Head of Engineering

We're looking for a Head of Engineering who can own our technical direction, build the team to execute it, and personally write the most complex code in our platform. Today, you'll lead a team of about 5-10 engineers. Over the next 12-14 months, you'll grow that to 25+. But in the early months, you'll spend a significant portion of your time coding, especially the intricate pieces: our ontology layer, agentic AI frameworks, and the integration logic that connects to messy real-world systems. This is a player-coach role. You'll be in the codebase daily, shipping features alongside your team, while also hiring, mentoring, and setting technical direction. As the team scales, the balance shifts, but we need someone who wants to be hands-on, not someone counting the days until they can stop coding.
Responsibilities:
Build the most technically complex pieces of our platform: ontology models, agentic AI systems.
Set the technical bar by shipping production code, not just reviewing it.
Design our platform architecture with an eye toward scale, but ship what works today.
Make pragmatic tradeoffs between speed, quality, and technical debt.
Unblock hard problems by diving in, not delegating.
Hire, onboard, and develop engineers across frontend, backend, data, and AI/ML.
Define roles, levels, and career paths as the team grows.
Create a culture where smart people ship great work.
Partner closely with our CPO to turn customer problems into working software.
Own engineering delivery timelines, quality, and what gets cut.
Keep customers unblocked when integration work gets gnarly.
Exposure to the systems our software touches: ERPs (Famous, Computech, PackManager), MES, WMS, SCADA, and machine PLCs.
Occasionally, visit customer sites to see how our product runs on the floor.
Translate messy operational realities into clean technical abstractions.
Requirements:
Technical and amp; Architectural Expectations.
In addition to leadership responsibilities, the Head of Engineering is expected to act as the principal architect and most senior technical authority across the platform.
Full-stack architectural ownership across frontend, backend, data, infrastructure, and AI.
A candidate should be able to design scalable, fault-tolerant systems integrating legacy IT/OT environments.
Backend: Python (FastAPI / Flask), Async Services, REST & amp; GraphQL API.
Data Platforms: PostgreSQL and Analytical Database ClickHouse.
Frontend: ReactJS, NextJS, TypeScript, and micro-frontend patterns.
Cloud Native Infrastructure: Azure and GCP ( CI/CD pipelines, containerization, and observability).
Hands-on experience building AI Agents using CrewAI, LangChain, AutoGen, or similar frameworks.
Familiarity with Model Context Protocol (MCP) concepts for secure tool access and agent communication.
Experience integrating LLMs, vector databases, and decision/optimisation engines into production SaaS.
15+ years of software engineering experience with at least 4 years leading engineering teams.
Still an active coder, you've shipped production code in the last 6 months, not just managed people who did.
Proven track record scaling a team, you've grown an engineering org, not just inherited one.
Deep technical expertise in at least two of: data platforms, ontology/knowledge graphs, AI/ML systems, or agentic frameworks.
B2B SaaS experience understanding enterprise customers, integrations, and long sales cycles.
Engineering degree (CS, EE, or related field) or equivalent experience.
Strong communication skills, you can explain complex technical decisions to non-technical stakeholders clearly.
Experience with industrial data integration: ERPs, MES, WMS, PLCs, or SCADA systems.
Background in process manufacturing, supply chain, or logistics software.
Familiarity with modern AI/ML infrastructure: LLMs, vector databases, agent orchestration frameworks.
Knowledge of food supply chains, agriculture, or perishable goods operations.
Experience with specific platforms we integrate with (Famous, Ignition, TOMRA, Compac).
Startup experience knows how to make progress with constrained resources.

Experience
12-16 yrs