Summary
Founding Talent Lead for Cortea, an AI-powered audit startup in Berlin. You will own end-to-end talent acquisition, build a talent engine, and shape employer brand for tech talent. Requires 5+ years of TA experience in fast-paced environments, with a proven track record of hiring top talent.
- Location
- Berlin
- Type
- full-time
- Level
- Senior
- Work mode
- onsite
About Cortea
We’re Cortea, a Berlin startup transforming audits with AI. Manual, document-heavy audits waste expert time while demand keeps rising. Our AI-powered software and specialized AI agents remove the repetitive work so auditors can focus on judgment.
Backed by top-tier VCs with >15m funding, with a working product and paying customers, we’re rapidly scaling.
We value first-principles thinking, speed, trust, and kindness. We build side by side in our Berlin office.
The Role
You build talent foundations. You’ll design a process, that bring in exceptional talent across Tech and Non-Tech, and build a culture we’re proud of.
What you’ll do
Own the Talent end to end: job design → scope → JD → sourcing → structured interviews → offer → close
Build a Talent Engine: attract great people proactively; both inbound and outbound
Raise the hiring bar: scorecards, trained interviewers, consistent candidate experience
Shape our brand for Tech/AI talent with content, events, and a strong referral loop
Be culture-positive: partner with founders on rituals, onboarding handover, and feedback loops
You’ll be great at this if you
Have 5+ years of TA in a fast environment (startup/scale-up or agency)
Have hired top talent before and know the difference in how to assess them
Communicate clearly, leverage our founding team, and make data driven decisions fast
Can show early-stage track record you’re proud of
Think in systems and improve with data; bonus if you’ve built employer branding for engineers/AI
How we work
We value kindness + candor + execution, speed with care, and strong ownership
We’re fully in-office in Berlin because we like building side by side
We hire with structured interviews and clear scorecards to reduce bias
Non-linear paths welcome. Career breaks welcome. If you’re unsure, apply.
What we offer
High impact from day one and a path to Head of Talent/People as we grow
Competitive salary + meaningful equity (range shared on the first call)
In-office energy. shared lunches, whiteboard time, fast decisions, real teamwork
Uncapped growth. Budget for tools, learning, and events you choose
Interview process
Intro (25 min): with Leon/Liza (our Founders Associates) - early stage hiring track record
Expert interview (45 min): with Valentin (Co-Founder) - deep dive into: sourcing strategy, process design, quality in decisions)
Cultural interview (45 min): with Philipp (Co-Founder) - collaboration, judgment, and culture add
On-site day (Berlin): meet the team and work on a real life assignment
Founding Talent Lead (m/f/x)
cortea · Berlin