We use AI to accelerate - not to replace thinking.
We design the system, steer the output, and take responsibility for what we ship.
Fast where it makes sense. Careful where it matters.

Activities

We don't just subscribe to services; we engineer platforms. We believe that deep in-house expertise and a strong commitment to open source provide the flexibility and performance that enterprise SaaS cannot match. We design, we steer, and we own our stack end-to-end.

Your Mission

You will be the guardian and architect of smartclip's internal infrastructure. Your goal is to turn observability and automation from "tools we use" into a "platform capability" that empowers every other engineer in the company.

• Own the Observability Stack: Take the lead on Prometheus, Grafana, and Forgejo. You won't just maintain them; you will evolve them into a world-class monitoring ecosystem.
• Engineer for Reliability: Design actionable alerting and define SLOs that move us from reactive firefighting to proactive stability.
• Champion Open Source: Evaluate and implement cutting-edge open-source alternatives to proprietary software. You decide what enters our stack and how it integrates.
• Secure the Pipeline: Integrate security engineering directly into our delivery process. You find the vulnerabilities before the pen tests do.
• Master the Metal: Navigate the depths of Linux systems and distributed tooling, balancing bold experimentation with rock-solid production stability.

Requirements

Your Skills

We are looking for a "builder" who is bored by simple configuration and thrives on systems thinking.

Core Competencies:

• Observability Expertise: You have a proven track record of implementing metrics, logs, and traces. You know how to turn noisy data into actionable insights.
• Linux & Systems Engineering: You are comfortable in the terminal and understand how distributed systems communicate and fail.
• Automation Mindset: You hate doing the same thing twice. You use code to automate infrastructure and eliminate toil.
• Ownership Culture: You embrace the "you build it, you run it" philosophy and take pride in the stability of the systems you touch.

The Power-Ups (Nice-to-haves):

• Hands-on experience with GCP or AWS at a production scale.
• Active contributions to the open-source community or a portfolio of self-hosted projects.
• Experience in conducting blameless post-mortems and driving root-cause analysis.

Team

• Ownership over tickets: You're trusted with real responsibility, not just tasks. No unnecessary bureaucracy, no micromanagement - we rely on you to take things forward.
• Build > Talk: We test what works - not what sounds good. Fail fast, learn faster.
• High standards, low ego: We take our work seriously, but not ourselves. Direct feedback, honest collaboration, no drama.
• Stay sharp: Hackathons, conferences, community - we invest in your growth and keep you at the cutting edge.
• And yes - the fundamentals are covered too: 30 days of vacation + Dec 24 & 31 off, Smart Fridays (4 days week possible), mobility (Germany ticket & JobRad), sports & health offerings, mental health support, corporate benefits, RTL+ access, and more.

Application Process

1. A quick intro call with Sarah (Head of Talent Acquisition @smartclip)
2. Video call with your future manager and a teammate - real talk, no script
3. Meet us in Berlin: hands-on case study, coding challenge (pair programming), or a role play - depending on the role
4. Prompt, honest feedback from Sarah - no ghosting, we promise

About the Company

About smartclip

smartclip is the adtech development unit of RTL Group - Europe's leading free-to-air broadcaster group. Our proprietary advertising technology is custom-built for the needs of European broadcasters and publishers - enabling media owners to implement smarter monetisation strategies. We are committed to delivering the most innovative ad experiences spanning in-stream, out-stream, addressable TV, connected TV, audio, and gaming - ultimately empowering brands with true cross-screen storytelling opportunities on all devices.

For more information: Please visit www.smartclip.tv and follow us on LinkedIn.