Technical Lead

Job Description: Technical Lead / Head of Engineering

Department: Technology

Employment Type: Full-time

Work Mode: Work from Office

Experience Required: 10+ years

Leadership Experience: Minimum 3 years managing engineering teams of approximately 10–20 members

Role Overview

We are seeking a highly experienced, hands-on technology leader to take ownership of technology architecture, software engineering, platform reliability, infrastructure, security, data engineering and AI-enabled product development.

The incumbent will work closely with business leadership and product management to translate business priorities into scalable, secure and high-quality technology solutions. The role requires a combination of strategic thinking, technical depth, engineering execution and people leadership.

Key Responsibilities

1. Technology Strategy and Architecture

• Define and maintain scalable, secure and reliable application architecture.
• Make architectural decisions concerning databases, integrations, real-time messaging and system resilience.
• Review technical designs, code and pull requests to maintain engineering standards.
• Ensure technology decisions align with business goals and future scalability.

2. Software Engineering and Delivery

• Lead backend engineering using TypeScript, Node.js and NestJS or comparable frameworks.
• Oversee frontend applications built with React and Next.js.
• Manage sprint planning, release planning, delivery timelines and production deployments.
• Establish development standards, code review processes and engineering best practices.

3. Database and Data Engineering

• Own PostgreSQL database architecture, schema design, indexing, query optimisation and transaction management.
• Manage replication, connection pooling, locking and safe database migrations.
• Oversee analytical data platforms and data warehouses such as Snowflake, Amazon Redshift or BigQuery.
• Drive dimensional modelling, ELT pipelines and orchestration using tools such as dbt and Airflow.

4. Cloud Infrastructure and Reliability

• Manage AWS infrastructure and cloud resource optimisation.
• Oversee Kubernetes or equivalent managed infrastructure.
• Establish and maintain CI/CD pipelines, development environments, automated testing and observability.
• Lead incident response, root-cause analysis, system availability and business continuity planning.
• Manage technology vendors, tools and cloud expenditure.

5. Security and Compliance

• Ensure application and cloud security best practices.
• Oversee data privacy, GDPR requirements, personally identifiable information (PII) handling and access controls.
• Coordinate vulnerability assessment and penetration testing (VAPT) remediation.
• Support ISO-aligned security controls and compliance initiatives.

6. Data, AI and Innovation

• Collaborate with data and AI specialists to develop and deliver AI-enabled product features.
• Support production implementation of LLM-based applications and AI-assisted workflows.
• Establish evaluation, monitoring and feedback mechanisms for AI features.
• Ensure AI coding tools are used securely, responsibly and with appropriate engineering review.

7. Team Leadership and Stakeholder Management

• Lead, recruit, mentor and develop software engineering and data/AI teams.
• Conduct regular one-to-one meetings, performance reviews, goal setting and appraisals.
• Develop future engineering leaders and improve team productivity.
• Work closely with business leaders, product management, operations, clients and external partners.
• Explain complex technical issues, risks and trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders.

Required Technical Skills

• TypeScript, Node.js and NestJS or equivalent backend technologies.
• PostgreSQL and advanced database performance optimisation.
• Redis, queues, third-party APIs, webhooks and integration-heavy architectures.
• AWS cloud infrastructure and Kubernetes or equivalent.
• Data warehouses, ELT pipelines and analytical data modelling.
• CI/CD, automated testing, code reviews and production monitoring.
• Application security, authentication, authorisation and data protection.
• Strong technical documentation and stakeholder communication skills.

Preferred Skills

• React and Next.js.
• WebSockets, Socket.IO, real-time chat or contact-centre platforms.
• Playwright and end-to-end testing.
• Grafana, Loki and Sentry.
• AI coding agents and production LLM applications.
• Exposure to ISO 27001, SOC 2 or investor technical due diligence.

Candidate Profile

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering.
• At least 3 years of experience leading engineering teams of 10–20 professionals.
• Experience managing multidisciplinary teams, preferably including data or machine learning functions.
• Strong problem-solving, decision-making and people-management abilities.
• Ability to balance strategic ownership with hands-on technical involvement.
• Customer-focused, accountable and comfortable working in a fast-paced environmen