Director of Engineering, Data & AI (f/m/d)

Director of Engineering, Data & AI (f/m/d) Upvest is on a mission to make investing as easy as spending money. The company empowers businesses to offer a wide range of investment products and the best experience in the field of capital market investment and retirement planning. Upvest’s Investment API is easy to integrate so that fintechs and enterprises alike can save resources and fully focus on their core business.‍ Upvest is one of the few fintechs in Europe that can provide its B2B clients with the full range of investment opportunities in the areas of principal broking business, proprietary trading, and safe custody business for traditional securities. The company was founded in 2017 by Martin Kassing and currently employs more than 200 people across Europe. Its latest €100m fundraising round (Series C) was led by Hedosophia and Sapphire Venture, with continued support from existing investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, BlackRock, Earlybird, HV Capital, Motive Ventures, and Notion Capital. We currently employ 240+ people across Europe with our headquarters based in Berlin, Germany, and hubs in Tallinn, Estonia, and London, UK. We would consider hiring a hybrid setup with regular travels to Berlin for this role. If you do want to move to one of our hubs, we’re happy to support your relocation. You own Data & AI @Upvest As the Investment API category leader in Europe, we are continuing our path of growth and expansion - with our API product at its core. To succeed, we're looking for a Director of Engineering, Data & AI to own the entire Data & AI function at Upvest. This is a critical leadership role where you'll be responsible for refining and executing our data strategy, building and scaling our data and AI platforms, and driving tangible business value. You'll lead all aspects of our data ecosystem, from foundational data architecture and engineering to advanced AI/ML product delivery, ensuring everything operates within the strict requirements of a regulated financial services environment. This role requires a unique blend of deep technical expertise, strategic business acumen, and exceptional people leadership. Build, lead and grow a team As our Director of Engineering, Data & AI, you'll build, lead, and grow a high-performance, inclusive team of data engineers and analysts. You'll be a hands-on leader, mentoring your team, setting high technical standards, and fostering a culture of ownership and collaboration. Your leadership will be pivotal in scaling our team from scratch and aligning them with cross-functional partners like Engineering, Product, Compliance, Risk, and Finance to deliver on our company-wide goals. Role requirements: Experience & Expertise: - Extensive experience in Data and AI, including a proven track record leading technical teams. - Proven experience in a regulated fintech, finance, or banking environment, preferably B2B, with a deep understanding of API-first SaaS offerings. - Hands-on experience designing and implementing a modern data stack (e.g. Kafka, Spark, Flink, Airflow, Dagster). Technical & Product Skills: - Demonstrated track record of shipping multiple Data and AI systems into production with clear ROI. - Deep understanding of data modeling, data contracts, and data observability. - Proficiency in designing low-latency inference pipelines and secure deployment patterns. Leadership & Collaboration: - Proven experience leading and scaling a multi-disciplinary team of 5+ people across data engineering, ML and analytics. - Exceptional ability to build and align high-performing, inclusive teams. - Strong communication skills to align with cross-functional stakeholders (Ops, Product, Engineering, Compliance, Risk, Finance) and influence executive decisions. Location & Availability: - Preferred start date ASAP. - Primary location preference for Berlin, with London, Tallinn, and a hybrid European model also considered. What you can expect from this role: - ... (truncated, view full listing at source)