Director of Engineering (m/f/d)

At Superchat, we're rebuilding how businesses talk to their customers. The phone call, the contact form, the support ticket: all of it is being replaced by messaging and AI. We're building the platform that runs underneath.

Founded in 2020, Superchat has become the platform of choice for 10,000+ businesses worldwide, from globally recognized brands like Allianz, Auto1, Enpal, Danone, and GASAG to the small businesses, dental practices, and one-person startups that need to look bigger than they are. Today, millions of messages flow through Superchat every single day.

We started as a unified inbox: one place for every channel a customer might pick, WhatsApp, email, SMS, Instagram. Then ChatGPT happened, and the second chapter began: AI agents that respond across chat, email, and voice at the quality of the best human teams.

We're 100 people, profitable, and have raised €18M in funding (last round 4.5 years ago, we've been growing on our own money since). Headquartered in Berlin.

We're hiring a Director of Engineering to take operational leadership of our Engineering organization. You'll partner with the CTO on strategy, own people leadership across all engineering squads, and build the structures that let us scale.

WHO WE WANT

Experienced engineering leader.

You bring 5+ years of experience leading engineering teams in B2B SaaS or product-led companies.

Seen scale before.

You have a track record of stewarding a team through a scaling phase and seeing the breakpoints first-hand.

Technically credible.

You come from a strong technical background (former Senior+/Staff level), read code comfortably, and can follow and contribute to technical architecture discussions.

Builder of strong engineering systems.

You have built career frameworks, calibration systems, and performance management processes - and run them with consistency and discipline.

Clear communicator and strategic operator.

You are a strong communicator who turns strategy into clear quarterly objectives and actionable plans for teams.

High standards, low ego.

You combine high standards with a low-ego, builder mentality and lead by example rather than hierarchy.

Structured, calm, and execution-focused.

You know how to scale execution quality and operational discipline without slowing teams dow

WHO WE DON’T WANT

Hands-on architect first.

You still want to spend 30%+ of your time coding or personally owning architecture decisions instead of scaling teams and engineering execution.

Needs a large support structure.

You rely heavily on fully built HR or people operations structures to manage performance, hiring, and team development.

First-time engineering manager.

You are entering engineering leadership for the first time and have not yet experienced scaling teams and organizations firsthand.

YOUR DAY TO DAY

• You run regular 1:1s with Engineering Managers and select senior engineers to support growth, alignment, and execution
• You lead growth conversations, performance reviews, and calibration sessions across the engineering organization
• You own key parts of the hiring process - from interviewing and org design to closing strong candidates
• You sponsor and prioritize tech debt reduction and long-term architectural investments together with engineering leadership
• You review squad delivery progress, surface blockers early, and maintain a high quality bar across teams
• You work closely with the CTO on org design, hiring strategy, and headcount planning
• You coordinate roadmap priorities and engineering capacity planning together with the CPO

STAKEHOLDERS

CTO: Your manager and closest partner on strategy and org design

CPO: Counterpart on the Product side

Engineering Managers: Your direct reports

People Ops: Partner on compensation and hiring processes

WHY PEOPLE CHOOSE US

Mission that matters. Real impact on small businesses, not abstract metrics

Executive-level ownership. Opportunity to shape and scale the engineering organization during a critical growth phase

Funded with conviction. $16.5M raised with a strong trajectory toward profitability

Modern stack. Kotlin/Quarkus, AWS, TypeScript/React/Next.js, LangGraph for AI - with intentionally low tech debt for our stage

High-impact leadership scope. Influence engineering strategy, org design, execution quality, and cross-functional collaboration end-to-end

Berlin office in Prenzlauer Berg. Hybrid setup with 2 work-from-home days, team events, and fully stocked office

Squad-based organization. Each squad owns its domain end-to-end with strong accountability and autonomy

PMs report to the CPO, not Engineering. Product strategy stays focused, consistent, and clearly prioritized

Engineers own technical decisions. Directors and EMs challenge, support, and sponsor decisions — but do not override engineering judgment

Hybrid by design. Our Berlin office is the center of gravity, with 2 WFH days as the standard setup

Direct feedback culture. Transparent, respectful, and candid communication across all levels of the organization

Two career tracks. Clear long-term growth paths for both ICs (Junior → Staff) and Engineering Managers, with explicit reversibility between tracks

BENEFITS & CULTURE

• Choose between an Urban Sports Club/John Reed membership or a public transport/Dance subscription
• Regular company and team events
• Annual personal development budget of €500 for conferences, courses, books, career coaching, and more
• An inclusive and exciting startup culture that enables fast professional and personal growth
• Beautiful office in the heart of Berlin (Prenzlauer Allee 242) with free snacks, drinks, and top-notch equipment

We want to build a community, not just a company.

It’s important to us to create an environment where people genuinely enjoy spending time together - whether that’s through HYROX training, golfing, beer pong tournaments, running clubs, Warhammer, weekend activities, or whatever kind of community you’d like to help build here!

WE'RE LOOKING FOR PEOPLE WITH PASSION, GRIT, AND INTEGRITY. YOU'RE ENCOURAGED TO APPLY EVEN IF YOUR EXPERIENCE DOESN'T PRECISELY MATCH THE DESCRIPTION. AT SUPERCHAT, WE WELCOME DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES AND PEOPLE WHO THINK RIGOROUSLY.

Relocating to Berlin? We support you with practical relocation help. You'll feel home in no time.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR APPLICATION!

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