Lead Software Engineer (Full Time | Onsite)

Lead Software Engineer (Onsite)

at Singapore’s leading AI training provider

Full-time | Singapore | Technology | Onsite

The opportunity

Vertical Institute is looking for a Lead  Software Engineer to own the technical direction of a small, high-output engineering team building the systems that power our learning platform and internal operations. This is a hands-on leadership role - you will still write and review code, but your primary contribution is making the team's technical decisions sound, the architecture scalable, and the engineering culture strong.

You will work closely with the CEO and cross-functional stakeholders across admissions, sales, finance, and operations to translate business priorities into a technical roadmap - and then lead the team to execute against it. The systems you design and the standards you set will shape how the company's technology function grows from here.

This is not a role for someone who wants to step back from the code and into meetings. We are looking for a lead who is credible in both directions - technical enough to make the right architecture calls and lead by example, and clear-headed enough to set priorities, unblock the team, and communicate trade-offs to non-technical leadership. If you have done this before in a lean, fast-moving environment, we want to talk.

What You Will Own

1. Technical Leadership & Strategy

Architecture & Direction: Set technical standards, choose scalable architectures, and maintain system security and reliability.

Roadmap & Trade-offs: Partner with the CEO to turn business goals into an actionable engineering roadmap while managing technical debt.

Engineering Quality: Raise the team’s standard through thoughtful design and code reviews.

2. Hands-On Engineering & Integrations

Core Systems: Stay actively coding to build and maintain the core learning platform.

Operations & Tooling: Build internal automations and tools to streamline sales, admissions, finance, and support.

SaaS Integrations: Connect LMS, CRM, payment systems, and third-party tools for long-term maintainability.

3. AI & Automation Innovation

Practical AI Integration: Proactively identify and build AI features, agents, and workflows to improve efficiency and decision-making across the business.

4. Team Culture & Growth

Mentorship: Coach engineers, enforce best practices (testing, docs, CI/CD), and foster an ownership-driven culture.

5. Stakeholder Communication

Bridge Technical & Business: Translate complex tech concepts clearly for the CEO and non-technical teams, building cross-functional trust.

What We Are Looking For

Essential Experience

Proven Track Record: Proven experience operating at a Lead or Principal level (not a first-time leader).

Engineering Background: Strong full-stack or backend background building production-grade web systems.

System Design: Solid foundation in architecture, database design, API design, and performance optimization.

Leadership & Delivery: Demonstrated ability to mentor engineers and ship reliable software iteratively without over-engineering.

Clear Communication: Excellent ability to explain technical trade-offs to business stakeholders.

Nice-to-Haves

Ruby on Rails experience.

Background in EdTech / Learning Management Systems (LMS).

Hands-on experience building with modern AI APIs or automation tools.

Experience integrating CRM, payment, and analytics platforms.

Prior startup or scale-up experience.

Why this role

Genuine technical authority

You set the architecture, the standards, and the direction. The technical decisions are yours to make and yours to stand behind.

Direct CEO access

You work directly with the CEO on the technical roadmap. Your input shapes business decisions, not just engineering backlogs.

AI at the core

You are building AI-powered systems for an AI training company. The subject matter and the tools are genuinely aligned in a way most tech roles cannot offer.

Build the function

The engineering team is lean and the scope is large. What you build here - technically and culturally - will define how technology operates at Vertical Institute as the company scales.

About Vertical Institute

Vertical Institute is Singapore's leading AI and technology training provider. We are a Skills and Workforce Development Agency (SWDA) Registered Training Provider and IBF-accredited institution. Over 50,000 professionals have trained with us across individual programmes and enterprise engagements, including partnerships with government agencies, MNCs, and financial institutions. We are headquartered at the Lifelong Learning Institute.