Vacancy Tech Lead

We’re looking for a hands-on Tech Lead who wants to build more than software.

You’ll design, build, and own the technical foundation of a mission driven organisation. The concrete job is building the data infrastructure behind our investigations into manipulation, disinformation, and threats to democratic stability. That infrastructure goes straight to the investigators who protect our democracy and the rights of vulnerable groups.

We want someone who likes ownership and builds things properly, and who wants the work to count for more than a commercial bottom line.

It is not a management role. We need a strong engineer who’d rather write the code than sit in the meeting about it. You’ll be making the architectural calls, building infrastructure that scales, and designing secure systems from scratch.

What you will do

Technical Leadership

• Define and own the overall technical architecture and roadmap.
• Make key decisions around infrastructure, scalability, reliability, and security.
• Establish engineering standards, best practices, and development workflows.
• Create a robust technical foundation that supports rapid product growth.

Software & Data Engineering

• Design, build, and maintain robust end-to-end ELT pipelines for structured and unstructured data.
• Build backend services, APIs, automations, and AI-driven workflows.
• Set up scalable data platforms using European and open-source technologies where appropriate.
• Connect and manage integrations with external APIs and third-party systems.
• Expand and maintain our data lakehouse architecture.
• Transform raw data into reliable, structured, and production-ready datasets.

Security & Reliability

• Implement security best practices across applications, infrastructure, and data platforms.
• Design systems with resilience, observability, and maintainability in mind.
• Ensure compliance with modern cybersecurity standards and data protection requirements (GDPR).

Future Team Building

• Help shape the future engineering organisation.
• Mentor and eventually lead additional developers as the team grows.
• Contribute to hiring decisions and technical culture

You are

• An experienced (AI-) software engineer, data engineer, technical lead.
• Comfortable taking ownership without requiring heavy supervision.
• Strong in Python and/or Node.js.
• Experienced with SQL, Git, cloud infrastructure, APIs, and modern development tooling.
• Familiar with data engineering best practices and scalable architectures.
• Knowledgeable about cybersecurity, infrastructure security, and secure software development.
• Able to balance technical excellence with pragmatic decision-making.
• A clear communicator who enjoys working in a small, mission-driven team.
• Excited by building from zero to one.

Nice to have

• Experience with AI agents, LLMs, RAG systems, or AI product development.
• Experience with lakehouse architectures.
• Experience working in startups or early-stage ventures.
• Familiarity with European cloud providers and open-source infrastructure stacks.
• Experience leading or mentoring engineering teams.

What we offer

• Significant ownership and influence over technical direction.
• Direct collaboration with founders.
• Freedom to select (open-source) technologies and shape architecture.
• A high-impact role in a mission driven company.
• Initial freelance engagement (approximately 6-12 months) with a clear path toward a long-term position.
• Euro 80.000/year.

Why this role?

Most startups hire multiple developers and figure out the architecture later. We’re taking the opposite approach. We’re looking for one exceptional engineer who can establish the right foundation from day one. Someone who combines hands-on execution, architectural thinking, infrastructure expertise, and security awareness. With the right person in place, we believe we can move faster, build smarter, and scale more effectively than by adding multiple developers too early.

Practical information:

• Location: Amsterdam;
• Contract: Freelance/staff (6 -12 months) with intention to transition into a permanent role;
• Renumeration: Euro 80.000/year;
• Experience: Senior / Lead level;
• Start: As soon as possible;
• Direct hiring only: no agencies or intermediaries. 

We…

• are a non-profit investigatory platform based in Amsterdam;
• investigate the actors, networks and mechanisms that destabilise and undermine democracy and push active polarisation;
• combine multidisciplinary research, OSINT and field-based investigations.

Interested? Send a motivation / CV to [email protected]