Founding Marketing Lead (m/f/x)

About Cortea

We’re Cortea, a Berlin-based startup rebuilding how audits are done.

Audits are still driven by spreadsheets, checklists, and manual reviews in one of the most regulated, high-stakes areas of business.
We use AI to automate audits end to end, so highly educated auditors no longer spend 60+ hour weeks on manual work and can focus on judgment, trust, and choices that matter.
With €10m+ in funding, a live product, and paying customers across Europe, we’re at a stage where your choices will directly shape Cortea’s future, and how audits are done.

The Role

This is a founding, company-building role with end-to-end ownership and real decision scope.

As Founding Marketing Lead, you will build Cortea’s growth marketing and brand from the early days, side by side with the founders, sales, and customers.

Your job is not to run generic campaigns. Your job is to:

• Make Cortea the most trusted and recognizable brand in auditing

• Build repeatable startup growth marketing that turns a clear point of view into a qualified pipeline

What you’ll do

Build startup growth marketing from the early days

• Refine Cortea’s positioning, messaging, and narrative for auditors and audit firms

• Explore, test, and refine which growth channels work best

• Decide where we invest or de-vest across markets, segments, channels

Build the strongest brand in auditing

• Establish Cortea as a trusted, modern authority — not a hype-driven AI tool

• Set direction for tone of voice, visual consistency, and storytelling across all touchpoints

• Develop customer proof: case studies, references, and stories that auditors recognize themselves in

Lay the marketing foundation

• Set up analytics, attribution, and feedback loops that show what actually works

• Build the first marketing playbooks and hiring plan for the whole team

• Hire and mentor the first marketing teammates when the timing is right

You’ll own topics end-to-end, work full-stack, from framing the problem to shipping the solution, with context and guidance when needed.

How we work

• Founder mindset: If you see something broken, you help improve it. You don’t wait for permission.

• Collaborative problem solving: We debate in person, write clearly, and decide together.

• Progress over perfection: Strong 80/20 beats polished but late.

• Direct feedback: Weekly feedback loops, not quarterly reviews.

What success looks like (after ~6 months)

• You’ve evolved Cortea’s appearance and positioning. Clear narrative, sharp messaging, and consistent tone across product, website, sales, and content

• You’ve laid the groundwork for becoming the brand in auditing: a clear point of view that auditors recognize, trust, and talk about

• You’ve established 1–2 scalable growth channels (e.g., LinkedIn, content, events, ABM) that reliably create a qualified pipeline

Who you are

• You’ve built or helped build a B2B brand and understand how trust is earned in serious, high‑stakes markets

• You’re design‑savvy, with a strong sense for visual systems, language, and consistency. You enjoy shaping them

• You balance taste with data: you care about craft, but you decide based on numbers and feedback

• You obsess over positioning, who we’re for, what we stand for, and why that matters

• You want to learn directly from auditors: joining calls, visiting firms, and speaking their language

• You’re excited to build a growth marketing engine for the AI era, not reuse outdated playbooks

• You’re hands-on and reflective: you ship, measure, learn, and iterate — while building leverage for the team

• You’re comfortable speaking up, collaborating closely, and changing your mind when evidence proves you wrong

• Bonus, but not required: Experience building brands where credibility and clarity matter more than hype

You don’t need to meet every requirement. If this role stretches you and excites you, we encourage you to apply.

What we offer

• Real impact: You shape Cortea’s growth engine and brand from day one

• Responsibility with support: High expectations, fast feedback, and founder context

• Compensation: €90–120k salary + meaningful equity

• Environment: Central Berlin office, team lunches, offsites, flexible vacation

• Learning through exposure: Direct access to customers, founders, and key decisions

Interview process

• Intro call with Leon (Founders Associate Growth)

• Marketing deep dive, real go‑to‑market and brand cases with Philipp (Co-Founder)

• Culture & ambition, values and collaboration fit with Valentin (Co-Founder)

• On‑site half‑day (Berlin): meet the team and work on a live growth or brand challenge

We’re an equal‑opportunity team and strongly encourage women and underrepresented candidates to apply.