Founding Talent Lead (m/f/x)

Job description

## 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 Call (25 min)** with [Liza](https://www.linkedin.com/in/liza-shaban/) - **Expert interview (45 min):** with [Valentin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/valentinneumann/) (Co-Founder) - deep dive into: sourcing strategy, process design, quality in decisions) - **Cultural interview (45 min):** with [Philipp](https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipp-hoevelmann/) (Co-Founder) - collaboration, judgment, and culture add - **On-site day (Berlin):** meet the team and work on a real life assignment