---
title: 'Principal Engineer, Application Engineering (f/m/d) at Hop'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/principal-engineer-application-engineering-f-m-d-hop-munich-7ahbxvmj1bw3'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-09'
---

# Principal Engineer, Application Engineering (f/m/d) at Hop

- **Company:** Hop
- **Location:** Munich, Germany
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-07-13
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-09
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/hophr/059e2e72-cb03-4ef2-9414-78ef990d8d24

## Job description

This is a great time to be in the Automotive space. Cars are undergoing a big transformation into software platforms on wheels, as they move to become Electric, Automated & Personalized. Under the hood, the electronics infrastructure is a key enabler with domain & zonal electronic architectures. Renesa is a leader in Automotive semiconductors. It is the role within the System Application Engineering team to fully understand the future trends of vehicle infrastructure, and how this maps to current and future the company's MCU products.

Become part of a dynamic team that is analysing automotive systems to engage with vehicle OEMs and direct customers at expert level to define next generation automotive systems. There is a lot of room for new ideas and innovations, and you will be supported to have a continuous focus on development, coaching and creating a supportive environment for your team. The company strongly believes that the business is rapidly transforming, and future growth will be driven by innovations. Our engineers will help to lead this transformation.

## What you'll do

- Understand vehicle E/E architecture evolution and resulting impact on MCU (e.g. impact of central compute and zonalization trend)
- Understand MCU SW ecosystem and architecture and impact on MCU architecture
- Analyse Software / Hardware tradeoffs
- Drive thought leadership of innovative concepts disrupting the market
- Build and maintain technical relationships with key architects at OEMs and leading Tier Ones
- Follow latest market trends to predict changes in product
- Closely follow technology trends and predict their impact
- Closely work with Marketing on Market requirements
- Work closely with product managers, engineers, and other stakeholders to ensure that the system meets their needs.

## What we require

- Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical or Computer Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science, or similar required, Masters preferred
- Vast knowledge in relevant experience
- Strong understanding of automotive applications. We are looking for several candidates covering those segment:
- Electrification, e.g. Inverter, DC/DC, Onboard Charger, …
- Vehicle E/E architecture, e.g. central gateways, zonal ECUs, ECU up integration
- High level of experience in microcontroller/microprocessor architectures as well as network interfaces (Ethernet, CAN…)
- Good understanding of software needs for AutoSAR related applications driving the HW architecture
- Strong customer engagement & experience. Direct experience with Automotive Tier1 or OEMs preferred.
- Ability to work at the system-level, identifying optimal partitioning of solutions between hardware and software.
- Comfortable working with the ambiguity inherent in implementing new technologies
- Good written and verbal communication/presentation skills in English spanning technical contributors, business stakeholders, customers, and management. Information sharing, working as a team player and striving for clarity comes natural to you
- Willingness to travel worldwide

## About Hop

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Hop (HopHR) is a recruitment platform that connects U.S. companies with pre-vetted AI, machine learning, and data science talent from Latin America.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Bootstrapped)
- **Headquarters**: Walnut Creek, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2016
- **Founders**: Nazli Nadem and Arash Sohrabian

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: Staffing and Recruiting (specialized in AI/ML and data science talent)
- **Target customers**: B2B – startups to Fortune 500 companies seeking technical talent, especially in AI, machine learning, and data engineering
- **Mission or purpose statement**: “Break geographic barriers, giving global talent access to high-paying, future-focused roles” and promote diversity in tech hiring.

## Products & Services
- **Recruitment Platform**: AI-driven matching and vetting platform that evaluates candidates using proprietary technology; only top 1 in 500 talents are selected.
- **Direct Hire**: Full-time placement of pre-vetted engineers (AI/ML, data science, full-stack, MLOps, etc.) with a 16-day selection process.
- **Contract-to-Hire**: Trial period engagements before committing to a full-time offer.
- **Team Augmentation**: On-demand scaling of engineering capacity with LATAM-based talent working in U.S. time zones.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Headcount of 16 employees (+12.5% YoY); talent pool of over 100,000 data science and AI professionals worldwide (including 35,000+ women in tech)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: No disclosed investors; trusted by startups and Fortune 500 companies; featured in Forbes.
- **Growth Signals**: 80% client return rate; LinkedIn followers growing +10.5% yearly; expanding marketing team (hiring Marketing Manager as of Sep 2024).

## Competitive Advantages
- **LATAM Focus**: Timezone-aligned talent (mostly Latin America) enabling real-time collaboration at lower cost compared to U.S.-based hires.
- **Rigorous Vetting**: Proprietary 16-day evaluation covering technical skills, communication, and cultural fit; only top 1 in 500 candidates pass.
- **Diversity Commitment**: Actively promotes hiring of women and underrepresented groups in tech; over 35,000 women in their talent pool.
- **AI-Powered Matching**: Uses machine learning algorithms and a human-segmented database to surface the best candidates quickly.

## Strategic Focus
- **Geographic Expansion**: Continue breaking barriers by connecting LATAM talent with U.S. companies, with a goal to uplift communities.
- **AI Talent Specialization**: Deepening expertise in generative AI, LLMs, and MLOps to meet growing demand.
- **Scalability**: Offering flexible engagement models (direct hire, contract-to-hire, augmentation) to adapt to client needs.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Rated 4.2/5.0 on employer reviews (Culture: 4.3, Career: 4.3, Compensation: 3.8). Described as “zestful,” encouraging bold initiatives and diversity.
- **Work Mode**: Hybrid workspace – employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
- **Notable Perks**: Focus on professional growth; access to top mentors and training on ethics, work culture, and self-mastery.
- **Engineering Culture**: Emphasis on using AI tools to enhance recruitment, with a tech-forward approach and a small, distributed team (16 people across 6 countries).

## Sources
1. [LinkedIn – Hop](https://linkedin.com/company/hophr)
2. [HopHR About Page](https://hophr.com/about)
3. [HopHR Services Page](https://hophr.com/services)
4. [Built In – HopHR Careers](https://builtin.com/company/hophr)
5. [HopHR Jobs on Lever](https://jobs.lever.co/hophr)

## Other roles at Hop

- [Lead Product Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-product-manager-hop-new-york-bz4zr7m451bn) — New York, NY
- [HPC Sr Staff Engineer, Test Jig Core Technology Development](https://feeny.ai/job/hpc-sr-staff-engineer-test-jig-core-technology-development-hop-japan-8g8f6mx40sbb) — Japan
- [HPC SoC Timing Design Engineer/Leader](https://feeny.ai/job/hpc-soc-timing-design-engineer-leader-hop-japan-fzxfhke4zj5h) — Japan
- [Automotive MCU Chip Architect](https://feeny.ai/job/automotive-mcu-chip-architect-hop-duesseldorf-je6nftbh4adz) — Duesseldorf, Germany
- [Staff/Sr Staff, Automotive MCU Product Marketing (HPC)](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-sr-staff-automotive-mcu-product-marketing-hpc-hop-duesseldorf-3k7jewzd4mra) — Duesseldorf, Germany
- [Senior Director, Physical Design & Backend Engineering (HPC)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-director-physical-design-backend-engineering-hpc-hop-austin-7cchhvz44ep3) — Austin, TX
- [Automotive MCU Business Development Marketing Director/Sr. Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/automotive-mcu-business-development-marketing-director-sr-manager-hop-japan-70k9899m8nps) — Japan
- [Chief of Staff to SVP](https://feeny.ai/job/chief-of-staff-to-svp-hop-remote-zbm1kq7zfzwa)
- [Full Stack Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/full-stack-software-engineer-hop-los-angeles-s6n3xjwpfyq4) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Full Stack Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/full-stack-software-engineer-hop-los-angeles-dsat1b74gxyj) — Los Angeles, CA