Remote On-site in Munich

Join Us

Our team is growing. We're looking for people who want to build this with us.

Full-time positions

2 roles

Tech Lead / CTO

Full-time · Munich-based preferred Deadline June 15

We're looking for an experienced engineer to take ownership of the technical side: lead development, build a small engineering team, and be the technical voice in conversations with our institutional partners. You'd inherit a solid foundation, but we want someone who brings their own ideas, makes the system better than we could on our own, and is in this for the mission and ready to build it with us long-term.

More about this role

What you'd do

Core system development

Own the full development lifecycle of our verification platform, from cryptographic foundations to the public-facing verification interface
Maintain and evolve our four-layer proof architecture (file fingerprinting, GAMI Proof Record construction, institutional digital signatures, distributed timestamp anchoring)
Ensure the continued cryptographic integrity of the system as it scales and standards evolve, e.g. planning for post-quantum resilience
Review and improve the existing codebase with your own informed perspective on architecture

Archival integration

Build integrations with diverse archival systems, including Archivematica and Preservica
Ensure usability for institutions with very different technical capacities

Technical leadership & communication

Build and manage a small engineering team of 2–3 people covering frontend and backend development
Be the technical voice in conversations with our institutional partners and in public-facing technical communications
Contribute to shaping the long-term technical roadmap with your own ideas

What we're looking for

Minimum qualifications

Senior software engineering experience with a track record of leading complex systems end-to-end
Strong working knowledge of applied cryptography — hashing, digital signatures, key management — and the judgment to reason about integrity-critical system design
Fluency in English (our internal language is English; German for institutional partner work is an add-on)
Comfortable representing technical work to non-technical institutional partners
Willingness and ability to travel to Germany for key occasions, at least once per year

Preferred qualifications

Experience with blockchain-based timestamping or anchoring protocols
Familiarity with archival systems and standards: Archivematica, Preservica, EAD, Dublin Core, PREMIS, or comparable
Experience integrating software with heterogeneous database environments or institutional data systems
Prior experience in a startup, early-stage organization, or similar setting, with (co-)responsibility for building a tech infrastructure from the ground up
Hands-on experience with one or more of the standards in our stack: Ed25519 / RFC 8032, SHA-256 / FIPS 180-4, OpenTimestamps, DID:web, JSON-LD, RFC 8785, or C2PA
Fluency in German
Based in Munich, or able to travel to Munich for important meetings, e.g. with partner institutions

If you feel you don't meet every criterion, please don't self-eliminate — we'd much rather hear from someone who is smart and driven by similar values than have them not apply at all.

What we offer

Influence over architectural decisions as a founding team member from day one
A highly impactful role: building the solution to a time-critical problem with tangible benefit for future generations
An interdisciplinary, international team with a non-hierarchical, democratic work culture
Remote work possible, with Munich as home base
A salaried full-time position; compensation is discussed individually

Senior Backend / Systems Engineer

Full-time · Remote-first · Hybrid in Munich Deadline June 15

For a funded pilot with national archives and memorial institutions, we're looking for experienced engineers to build the core of the system: secure, reproducible infrastructure that operates under real institutional constraints and integrates with existing archival systems. The work is open source, the compensation is competitive, and the pilot is likely to extend into follow-up phases.

More about this role

What you'd build

Large-scale hashing pipelines
Secure institutional signing workflows (key handling, signing logic, rotation concepts)
Distributed timestamp anchoring via OpenTimestamps
Reproducible and independently verifiable validation logic
Integration interfaces to existing archival software systems
Reliable processes for extracting, hashing, and anchoring files from heterogeneous storage environments

What you bring

4+ years of backend / systems engineering experience (or equivalent depth)
Strong understanding of applied cryptography (hash functions, digital signatures, PKI)
Experience with integrity-critical or security-sensitive systems
Experience designing APIs or system integration layers
Ability to design minimal, robust architectures from first principles
Comfort working autonomously and taking technical ownership
Plus: experience with distributed systems or archival / long-term storage

Internships, working students & thesis

4 programs

Transition to paid positions as funding grows.

Internship / Volunteer

Remote · Munich

Internship · Full-time · Min. 3 months

At least three months, full-time. We're happy to work with both mandatory and voluntary internship formats.

Volunteer · Min. 10 hrs / week · Open-ended

For people who want to contribute regularly alongside their main job or studies. We'll find a setup that works and lets you take on something meaningful from the start.

Technical

Work on cryptographic timestamps, institutional signature workflows, Merkle tree-based batch processing, or the public verification interface.

Archives & Digital Humanities

Help develop and test workflows with our partner institutions, from requirements analysis to integration with existing archival systems and documentation.

Communications & Outreach

Support institutional outreach, funding research, and the preparation of materials for very different audiences, from archives to journalists to policymakers.

Working Student

15–20 hrs / week · Min. 6 months · Remote · Munich

Regular involvement alongside your studies: 15–20 hours per week over at least six months.

Technical Archives & Digital Humanities Communications & Outreach

Bachelor / Master Thesis

Bachelor or Master · Full-time · Remote · Munich

We offer concrete thesis topics for students in computer science, information security, archival science, digital humanities, and related fields, with access to real institutional partners and data. We have several topics prepared; your own proposals are equally welcome. Formal supervision comes through your university; practical guidance and institutional access come through us.

Computer Science Information Security Archival Science Digital Humanities

Tax & Payroll Accounting

Volunteer · A few hours / month · Remote · Munich

We're looking for an accountant, tax advisor, or payroll specialist who'd like to volunteer a few hours a month to support a non-profit working on something meaningful. German language skills required.

Don't see a fit? You're welcome to send an .

What to Expect

Foundational work

Architectural, partnership, and standard-setting decisions you make early will shape the system for years.

Institutional access

Direct collaboration with national archives, memorial sites, and academic partners at LMU, TUM, and Princeton.

Remote-first

We work remotely, with regular calls to stay in sync. Optional in-person work in Munich.

Open by default

All work is published as open source. We're building infrastructure for the long term.

Apply

Tell us what draws you to the role. A CV and a short note are enough. You can also write to application@authenticmemory.org directly.