Lead AI Engineer (m/f/d)

What it's about

MAIA is an AI platform for companies. With MAIA, teams search their internal data and anchor agents deep within their processes. We support companies in implementing AI not just in individual departments, but throughout the entire organization.

Technically, this means: We are building a GenAI application with our own agent systems, RAG pipelines, and agent-based workflows, connecting to our customers' external systems and analyzing their data. We use the best available models, operated in the EU, and make them reliable for demanding work with large, complex datasets.

Numerous industrial companies have been working intensively with MAIA for years. After our successful funding round in 2026, we are now bringing MAIA to a broader audience. MAIA has been developed in Leipzig since 2021.

What you will do with us

As Lead AI Engineer, you will lead our engineering team in Leipzig, spend about three-quarters of your time coding yourself, and work closely with our CTO.

Your focus areas:

• Develop yourself. You will take on challenging features and architecture topics in our agent, RAG, and workflow systems, and write plans that others can follow.

• Technical direction. You will contribute to important design decisions, prioritize the technical roadmap together with the CTO, and drive MAIA's technical vision forward.

• Lead the team. You will coordinate the team's work and act as a sparring partner for all engineers in design discussions, reviews, and feedback. You will conduct technical interviews and have a say in who we hire.

• Improve, together. With the team, you will continuously improve our development processes, especially in agentic work: from planning and reviews to evaluations and releases.

• At the cutting edge of technology. You will follow new developments in LLMs, retrieval, agents, and beyond, evaluate them soberly, and integrate what proves valuable into the product.

What we are looking for

• An outstanding AI Engineer. You have built and operated LLM systems in production. You know RAG, embeddings, vector search, tool calling, and agents from practical experience, including the points where they fail. You experiment with new models and techniques on your own initiative, distinguishing substance from hype.

• Strong architecture. You have built, delivered, and operated backend systems in production over a long period. You make design decisions that will still hold up in a year and recognize weak architecture even when a coding agent has written it.

• Very good in at least one of our languages. TypeScript, Python, or Go, preferably one of the statically typed ones. You don't need to know all three. You will learn the others.

• Technical leadership. You have technically led a team as a Tech Lead, Lead Engineer, or in a comparable role. The exact title is less important. You delegate responsibility and are happy when the team makes good decisions without you. At the same time, you enjoy developing yourself, as this role is not purely a management role.

• Measure instead of guess. You know how to test and evaluate systems that don't always respond the same way to the same question. You build the simplest solution that solves the problem. Further retrieval steps, prompt chains, or abstractions are only added when measurements justify them.

• Work agentically. Coding agents are part of your daily routine. You have a clear opinion on how a team can remain fast with them without losing quality.

• Think about security. Our customers entrust us with their internal knowledge. Tenant isolation, access rights, and secure development are self-evident to you.

• Communicate clearly. You address problems early, argue with evidence, and explain technical decisions understandably, both within the team and to product management, customer success, and sales. You speak German and English very confidently.

Working at MAIA

We are united by a common goal: to build a truly great product. Everyone takes responsibility for their own area. We enjoy our work and are proud of what our customers achieve with MAIA. The lines of communication are short, and decisions are made quickly. In the engineering team, we critically question how we develop and continuously improve our processes, especially in agentic development.

We enjoy working together in our office, centrally located between the city center and the zoo, and we cook together almost every day. We are on-site at least three days a week; on the other days, you work wherever you want. You decide when your day begins.

• Access to current frontier models and coding agents

• Support for further training, including leadership topics

• Access to a Wellpass membership

Compensation

The annual gross salary ranges from €90,000 to €100,000. Where you fall within this range will be discussed at the latest after the interview on technology and leadership. Additionally, there is virtual participation through our VSOP.

Application and next steps

You do not need a cover letter. Send us your CV and answer one question in a few sentences of your own: Why do you want to help shape MAIA?

We work with AI every day. However, for this answer, your own perspective counts. Therefore, please write it yourself, perhaps briefly and without fine-tuning.

If it fits, there will be a 30-minute introductory meeting, a 90-minute interview on technology and leadership, and a final interview with management. After each step, you will typically hear from us within two working days. Our goal is a decision in about three weeks.

We look forward to your application.

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