Head of AI Engineering

STARK

ABOUT US STARK is a new kind of defence technology company revolutionising the way autonomous systems are deployed across multiple domains. We design, develop, and manufacture high-performance unmanned systems that are software-defined, mass-scalable, and cost-effective — providing operators with a decisive edge in contested environments. We are focused on delivering deployable, high-performance systems — not future promises. In a time of rising threats, STARK is bolstering the technological edge of NATO Allies and their Partners to deter aggression and defend Europe, today. YOUR MISSION Reporting directly to the CTO, you will define and own STARK's AI strategy, across the product, across internal tooling, and across the entire technical organisation. You'll work shoulder-to-shoulder with Chief Engineers and Engineering Leads, setting a direction they can execute against. On the product side, you'll push the boundaries of what's possible in sensing, autonomy, and robotics for defence. On the internal side, you'll systematically drive AI-powered productivity across every function at STARK. And beyond the company, you'll be our most visible and credible AI voice; the signal that serious AI talent picks up when deciding where to build next.  RESPONSIBILITIES * Define and own STARK's AI strategy across product and internal domains, setting a direction that Technical Leads can execute against * Lead AI stack decisions, model selection, frameworks, MLOps infrastructure, evaluation, and tooling, in partnership with the CTO and Technical Leads, with final technical accountability sitting with you * Act as connective tissue across teams: identify and resolve cross-team AI dependencies, shared infrastructure gaps, and redundant workstreams that individual leads cannot see from inside their own domain * Drive internal AI adoption across STARK, developer productivity tooling, agent and automation infrastructure, and responsible-use frameworks across engineering and operations * Provide technical oversight and challenge across all AI workstreams, asking hard questions on methodology, adversarial robustness, distribution shift, and performance under real operational conditions, without taking over delivery * Monitor the academic and commercial AI landscape and translate relevant advances into concrete strategic inputs for the CTO and programme leadership * Keep AI strategy grounded in operational reality by partnering with programme and product leadership so that what we build maps to real mission requirements, not research for its own sake * Raise the AI bar at STARK: contribute to senior technical hiring, define the AI engineering standard, and build STARK's standing in the European defence-AI community * Represent STARK externally, speak at defence, robotics, and AI venues, publish or present where it serves the mission, and act as a credible signal of the company's technical ambition What success looks like in the first 12 months: * A single, written, widely-understood AI strategy that Chief Engineers and Technical Leads actively use to make decisions * Internal AI tooling in production use, measurably changing how engineering and operations work day-to-day, not as a pilot * At least one product-side AI capability moved meaningfully forward on your direction * STARK visibly more attractive to senior AI talent than when you joined, with at least one strong hire personally pulled into the pipeline QUALIFICATIONS * Degree in machine learning, computer vision, robotics, or a closely related field, or demonstrably equivalent depth through industry research and an open publication or open-source record * Proven experience setting AI technical strategy at a senior level, across multiple domains simultaneously, not within a single team or project * Deep technical fluency in at least one of: perception and sensor fusion, autonomy and motion planning, SLAM/localisation, or multi-agent coordination (C2), with enough breadth to engage credibly across all of them * Strong track record of influencing technical decisions without direct line authority, working through and alongside Technical Leads, not over them * Experience in defence, aerospace, or another safety-critical domain where AI system failure carries real-world consequence; direct UAS or ground-robotics experience strongly preferred * Fluent English; working German is a practical advantage in Berlin or Munich * Eligibility for the required security clearance NICE TO HAVE * An existing network within the European defence AI community * Prior experience in a staff- or principal-level AI role inside a scaling deep-tech or defence company * A public profile, talks, papers, or open-source work, that already signals technical credibility * Comfort operating in a high-autonomy, low-overhead role: setting direction and shaping outcomes without a large dedicated team

Awin

Head of Engineering - Developer Experience & Platform Awin is seeking an exceptional engineering leader to shape the future of how our engineers build, ship, and operate software at scale. As Head of Engineering – Developer Experience & Platform, you will own the end-to-end developer experience strategy, drive the adoption of AI-native engineering practices, modernise our cloud platform, and lead the teams and tooling that enable Awin's engineering organisation to work at its best. This is a high-impact leadership role at the intersection of engineering excellence, platform strategy, and AI innovation. You will define and deliver the developer experience (DevEx) vision for Awin, ensuring our engineers have the tools, environments, processes, and culture to be highly productive and deeply satisfied in their work. You will own our platform strategy on AWS, lead FinOps practices, and spearhead the organisation-wide rollout of AI-augmented and agentic development workflows. You will act as a trusted internal champion for engineers – gathering data-driven insight, translating it into organisation-wide improvements, and working hand-in-hand with engineering leadership, product, and stakeholders to make change happen and allow our Product teams to deliver value to our customers at scale. The right candidate has strong hands-on experience with modern AI-driven software development and building developer-centric cloud platforms at scale. This is a senior but hands-on role within the Engineering organisation, reporting to the Director of Engineering. Key Tasks & Responsibilities   Developer Experience Strategy & Tooling * Own and evolve Awin's Developer Experience programme – defining the vision, strategy, and roadmap for DevEx improvement across the engineering organisation * Identify friction points, productivity blockers, and systemic inefficiencies through data, qualitative research, and direct engagement with engineering teams, other Heads of Engineering or Engineering Managers * Drive organisation-wide improvements to technology, tooling, and engineering processes, building consensus and alignment with key stakeholders across product, engineering, security, and operations. * Establish and track DevEx metrics and KPIs (e.g. DORA metrics, developer satisfaction scores), using them to demonstrate impact and guide investment decisions. * Own the developer tools portfolio and associated budgets – evaluating, procuring, and retiring tools to ensure engineers have best-in-class tooling without unnecessary cost or complexity. * Lead strategic assessment and rollout of new developer tooling, including CI/CD platforms, IDE capabilities, code quality and security tools. AI-Native Development & Agentic Workflows * Lead Awin's AI engineering rollout – defining the strategy for AI-native software development, establishing standards, and scaling adoption across the engineering organisation. * Evaluate and implement AI-augmented development tools including AI coding assistants, agentic development environments, automated code review, test generation, and intelligent CI/CD pipelines. * Champion modern AI-native software development best practices and drive continuous evaluation of the rapidly evolving AI tooling landscape. * Design and deliver enablement programmes – training, communities of practice, documentation, and hands-on workshops – to accelerate AI fluency and confidence across engineering teams. * Measure and report on the impact of AI adoption on developer productivity, code quality, and time-to-market. Cloud Platform Optimisation * Lead the strategy and execution of cloud platform standardisation across Awin's AWS estate, establishing golden paths, reference architectures, and platform abstractions that improve developer experience and reduce cognitive load. * Drive cloud migration efforts, infrastructure modernisation initiatives, partnering with Product teams to improve reliability, scalability, observability, and security posture (including platform-wide Incident Management, SRE * Own AWS cost management and FinOps practices – establishing budgeting frameworks, implementing cost allocation and tagging strategies, identifying and acting on optimisation opportunities, and providing transparent reporting to leadership. * Build out internal developer platform capabilities to abstract cloud complexity and accelerate developer self-service. * Ensure cloud platform decisions are made with developer experience as a primary consideration alongside cost efficiency, security, and scalability. Leadership & Organisational Impact * Build, lead, and develop a high-performing team spanning developer experience, platform engineering, and tooling functions. * Act as a collaborative, influential engineering leader, shaping Awin's technical culture, engineering standards, and ways of working. * Contribute to the engineering leadership team, participating in strategic planning, headcount discussions, and broader organisational design. Skills & Experience * Significant experience in and passion for software engineering, with hands-on coding background in one or more major languages (e.g. Java, TypeScript). * Strong understanding of AI-native software development – including AI coding assistants (e.g. Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot), agentic development workflows, and LLM-integrated toolchains. * Proven leadership experience in developer experience, platform engineering, developer productivity, or a related engineering leadership role within a mid-to-large scale technology organisation. * Deep understanding of the software development lifecycle, engineering best practices, and what makes engineering teams highly productive. * Demonstrable experience leading and improving CI/CD practices, deployment pipelines, and developer tooling ecosystems. * Strong background in AWS – comfortable with infrastructure-as-code (e.g. Terraform), container platforms, serverless patterns, and cloud-native architectures. * Experience with FinOps or cloud cost management, including budgeting, tagging strategies, and cost optimisation at scale. * Track record of successfully delivering organisation-wide change programmes in collaboration with cross-functional stakeholders. * Experience designing and using developer experience metrics frameworks (e.g. DORA, SPACE, DX Core 4) to measure and improve developer productivity. * Demonstrated ability to lead, inspire, and grow engineering teams in a fast-paced, distributed environment. * Strong commercial awareness – experience managing budgets, building business cases, and making tool and investment decisions with clear ROI thinking. * Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on delivery; comfortable operating from vision through to execution. * Experience working in global, distributed engineering organisations across multiple time zones and cultures. Our Offer * Flexi-Week: We prioritise your mental health and wellbeing by offering you a four-day Flexi-Week (with one lighter or completely disconnected day per week) at full pay, with no reduction to your annual holiday allowance. * Flexi-office: We offer an international culture and flexibility through our hybrid/remote working scheme which is designed to foster a culture of mutual trust and working flexibility. * Work Expense Contribution & Remote Working Furniture: You will receive a monthly allowance to cover part of your running costs, as well as a furniture package to support you in setting up a comfortable workspace when working from home. * Health and Wellbeing: With our support and access to various initiatives and sports offers, you can focus on your mental and physical wellbeing. * Development: We’ve built our extensive training suite, Awin Academy, to cover a wide range of skills that support your professional and personal growth, with trainings conveniently packaged to help your overall development. * Appreciation: Thank and reward colleagues by sending them a voucher through our peer-to-peer recognition programme. We are hiring in multiple countries for this role. Additional benefits, including health and wellbeing offerings, will be discussed during the initial interview. Established in 2000, Awin is proud of our dynamic, social and inclusive culture. Like all businesses, we’ve had to adapt and nurture our culture in a virtual environment. Our virtual ‘Life @ Awin’ hub brings our colleagues from across the globe together for various social activities. Diversity & Inclusion are paramount to us, and we proudly pursue and hire diverse team members. We champion uniqueness and authenticity; this is who we are at our core. Our network of affiliate partnerships are diverse and transparent, as are the employees powering our vision to build the world’s leading open partner ecosystem. We welcome all backgrounds, identities, and experiences. If you need support at any point in the application or interview process, please let us know. Awin is part of the Axel Springer group. Learn more at axelspringer.com/en/, and explore the Axel Springer Essentials here: axelspringer.com/en/inside/the-essentials-what-we-have-adapted-and-why   Apply now to begin the next stage of your career at a progressive company that supports both your professional and personal development. #LI-RS1

Catena

HEAD OF APPLIED AI Catena Labs is building the first AI-native financial institution to provide the new financial infrastructure and services AI systems need to conduct commerce. We’re giving AI agents the tools to identify themselves and use money safely and efficiently. At the same time, we’re providing businesses with a trusted, licensed financial partner with the capability to manage risk and compliance. By building a financial institution with AI and stablecoin infrastructure, we are breaking down the legacy financial system barriers that prevent an AI-driven economy. Backed by leading venture investors, we’re assembling a team of engineers, designers, data scientists, and finance professionals working together to build a stronger, more resilient global economy that creates broad prosperity. We’re looking for people with the talent, curiosity, and passion to invent an entirely new category of financial services. THE ROLE We're looking for a Head of Applied AI to lead our AI Platform team. This role combines AI engineering and data science. You'll build systems directly while setting technical direction for how AI works across Catena, both in our products and our operations. The AI Platform team sits alongside Product Development and Banking Core, and reports to the CTO. You'll own the tools, models, frameworks, and eval processes we use internally and within our products. Product Development relies on your team's capabilities, and you'll ensure AI integrates reliably with Banking Core via APIs, MCP, and other interfaces. You'll also build AI tools that make the company itself more effective. This spans product AI (agent interactions, identity, risk), operational AI (compliance workflows, automation), and corporate AI (how the team works with AI daily). We care more about good judgment on what to build than rigid adherence to categories. Initially, this is an 80/20 maker/manager role. You'll build on an existing foundation while growing the team. WHAT YOU'LL DO * Own the orchestration layer connecting product experiences to banking infrastructure * Establish eval frameworks that prove our agents are reliable * Stay ahead of emerging agent protocols (A2A, x402, MCP, LangGraph) and integrate where it strengthens our infrastructure * Partner closely with Product Development and Banking Core to ensure AI capabilities are deeply integrated * Hire and develop AI engineers and data scientists as the team grows WHO YOU ARE * Deep experience shipping production AI systems, whether that's a decade in ML or fewer years with intensive focus on the current LLM paradigm * You build things directly. You're not looking for a role where you manage without coding. * Strong intuition for model selection, eval methodology, and build-vs-buy tradeoffs * Security-minded. You understand prompt injection, adversarial inputs, and why these matter more when money is involved. * Comfortable with ambiguity, able to set direction while shipping TECH STACK We work primarily in Python and TypeScript, deploy on AWS and CloudFlare, and use multiple models. You'll have opinions on this stack and the latitude to evolve it. NICE TO HAVE * Experience in fintech, payments, or regulated financial services * Hands-on work with agent orchestration frameworks * Background in compliance or risk systems where auditability matters JOIN US If you're passionate about pushing the boundaries of what AI agents can do in financial services and want to be part of building the trusted financial infrastructure for the agentic economy, we want to hear from you. You'll have the opportunity to work on challenging problems that have never been solved before, with a team that's defining an entirely new category of financial services. This is more than a job; it's a chance to be part of the startup team that makes the AI economy possible. Your work will directly enable millions of AI agents to participate safely in commerce, unlocking trillions in economic value and increasing prosperity around the world.