Full-Stack Engineer & Infrastructure Co-Builder
(all genders)
Co-build Kunnus — our EU CRA compliance platform — while owning the Kubernetes infrastructure behind it. Next.js, TypeScript, Rust, Go, Hetzner. Full-time, remote-friendly, Stuttgart.
- Location
- Stuttgart
- Employment
- Full-time
- Work mode
- Remote-friendly
- Posted
The short version
We're building the compliance layer that every connected product manufacturer in Europe is going to need by 2027. Kunnus handles SBOMs, vulnerability tracking, CRA controls, and audit-readiness — all in one platform. We're a tiny team. We move fast. We want someone who can ship a new feature in the morning and make sure the infra holding it up doesn't fall over by afternoon.
Alongside the product, we run a tech consultancy — Think Ahead Technologies — where we help clients solve hard infrastructure and software problems. You'll occasionally work on consulting engagements too, which means exposure to a wide range of stacks and challenges, and it keeps the work varied.
What you'll actually do
You won't be handed a Jira ticket and told to implement a button. You'll help us figure out what to build next, own it end to end, and make sure it's running reliably in production.
On any given week you might:
- Build and ship new product features across the full stack — Next.js + TypeScript on the frontend, Rust and Go on the backend
- Design and maintain our Kubernetes infrastructure on Hetzner — IaC, CI/CD pipelines, Talos cluster management
- Wire up integrations with CVE databases, SBOM formats (CycloneDX, SPDX), and customer PLM systems
- Harden security posture — we're a security compliance product, so eating our own dogfood matters
- Contribute to our open source tooling and help grow the community around it
- Support consulting clients with architecture, infrastructure, or development challenges
- Help define architecture decisions that will still make sense when we're 10x the size
You're probably a good fit if
- You've built and deployed production web applications before — and you've also been the one on-call when something breaks at 2am
- You understand that "DevOps" is a mindset, not a job title — you care about the full lifecycle of what you ship
- You're comfortable with ambiguity and genuinely enjoy turning a fuzzy problem into a working system
- You find EU cybersecurity regulation interesting, not just a compliance checkbox (or you're willing to learn why it matters)
- You'd rather over-communicate on a hard tradeoff than silently make a bad call
- You enjoy the variety that consulting brings — different clients, different problems, different constraints
You'll thrive here if
- You want co-ownership of a product, not just a role in it
- You like small teams where your opinion actually shapes what gets built
- You're energized by a market with a hard regulatory deadline (CRA enforcement starts December 2027 — that's a forcing function, not a threat)
- You care about data sovereignty — running on European infrastructure isn't just a selling point to you, it's the right call
- You think infrastructure is a product feature, not a background chore
The stack (honest, not aspirational)
— and we're pragmatic about adding tools when they earn their place.
What we offer
- Remote-friendly with a home base in Stuttgart — we'd love to see you here occasionally
- A problem space that's getting more relevant every month
- Direct collaboration with the founder — no middle layers, no politics
- Open source work that builds your public reputation alongside the product
- Consulting exposure that keeps your skills sharp across domains
What we don't offer
- A large engineering team to hide in
- Perfectly documented legacy systems
- A roadmap carved in stone six months out
Kunnus is a product of Think Ahead Technologies GmbH. We're based in Stuttgart and building the infrastructure for EU CRA compliance — for the manufacturers, OEMs, and software vendors who need it most.
Interested?
Reach out directly — skip the cover letter, just tell us something you've built that you're proud of.
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Frequently asked
What else you might want to know.
What does the application process look like?
Short and honest: send us an email with something you're proud of (code, a repo, a system you've built — no cover letter needed). We typically reply within a week. Then a casual first chat (45 minutes) with Waldemar or Martin, followed by a technical deep-dive (90 minutes — no whiteboard riddles, just real problems from our stack), and finally a meeting with the whole team. About three to four weeks from first contact to offer.
Is the role really remote or do we need to relocate to Stuttgart?
Remote-friendly means: you work where you're most productive. We have a home base in Stuttgart and we'd love to see you in person occasionally — typically one or two days per quarter for strategy, onboarding, or team events. Relocation is not required. German tax residency is, however, since we offer employment via a German GmbH.
What experience are you looking for?
We're looking for someone with at least three to four years of production experience in web applications and/or infrastructure engineering. More important than CV bingo is that you understand the full lifecycle of a system — from the first commit to the 2am page. Career-changers from neighboring roles (SRE, DevOps, backend engineering) are explicitly welcome.
How much time do I spend on consulting versus product work?
On average 70-80% product work on Kunnus, 20-30% consulting engagements with clients. It varies by phase: during hot sprint weeks it can be 100% product, in calmer phases more advisory work. You'll never be put on pure body-leasing projects — we choose consulting engagements so they sharpen your skills and ideally resonate with our Kunnus topics.
What exactly is the frontend stack?
Next.js (App Router) with TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, server actions, and shadcn/ui components. Bun as runtime and package manager. For charts and more complex visualizations we use Recharts and d3. State management is intentionally minimal — mostly server-side with React Query for client-side caching.
Do you offer visa sponsorship?
Yes — for the right person we're willing to sponsor an EU Blue Card or §18b visa. We've done this successfully before and know the process. Requirements: demonstrable production experience in the stack, plus a matching educational or professional background under §18b AufenthG.