Founding Engineer / Full-stack Developer
About Sokra
Sokra is building the leading adaptive learning platform for schools — and beyond. Demand for personalized learning is growing fast, and so is demand for Sokra. Schools, educational institutions, and major publishers are all knocking on our door — looking to partner, integrate, and grow with us. Now we’re looking for a founding engineer who can own core execution and ship product that works in real classrooms.
Our Mission
We believe every learner should be able to reach their goals in their own way.
That's why we build curriculum-aligned learning paths that make progress visible and measurable. Our paths are adaptive and multimodal — learners move at their own pace and choose how they get to the goal. As knowledge delivery becomes personalized, teachers get back the space to step into their role as learning coaches — doing what only they can do: reading the room, spotting who needs support, and giving every student the individual attention they deserve.
Our Team
We're a small and very ambitious team and genuinely excited about what we're building. We believe AI can shape education for the better and we give our everything to make that real. We move fast, think hard, keep meetings minimal, and thrive in competitive environments where the best ideas win. Beyond the work, we make time for each other. We meet up often, have a good time, and take team spirit seriously. We're not looking to fill a role. We're looking for a partner who's all in with us.
Join us to be part of a pioneering company shaping the future of learning!
What you’ll do
As a core team member, you'll operate at a high level across the full stack — building AI systems that are reliable, safe, and fast under tight timelines. This is a high-autonomy role with direct impact on every learner and teacher on the platform. You'll take full ownership of what you build, make decisions that shape the product, and ship work that truly matters.
- Build and own core features end-to-end: React/Next.js frontend, backend APIs, and AI pipeline integration
- Work in a tight loop with the founders to turn user feedback into shipped features fast
- Implement and optimize our RAG & Knowledge Graph pipeline: Context management, ingestion, chunking, embeddings, retrieval
- Build streaming architecture for low-latency interactions, safety guardrails, and graceful degradation
- Create infrastructure for prompt versioning and A/B testing to systematically improve quality
- Build for multi-tenancy and permissioned data boundaries across schools, teachers, and students
- Shape our technical infrastructure: take ownership of reliability, performance, and scalability as we grow
- Ship production-ready code with tests, documentation, and careful handling of edge cases
- Manage technical debt intentionally and keep the codebase clean and maintainable
- Ensure GDPR compliance: consent flows, deletion workflows, and audit trails
- Communicate trade-offs clearly, surface risks early, and join user research to shorten the loop from code to classroom
AI-first working philosophy
You use AI to multiply impact: AI-assisted coding and debugging, automated test generation, documentation, and tooling. You actively improve your workflows and share what works — the goal is disproportionate output without unsustainable hours.
What we’re looking for
- Excellent full-stack engineering skills and a strong sense of craft — you leave systems better than you found them
- Ownership mindset: you think like a founder, see what's needed, propose a plan, and ship it
- Deep comfort with AI/LLM systems: RAG, streaming, and context management
- Speed with quality
- Product passion: you genuinely care about transforming education
- Curiosity and adaptability: eager to learn new technologies and stay open to innovation
- You knew how to code before Cursor — but you know how to leverage AI tools effectively
- Ideally you've worked in a fast-moving Start-Up before
- Clear communication and reliability in a small, high-trust team
- German is a plus, not required
Bonus Points
If any of these are a genuine strength, you'll stand out:
- Data security & privacy (GDPR/DSGVO-minded engineering)
- Scaling real-time systems (WebSockets, concurrency, performance)
- DevOps (deployment workflows, Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD)
- QA & testing (test strategy, automation, reliability)
What success looks like
- 3 months: stable core platform for pilot schools, fast and safe AI tutor interactions, weekly shipping cadence, codebase structured for quick onboarding
- 6 months: pilots describe Sokra as reliable and fast, debt is tracked and managed, at least one major system refactored based on real usage, iteration infrastructure in place (feature flags, A/B tests, AI QA)
- 12 months: platform supports 50+ concurrent classrooms, key systems have strong test coverage and docs, you’ve developed a domain specialty that becomes a competitive advantage
Tech stack
- Next.js / React, TypeScript
- Python, APIs, WebSockets
- LLM agents, microservices
- Databases
Why Sokra?
Here's the deal: you'll be shaping a product that genuinely changes how people learn and you'll have a lot of fun doing it. Real ownership, real impact, and a small team that moves fast and actually enjoys working together. We offer a competitive salary, equity stake as one of our founding engineers, flexibility in how you work, and a culture where team nights out are just as important as clean code.
If you're excited about building something that truly matters and you're ready to go all in, we'd love to hear from you!
Send us your GitHub profile, portfolio, and any other relevant links. Let's build the future of education together.

Sokra
MS
Maxim Schmitt
Details
Adaptive Learning
TRL 8 – System complete and qualified
B2B
B2B2C
Education (EdTech)
Nationally financed
Skills needed
Prior startup experience
Entrepreneurial mindset
Mission-aligned
Willing to take risks & build from 0
Collaborative but independent
Strong sense of ownership
Self-starter – doesn’t wait for instructions
Accountable – owns their work and doesn’t shift blame
Decisive – makes clear calls when needed, even under pressure
Goal-oriented – focused on long-term outcomes over short-term wins
Creative – finds unconventional solutions
Analytical – uses data and logic when making decisions
Problem-solver – thrives on figuring things out
Strategic thinker – can connect dots and plan ahead
Collaborative – team-first attitude
About the startup project
Berlin
