Product Engineer

About kolumGlobal 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.Your RoleAs a Product Engineer, you will help build kolum's AI-first Trade Compliance Software end to end - from the interfaces customers touch to the systems behind them, all while using AI as your default leverage at every step.This role is for someone who thinks about product, not just code. You will move fluidly between design, frontend, and backend, asking what should be built and why before asking how. You will prototype with AI tools in hours rather than days, ship features your customers actually use, and own outcomes rather than tickets.Your mission is to turn complex compliance workflows and regulatory logic into clear, intuitive, and trustworthy product experiences. You will spend most of your time shipping: designing flows and prototypes, building user interfaces, wiring up APIs, and iterating with real customer feedback. You will work closely with AI engineers, product, and customer-facing teams to ensure that complex trade compliance requirements reaches users in a usable, transparent, and enterprise-ready way.If you are energised by the leverage modern AI tooling gives a single engineer, and you want to use that leverage to build a real product that matters for real customers, this role is for you.Your Tasks & ResponsibilitiesAs a Product Engineer, you will:Use AI tools as your primary leverage: Claude Code, Cursor, Lovable and whatever comes next: to design, prototype, and ship across the stack faster than a traditional team would.Take features from rough idea to production: shaping the problem, sketching the UX, building the interface, wiring up the backend, and iterating after launch.Build and evolve the frontend of kolum's AI-first Trade Compliance engine, primarily in TypeScript with NextJS.Contribute to backend services (NestJS) and AI integrations (e.g. via Amazon Bedrock, Claude) wherever the product needs it, no rigid lane boundaries.Design and implement AI-first user experiences: workflows, dashboards, explanations, analytics, and feedback loops for AI-driven decisions.Make product calls in collaboration with design, product, and customer-facing teams, proposing what to build, not just executing specs.Continuously raise the bar on usability, performance, accessibility, and reliability in an enterprise context.What you need to succeedYou will be successful in this role if you:Have 2–4 years of hands-on experience building modern web applications, with strong skills in TypeScript, React, and NextJS.Are comfortable stepping into backend code, APIs, and AI integrations, even if frontend is your strongest muscle.Work fluently with AI coding tools (Claude Code, Codex, or similar) and have a point of view on how to get the most out of them.Have experience working with coding agents that act autonomously on product and technical specs: writing the spec, kicking off the agent, reviewing the output, and iterating.Think like a product person: care about the problem, the user, and the outcome, not just clean code.Have strong design sensibility and care deeply about UX, especially when surfacing complex or technical behaviour to users.Enjoy working closely with design, product, and customer-facing roles to ship end-to-end features, and are happy to wear all of those hats yourself when needed.Thrive in an early-stage startup environment with fast iteration, evolving requirements, and limited structure.Bring curiosity, pragmatism, and a strong sense of ownership for what you ship.How we take care of you🧑 🚀 Once-in-a-lifetime opportunityGlobal Trade is at a crossroads and we have the unique opportunity to build the AI-first backbone for one of the largest industries in the world.💸 Fair pay, real ownershipWe 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 mattersYou'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 pretendingWe 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 perksYou 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 defaultWe 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 buildThis 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 processWe 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 Johanna (Founder's Associate)An initial conversation to get to know each other, align on expectations, and understand your motivation for joining kolum.Cultural Fit (30 minutes) with Marius (Co-CEO)A conversation focused on how you work, what motivates you, and how you approach collaboration, ownership, and ambiguity. This is as much for you to evaluate kolum as it is for us to evaluate you.Technical assessment (60–90 minutes)A practical, hands-on assessment focused on how you think about architecture, AI systems, and real-world trade-offs.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 callIf there is a strong mutual fit, we'll walk you through the offer, equity, and next steps in detail.How to applySend your CV and/or LinkedIn profile and a short note to johanna.feldmann@kolum.earth.If the role sounds interesting but you're unsure about every detail, apply anyway. We prefer a conversation over perfect matches.We're looking forward to hearing from you.