About the Company
Global trade is undergoing the biggest transformation in decades. New tariffs, sanctions, export controls, and environmental regulations are being introduced at record speed - turning trade compliance from a back-office task into a CEO-level priority. Yet most organisations still rely on fragmented software, consultants, brokers, and manual processes that do not scale. At kolum, we are building the AI-native Trade Compliance engine that automates and orchestrates trade compliance end to end. Our technology handles customs filings, tariffs, regulatory duties, reporting, and audits in one integrated system, thus replacing costly legacy workflows and reducing manual errors at scale. We started by solving urgent regulatory challenges such as CBAM and EUDR, earning the trust of dozens of enterprise customers across Europe. From this foundation, we are expanding into a holistic platform for global trade compliance, helping organisations cut costs dramatically, stay audit-proof, and turn compliance from a cost burden into a competitive advantage. Our mission is to become the category-defining solution for holistic trade compliance worldwide and enable organisations to operate confidently in an increasingly complex global trade environment.
About the Role
As Head of AI Engineering, you will be responsible for the AI engineering function behind kolum's AI-native Trade Compliance Software and lead our AI engineering team. Your mission is to turn complex, fast-evolving trade rules into reliable, production-grade AI systems used by large enterprises. You will have significant freedom and responsibility to decide about and own AI architecture and technical strategy and shape the team, processes, and engineering culture from the ground up. This is a hands-on leadership role by design. Especially in the early stages, you are expected to actively be involved in product development while simultaneously hiring, mentoring, and leading a high-performing AI engineering team. As kolum scales, you will evolve both the technology and the organisation to support a growing, mission-critical AI platform. You will work closely with the Founding Team, Product, and Customer Success and play a central role in making kolum the category-defining solution for trade compliance.
Responsibilities
* Architect, build, and scale kolum's AI-native Trade Compliance engine, from early prototypes to enterprise-grade production systems.
* Design and implement AI-agent based workflows with clear guardrails and audit logs, tightly integrated into our product.
* Lead hands-on development across our TypeScript stack, especially in early and high-impact phases.
* Own the end-to-end AI lifecycle: model orchestration, evaluation, monitoring, and continuous improvement in production.
* Build, hire, and lead a small, high-impact AI engineering team, with full ownership over structure, standards, and ways of working.
* Make and own critical technical decisions in a fast-moving, early-stage environment with high ambiguity.
What you need to succeed:
You will be successful in this role if you:
* Have strong hands-on experience building AI production systems along with modern web architectures.
* Have worked deeply with LLMs / foundation models and are comfortable designing, evaluating, and operating AI- or agent-based systems in production.
* Have led or built engineering teams before and enjoy setting direction while staying close to the code.
* Are comfortable making high-impact technical decisions under uncertainty and taking full ownership for outcomes.
* Thrive in an early-stage startup environment: high pace, high ambiguity, limited structure, and strong personal responsibility.
* Bring grit, curiosity, and long-term commitment, with a strong drive to build something meaningful from the ground up.
How we take care of you:
🧑 🚀 Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: Global Trade is at a crossroads and we have the unique opportunity to build the AI-native backbone for one of the largest industries in the world
💸 Fair pay, real ownership: We offer a competitive salary and a meaningful equity package. This role carries real responsibility, and we want the upside to reflect that.
🎯 Work that actually matters: You'll own one of the most critical parts of the company. Your decisions won't disappear into slide decks: they'll ship, break, improve, and shape kolum's future.
⏰ Flexibility, but no pretending: We don't micromanage calendars. That said, this is an early-stage company building something hard. You decide (and are responsible for) when and how you get things done.
💻 Tools over perks: You get the hardware, software, and setup you need to do great work. Tell us what you need to succeed and we will take care of it.
🌍 Remote-first, human by default: We work remote-first with a base in Berlin. If meeting in person helps us move faster or think better, we'll do it. If not, we won't force it.
🚀 A long-term build: This is not a role for people looking for an easy ride or a polished organisation. It is a role for someone who wants to build something meaningful, take responsibility, and grow alongside the company.
About the process:
We aim to keep the process focused, transparent, and respectful of everyone's time. You will always know where you stand and what comes next.
* First touchpoint (30–45 minutes) with Marius (Co-CEO): An initial conversation to get to know each other, align on expectations, and understand your motivation for joining kolum.
* Technical assessment: A practical, hands-on assessment focused on how you think about architecture, AI systems, and real-world trade-offs.
* In-person strategy session: A deep-dive session where we work through product, technical, and organisational questions together. This is as much for you to evaluate kolum as it is for us to evaluate you.
* Reference call (if needed): If helpful, we may speak with one or two former colleagues to add context on how you work and lead.
* Offer call: If there is a strong mutual fit, we'll walk you through the offer, equity, and next steps in detail
How to apply
Send your CV and/or LinkedIn profile and a short note to marius@kolum.earth.
We are looking forward to you!