English-Speaking Tech Jobs in Berlin and Germany Without German
Plenty of people look for English-speaking jobs in Berlin, Munich or Hamburg without speaking German, or while still learning it. It's a realistic goal in tech, but not for every role or every company, and postings aren't always clear about it. This guide covers where English-first roles tend to be, how to read a posting for the real language requirement, what to search for, and what to ask about visas and relocation.
Where English-first roles tend to be
Language requirements follow the team and the customers, not the country. Roles where English is the working language are more common at:
- International product companies whose teams are spread across countries, where German would exclude most colleagues.
- Startups and scale-ups with international hiring, many of them in Berlin.
- Engineering and data teams inside larger companies, even when the rest of the company works in German.
German tends to matter more in customer-facing roles for the German market (support, sales, consulting, account management), at traditional companies whose internal documents and meetings are in German, and in the public sector.
Among the boards Hot Jobs checks are several companies founded or headquartered in Germany, such as N26, Trade Republic, HelloFresh, Celonis, Choco and GetYourGuide. That's not a claim about their current openings or language policy; it's a reminder that company career pages are a good place to start a target company list.
Read the posting for the real requirement
The posting usually tells you, if you know where to look. Here's how common phrasings tend to read:
| In the posting | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| "Our working language is English" | English is enough for the job |
| "Fluent English; German is a plus" | English is enough; German helps socially and with some tasks |
| "German at B2 level or higher" | German is required |
| "Fließend Deutsch" or "verhandlungssicheres Deutsch" | Fluent German is required |
| "Sehr gute Deutsch- und Englischkenntnisse" | Both languages are required |
| The whole posting is in German | Assume German is needed, even if it isn't stated |
Two more signals. If the role talks to customers "in the DACH region", German is probably expected even when the posting is in English. And if the company's careers site has an English version but the job descriptions are all in German, the working language is likely German. For a general method, see how to read a job description.
What to search for
On job boards and LinkedIn, searching for the role plus "English" catches many postings, but also plenty of noise, because "fluent English" appears in German-language roles too. More useful approaches:
- Search in English and read the language line first. A posting written in English with no German requirement is your main target.
- Filter by city and by remote. "Remote - Germany" usually means you must live in Germany. Remote roles open to Europe may also cover Germany.
- Search city names in both forms. Munich and München, Cologne and Köln, Nuremberg and Nürnberg. Postings use both.
- Look at company career pages directly. International companies often post there before anywhere else.
Visas: what to check, not what to assume
If you don't already have the right to work in Germany, you'll need a residence permit that allows work. Germany has several routes for skilled workers, and which one fits depends on your citizenship, qualifications, the job offer and other factors. The requirements change, so we won't summarise them here. Use the official German government sources: the federal portal for skilled workers moving to Germany and the German embassy or consulate for your country.
What you can do during the search is ask employers the right questions:
- Have you hired people from outside the EU for this team before?
- Do you support the residence permit process, and who covers the costs?
- Is there relocation support: flights, temporary housing, help with registration?
- Can I start remotely while the paperwork is in progress?
Our guide to visa sponsorship and relocation in job postings lists the phrases to look for and more questions.
Everyday life is a separate question
A job in English doesn't mean life in English. Landlords, public offices and letters are often in German, and the first months after a move involve a fair amount of paperwork. Some employers help with this or pay for German courses; it's worth asking. None of this is a reason not to apply. It's a reason to plan for it.
In the interview
Ask directly: "What's the team's working language day to day? Are all-hands meetings, documentation and Slack in English?" You'll learn more from the answer than from the posting. If English is your second language too, which is the case for many people applying in Berlin, our guide to applying in English as a second language covers CV phrasing and screening calls.
A quick setup
- Pick your role and one or two adjacent titles.
- Choose remote roles open to Europe, and add the German cities you'd live in, in both spellings.
- Read the language line before anything else.
- Ask about working language and visa support on the first call.
In Hot Jobs you can combine Remote · Europe & EMEA with up to 10 cities, such as Berlin, Munich and München, so remote and local roles arrive in one Telegram feed. It won't filter by language or visa support, so read each posting, but it does get new ones to you soon after they go live. €3, paid once. Connect the bot