Forward Deployed Engineer

Vanilla Steel

YOUR MISSION We are a Berlin-based startup transforming how industrial materials are bought and sold across Europe. One of the oldest industries in the world still runs on Excel, PDF and email. We are replacing that with AI that runs the buying and selling workflow end to end, increasing liquidity, speeding up transactions and reducing waste for hundreds of steel and metal distributors.  We have strong early traction, real enterprise customers and committed investors. We are a lean, technical team scaling our enterprise pilots and building the AI infrastructure underneath them. Your job as Senior Product Engineer is to make sure we deliver on that traction and stay ahead. You partner closely with Co-founder Simon, who owns sales; you own that we ship, that enterprise customers succeed, and that the product stays in front. This is a senior, hands-on role with three pillars. 1. Build and ship with AI * Ship production software using AI as a force multiplier — prototypes, integrations, customer-facing flows — and get them live, not just specified. * Move our AI from assisting people to running the buying and selling workflow as autonomous agents. * Integrate our pipeline deep into customer systems and ERPs (SAP, Odoo, Microsoft Dynamics), and design for fast onboarding so a new customer reaches value in days, not months. * Our stack: Python, FastAPI, Pydantic AI, Pydantic Logfire, JavaScript/Node, React, GCP, Kubernetes. You won't be expected to master all of it on day one, but you should be comfortable navigating it with AI tooling. 2. Lead technical communication with enterprise customers * Own the technical relationship with three to five enterprise customers: run the discovery workshops, scope the work, run first-line UAT, and steer executive, procurement and IT conversations. * Translate customer reality into clear build decisions and engineering reality into clear customer expectations. Hold the line on scope when a request will not move the metric that matters. * Represent the product credibly to senior stakeholders, and to investors when a customer also sits on our cap table. 3. Help build the product org * Drive the shipping cadence: a weekly or biweekly release rhythm with engineering, and sequence delivery against engineering capacity with our Head of Tech. * Make the strategic product calls — what we build next, and what we deliberately do not. * As we scale enterprise customers, help grow how the team works and the product function around you. YOUR PROFILE You are a builder who ships with AI and can run an enterprise customer relationship and help shape how we build. Two non-negotiables: technical capability and product sense. Everything else sits behind those. * Excellent written and verbal communication in English and in German (C1 or C2 must have, native not required). You can run a technical workshop with a German industrial customer end to end. * Berlin-based or willing to relocate. The role also includes regular travel to customer sites in Central Germany (~2–3 days per month). * 5+ years building product, with at least 2 years in genuinely technical roles (engineering, technical PM at a real engineering company, solutions architect, forward-deployed engineer). * Deep LLM/AI experience: you build and ship real software with LLMs and agents in production, not just prototype or chat with them. You can walk us through something you shipped and how you built it. Bonus if you have shipped an agentic or autonomous system. * AI coding tools: you use Cursor, Claude Code or comparable as your primary development environment - not occasionally, but as the way you build. This is how you ship independently without engineering support. * Strong technical instincts: you read code, evaluate an architecture, and hold your own in a design review with engineering. * First-line UAT discipline: you have personally signed off (or rejected) enterprise releases and can describe the framework you used. * Comfortable owning several enterprise customers in parallel without dropping balls, and pushing back on scope when needed. * Able to simplify complexity and make fast, sound decisions under pressure. Nice-to-have: background in an AI-first company; ERP integrations (SAP, Odoo, Microsoft Dynamics) or procurement / order-management workflows; early-stage or founding-engineer experience, industrial B2B, metals, supply chain or manufacturing experience. WHY US? * Ownership of named enterprise accounts, judged on outcomes rather than hours. * Direct technical impact: you see what you ship in production within weeks. * Senior co-founders who are technical operators, not pitch-deck founders. Decisions happen fast. * Competitive base, performance bonus, and meaningful equity at a Series A company. * Regular travel to customer sites (mainly Central Germany). * Subsidised Urban Sports Club membership and Deutschlandticket. * Hybrid work format, office in the heart of Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin. * Regular team events, company breakfasts and Friday drinks.

STARK

ABOUT US STARK is a defence technology company redefining how autonomous and electronic warfare systems are engineered and deployed. We design, build, and operationalise high-performance EW and unmanned systems that provide NATO forces with decisive advantages in contested electromagnetic environments. Our work is grounded in precision, responsibility, and uncompromising engineering discipline. YOUR MISSION As a Mechanical Engineer in the Electronic Warfare division, your focus will be on speed, adaptability, and execution. Your primary mission is to rapidly design, package, and integrate cutting-edge EW payloads into autonomous loitering munition systems. We aren't looking for someone to spend years building a single, monolithic asset; we need a versatile problem-solver who can quickly tackle a variety of hardware, thermal, and structural challenges to get reliable systems into the field. RESPONSIBILITIES * Package and integrate complex EW hardware, antennas, and RF payloads into autonomous loitering munition systems. * Get hands-on with the validation process—quickly designing fixtures and executing testing inside advanced chambers (thermal, vibration, and environmental shock). * Use FEA and CFD as practical tools to solve thermal dissipation and high-g load challenges efficiently. * Partner closely with RF and software teams to rapidly iterate on mechanical constraints and real-time mission requirements. * Move fast from initial CAD modeling through rapid prototyping to manufacturing handoff. QUALIFICATIONS * A history of successfully solving a variety of mechanical packaging and thermal challenges quickly, rather than dedicating years to a single project. * High proficiency in modern 3D CAD software (e.g., SolidWorks, NX, or Creo) and practical simulation tools for FEA/CFD. * Experience packaging ruggedized electronics or payloads into weight-critical, high-vibration platforms (UAVs, robotics, or aerospace). * Hands-on experience preparing hardware for environmental testing and adjusting designs based on quick test results. * Ability to collaborate clearly and move projects forward seamlessly with RF and software teams. RELEVANT BACKGROUNDS * Aerospace, UAV, or robotics structural and mechanical design. * Enclosure design for ruggedized electronics, RF front-ends, or Software-Defined Radios (SDRs). * Fast-paced hardware prototyping environments. NICE TO HAVE * Understanding of how mechanical material selection impacts RF transparency and EMI/EMC. * Experience with composite materials and lightweight manufacturing techniques. * Familiarity with environmental qualification concepts (e.g., MIL-STD-810).

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 You will own the flight control and navigation stack that keeps our autonomous platforms stable, predictable, and precise — from first power-on to final approach (GNC = Guidance, Navigation, Control) . This isn't a maintenance role: you're building the control and state-estimation foundation that every other system on the platform depends on, while growing a team of engineers who can own that responsibility with you. Success looks like a navigation and control stack that performs reliably under the demanding, contested conditions our systems are built for.  RESPONSIBILITIES * Lead and grow a fast-expanding team of engineers working on flight control, guidance, and state estimation * Facilitate and execute the technical direction for the STARK autopilot stack: control theory (PID/LQR/MPC), sensor fusion architecture, state estimation (EKF/UKF), and real-time performance * Partner with hardware, perception, and systems engineering teams to ensure navigation performance holds end-to-end, not just in isolation * Own technical roadmap planning for your domain and represent it to your Director and cross-functional stakeholders * Bring software engineering best practices to the team such as the C4 architecture model, clean code principles and software design patterns * Moderate the peer review process with the team and ensure knowledge sharing and across different seniorities * Drive hiring, mentoring, and career development for your team as well as ways of working together * Report on technical risk, schedule, and capacity to leadership * Drive test and validation strategy, from simulation and HIL testing through live trials QUALIFICATIONS * 7+ years of software (robotics) engineering experience in the domain of GNC (guidance, navigation, and control) * 3+ years in a leadership role (Team Lead, Head of, Engineering Manager, or equivalent) with direct people management experience * Provent track record of deploying robotics software application into production environment * Strong knowledge about the GNC domain * Fluent English; German is a plus NICE TO HAVE * Proven track record taking autonomous systems with GNSS-denied navigation system from design to production fielded, flight-tested products * Experience with PX4, ArduPilot, or comparable open-source autopilot stacks * Background in aerospace, robotics, or MINT programs * Exposure to systems operating in contested or degraded environments * Prior experience scaling a technical team in a startup or fast-growing engineering org * Familiarity with MIL-STD or STANAG-aligned development practices If you're interested in building the future of European defence with us and you see yourself reflected in the description above, please send us your CV in English. We’re looking forward to meeting you.