Technical Co-Founder (CTO) (Clone)

Climate health compliance software for German employers. Co-founder seat, equity, ownership.

What Lichen is
German heat law (ArbSchG, ASR A3.5) requires employers to organize heat protection and prove it: adjust shifts, mandate breaks, measure temperatures, log everything. The software that turns it into a routed, documented response inside a specific workplace is Lichen.

A heat trigger maps to a site's required measures, the right instruction reaches the right manager at the right moment, and the system produces audit-ready proof. The buyer is occupational safety and operations, funded from the employer's safety budget. From 2026, authorities must inspect 5% of employers annually.

Where we are
Early stage, pre-pilot. Discovery is running with real buyers in frontline industries, and there is active momentum in the Berlin startup ecosystem. You would join at the point where the build becomes the moat.

What you would own
The entire technical side. A lean web product with applied AI at the core: mapping heat and risk signals to the specific measures a given site owes, routing them, and logging tamper-proof evidence. You architect it, ship it, own it.

Who we are looking for

• A senior full-stack engineer who has shipped a real product solo or near-solo
• Workflow and automation instinct. Experience building operational, compliance, or multi-site software is the strongest signal we can get
• Applied AI fluency: LLM orchestration and data logic in production, in shipping code
• 0 to 1 temperament. Comfortable building before the first pilot signs
• Genuine pull toward climate or health impact
• English-comfortable. German is a plus. Berlin-based preferred, or EU with willingness to be in Berlin for key moments

Who this is not for

• Contractor energy. This is an owner's role with equity as the primary compensation now
• Consultant energy. We need a product-oriented builder

What you get
Meaningful co-founder equity with standard vesting, and a fair written agreement in place before any substantive work starts.
Specifics belong in a real conversation, and we get there fast.

Women are especially encouraged to apply
Lichen is founded and led by women. We know how rare that is on the technical side of climate and compliance software, and we want to change it from day one. If you are a woman who has shipped real products and hesitates because you tick five of six boxes instead of all six, please reach out anyway. The conversation costs 20 minutes.