Culture & Hiring Process

Overview

Before you apply, here’s what we couldn’t fit into a job posting: what an ordinary week actually looks like, who we hire and why, what you get beyond the role itself, and exactly how the hiring process runs, start to finish. No surprises, on either side.

Our Values & Culture

Values on a page don’t mean much on their own, so here’s what ours look like on an ordinary week: an idea that’s off the roadmap gets room to breathe, a failed sea trial gets picked apart for what it taught us instead of buried, and nobody has to guess whether raising a concern is welcome. Nothing here moves at glacier pace, either. Priorities shift as fast as the technology does, and we’re looking for people who do their best work exactly when that’s true, not despite it. Put those instincts together over a few years and you get the six things below.

We’re looking for team people, not solo contributors. We think people grow into a role, so less experience is a fine place to start too.

Wonder. Most of the ocean floor has never been systematically observed. That’s the kind of open problem that gets us up in the morning; we hire for people who still ask “what if” before “is this in scope.”

Playfulness. Some of the best fixes come from someone messing around with a spare part on a Friday afternoon, not from a roadmap meeting. We leave room for that instead of scheduling it away.

Integrity. Most tools in this space produce data nobody trusts enough to act on. That’s the problem we exist to fix. We hold ourselves to the same standard internally: honest about what works, what doesn’t, and what we don’t know yet.

Joy. A prototype coming back from a sea trial in one piece is still worth celebrating, however many times it’s happened before. We don’t let shipping fast crowd that out.

Fortitude. We’re a small team building hardware for one of the harshest environments there is. We’d rather learn from a failed sea trial than perfect something in the lab for six more months.

Bold & Brave. We expect people to bring in AI and new R&D methods rather than default to how it’s always been done. If you think there’s a better way, we want to hear it.

What We Offer

A small team where your work ships and gets tested for real, not shelved. Room to bring in AI tools and new R&D methods rather than default to the established way of doing things. A team that’s still being built, and a real say in how it gets built: you’ll sit in on the decisions, not just execute them, with a clear path to leading the team as it grows. Small enough that you’ll work directly with the founders and leadership on what you’re actually building, not report up a chain to someone who reports to someone else.

Total compensation is set by level and seniority under the Italian CCNL Industria Metalmeccanica. “TC” (total compensation) is the full annual cost of employment: salary plus contributions, so it’s directly comparable across offers and countries, not just Italy. ESPP and stock options are available, depending on the role.

Full-coverage supplementary health insurance (Metasalute) for you and your family, on top of Italy’s national health service (SSN). A 36-hour work week with flexible hours, at least 33 days of paid time off (PTO) per year, an extra day off on your birthday, and time off around a new child. A Mac, a reMarkable, real headphones, and whatever else it takes to do the job well, plus a company offsite every year. Diving, sailing, and other sea-related sports are part of the job here, not just a perk.

We’re a hardware team, so we expect real hands-on time in the office, especially early on: you need to be near the actual hardware. That doesn’t mean remote time never makes sense, just that proximity is something we genuinely value, not a policy for its own sake. Right now that means at least 50% of your time in one of our offices; some roles may require more.

We sponsor visas where we can. If we make you an offer, we’ll make every reasonable effort to secure one and work with an immigration lawyer to help. We primarily consider candidates based in the EU or NATO member countries, though exceptional candidates from other regions are also welcome.

Diversity & Inclusion

Biodiversity is diversity: that’s not a coincidence for us, it’s the whole point. We build the tools to protect nature’s diversity in the ocean; it would be strange not to hold the same standard for our own team.

A5 is an equal opportunity employer, committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace, and welcomes applications from all backgrounds, irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, beliefs, age or disability. Level and compensation are set by the role and by what you bring to it, on the same terms for everyone. We reward how bold you are, not where you come from. We encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every qualification listed.

Hiring process

We hand-review every application ourselves; there’s no automated screening step. We’d rather read something short and written with a little care than three polished paragraphs of generic AI output.
If you used AI to write yours, that’s fine: it’s 2026. Just tell us how much.

• Application review: CV and cover letter, read by a person, fast.
• Interviews with the founders and the people team directly. No scripted HR call, no AI on the other end of the line.
• We weigh attitude, values, personality, and how badly you want to learn over your list of past titles.
• No take-home tests. We talk through what you’ve actually built, and how you could change where A5 is headed.
• Mandatory reference checks, then an offer. We always follow through on them, and we appreciate having real contacts to call.