Contract Product Engineer - German Market Entry

What we do. Electric Car Leasing

Why we do it. Greener. Fairer. Future.

We are launching our EV (electric vehicle) leasing business in Germany and need an outstanding Senior Software Engineer (Full Stack) to help build it from the ground up.

We have rapidly scaled our proposition in the UK to over 30k vehicles on fleet and £300m ARR in just a few years. What's more, we're growing faster than ever.

Our mission is to rapidly accelerate the EV transition whilst providing the best possible service to our customers.

Our ambition is to build the best EV platform in Germany as rapidly as possible. You may know our sister company, Octopus Energy, which is already one of the fastest growing green energy providers in Germany with over 1m customers.

You’ll be one of two engineers, working directly with the country General Manager to rapidly build and validate our product for the German market.

This role is perfect for a full‑stack developer who is excited by the challenge of quickly shipping minimum viable solutions and directly enabling business growth.

It’s an opportunity to be an integral part of our foundational team in Germany, shape our future, and truly own your work.

What you’ll do

• Build Fast, Deliver Impact.
• Prioritise business impact and rapid validation over technical perfection.
• Work proactively as a self‑starter, identifying problems and proposing solutions independently.
• Understand that most tooling and code will be temporary, built to validate the market, and may be replaced within 1–2 years.
• Translate high‑level business goals into prioritised technical tasks.
• Ship minimum viable solutions rapidly.
• Comfortable working in an ambiguous new‑market environment.
• Collaborate in pairs while following technical guidelines provided by the UK team.

What you’ll need

• Native/C2 German and professional English fluency.
• Strong experience with TypeScript, React, Node.js, SQL/NoSQL.
• Proven delivery of modern, responsive, reusable front‑ends and fast, secure, scalable back‑ends and APIs, including third‑party integrations.
• Experience deploying and maintaining systems on cloud hosting providers.
• Strong understanding of modern development workflows, including Git, CI/CD pipelines.
• Independent problem‑solving skills, attention to detail, and proactive initiative.
• Experience with rapid prototyping, unit testing, agile cycles, and using GenAI or low‑code tooling where appropriate.

What you’ll be doing

• Develop modern, responsive, reusable front‑ends with React and TypeScript.
• Build fast, secure, and scalable backend services and APIs with Node.js, integrating with SQL and NoSQL databases and third‑party APIs.
• Deploy and maintain your own systems on cloud hosting providers.
• Engage in rapid prototyping, unit testing, and agile development cycles, using GenAI tooling where appropriate.
• Work in a paired environment as the senior engineer, following technical guidelines from the UK team.

Why you’ll love it here

• Apply with your CV in English.
• Octopus Electric Vehicles, part of the Octopus Energy Group, was named Sunday Times best company to work for in 2024 and 6th out of the top 100 start‑ups to work for by Tempo in 2025. It is also ranked 50th best place to work on Glassdoor in 2022.
• The Group CEO, Greg, has shared podcasts about our culture and empowering people.
• Salary is discussed openly; we aim to match experience with the right salary. Flexibility is key – we want the right fit, not the highest pay.
• We have a unique culture with autonomy, rapid decision‑making, and a rewards system that recognises hard work. Perks and an employee benefits hub are available.

About us

The electric revolution has arrived – from 2035 you’ll no longer be able to buy a new petrol or diesel car in the UK. We are building a new way for drivers to join the electric charge, learn about and shop for their EV online, and experience a “lease for life” across a unified customer experience. Octopus Electric Vehicles launched in 2018 to make switching to cleaner, greener driving seamless. Our mission is to drive sustainable change, decarbonise the planet and provide fair pricing and a fantastic experience.

We are part of the Octopus Energy Group, which includes Octopus Energy, Octopus Healthcare, Octopus Investments, Octopus Property, Octopus Ventures and Octopus Labs, all focused on improving millions of lives through transformative industry change.

We use AI to help us assess applications fairly and objectively.

As an equal‑opportunity employer, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected attribute. Our commitment is to provide equal opportunities, an inclusive work environment, and fairness for everyone.

If you require specific accommodations or have a unique preference, let us know so we can customise your interview process for maximum comfort.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, but final hiring decisions are made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

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