balancing work with family and personal hobbies so we can be at our best
Growth: supporting each other’s learning and development

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About us

topi is a Berlin-based fintech enabling businesses to access IT hardware through flexible subscription and rental models instead of upfront purchases. Our API-first platform allows retailers, manufacturers, and partners to offer hardware subscriptions seamlessly at the point of sale.

Following our acquisition by PEAC Solutions - owned by HPS / Blackrock, a global asset finance and leasing platform, topi combines fintech speed with strong financial backing and international scale. We operate across multiple European markets and focus on delivering fast, automated, and risk-aware financing solutions for SMBs.

Our mission is to make business hardware more accessible, flexible, and sustainable - supporting better cash-flow management and modern device lifecycles.

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Your application!

We appreciate your interest in topi GmbH. Please fill in the following short form. Should you have any difficulties in uploading your files, please contact us by mail at topi-jobs@m.personio.de.