Founding Engineer – Backend & Platform
Summary
Build the core backend platform for an AI-powered tax advisory operating system, integrating DATEV and other accounting tools to power workflows for multiple firms.
About the Role
A fast-growing, seed-stage tax advisory technology group based in Berlin is hiring a Founding Engineer – Backend & Platform. This company is building the operating system for the German tax advisory industry — acquiring established tax firms and transforming them with an AI-powered, proprietary technology platform that is deeply integrated with DATEV and other accounting infrastructures.
As a founding engineer, you'll design and operate the core backend that powers data flows, reliable workflows, and safe AI applications across dozens of advisory firms. This is true greenfield infrastructure work: your decisions define how data moves, how work gets done, and how the platform scales. You'll work directly with the CTO on system design and core architectural decisions, and your code will run in production at real tax firms from day one.
Visa sponsorship is available for this role.
What You'll Do
Design, implement, and operate core backend services spanning accounting, payroll, reporting, and compliance domains.
Build robust data pipelines to ingest, normalize, and reconcile data from DATEV, banks, and document sources.
Design and operate workflow orchestration for long-running, stateful, and failure-prone processes.
Own the correctness, observability, and performance of the systems you build end-to-end.
Make pragmatic architectural decisions in a genuinely greenfield environment.
Ship to production frequently — with direct, visible impact on live firms.
Collaborate directly with the CTO on system design and foundational technical decisions.
What We're Looking For
Must-haves (dealbreakers):
3+ years of professional experience building and operating production backend systems.
Strong proficiency in TypeScript for backend development.
Hands-on experience designing and operating workflow orchestration systems for long-running, stateful, failure-prone processes.
Required skills:
Strong observability, monitoring, and performance optimization skills for production systems (metrics, tracing, logging).
Experience integrating DATEV or similar accounting software into a production platform.
Experience building data pipelines for ingesting, normalizing, and reconciling data from multiple sources (accounting systems, banks, documents).
Track record of designing systems with a focus on data integrity, correctness, and reliability.
Nice to have:
Experience with banking or financial data integrations.
Background in accounting, payroll, or tax compliance domain systems.
Prior experience in greenfield backend architecture and early-stage startup environments.
Who thrives here: Engineers who take full operational ownership, enjoy working on messy real-world problems, and prefer building foundational infrastructure over pure feature work. Flat structure, high autonomy, and a strong bias to action are core to the team's culture.
Location
This role is on-site in Berlin, Germany. Visa sponsorship is available.