Head of Engineering Full Time

About the job
Lean is looking for a Head of Engineering to facilitate, empower, and ensure our engineering team is thriving at Lean. You’ll develop, deliver and execute the platform roadmap, run the platform architecture group with the engineering team, and ensure all internal systems operate securely, consistently and effectively. To be successful in this role, you should be confident in coaching and developing individuals while, at the same time, working with engineering owners to design, plan, debug and deliver platform items and features, set business goals to technology projects, and own production operations.

Who we are

Lean enables the next generation of financial innovation in MENAP by building cutting-edge tools to power the future of money across the region. Our products focus on enabling companies to seamlessly connect to their users’ bank accounts to initiate real time payments and retrieve account information. This has garnered the trust of leading companies and enabled them to deliver powerful experiences, allowing users to perform prudent financial planning, get better rates on loans, transfer money to friends and more, without compromising on privacy or security.

Some of Lean’s clients include the likes of Binance, Etisalat Group, Careem and Sarwa, making it the region’s most valuable Open Banking platform. Since mid 2021, the company has processed hundreds of millions of dollars and gained the trust of hundreds of thousands of users – and we’re just getting started.

The role

Strategy: Design strategies for future development projects based on the company’s overall objectives and resources and work closely with the CTO to execute technology and innovation vision, build business goals and meet the OKRs
Systems’ reliability: Monitor reliability and performance of all internal systems to suggest improvements
Project management: Manage software development projects by setting requirements, goals, and timelines
Budget: Prepare and manage the engineering department’s budget
Team mentoring and coaching: Oversee and manage front-end and back-end development teams and their projects, and mentor and coach individuals in their professional development
Recruitment: Take part in the interview process and work closely with the People and Talent teams to improve the onboarding process of engineers
Operational strategy: Implement innovative technologies, and coordinate with external stakeholders for new integrations and tools. Review and update policies and procedures relevant to internal systems and equipments

Minimum Requirements

Previous experience as a Head of Engineering/CTO/Startup founder/co-founder role or similar senior management position
The ability to self-manage, structure and adapt to changes in an entrepreneurial environment
Able to successfully build, manage and lead a team
High-growth tech experience necessary, fintech experience preferred
Multi-year experience with project and resource management
Hands-on coding experience in multi-stack (Java, Spring Boot, node, python) and back-end development frameworks and languages
Experience working with micro service-based architectures and cloud-native services
Good understanding of and ability to implement agile methodologies
MS/PhD in Engineering in Computer Science or relevant field

Note from the hiring manager

In the world of programming and architecture, there is an appreciation for elegance in design. Often, these designs are intricate and require a significant investment in the underlying platform before any valuable output can be produced. Some equate this process to building with arches, where the structure stands on its own until the final piece, the keystone, is placed at the top to hold everything together. While this approach may be elegant, it can hinder the sprint to achieving a repeatable product fit in the market and obtaining crucial customer feedback.

In our fast-paced environment, it is essential for competent engineering management to steer the team towards more practical and incremental designs and delivery. These designs should allow for swift acquisition of external feedback without compromising the long-term generality of the system. The role of the Head of Engineering (HOE) in this context is not solely focused on producing architectural designs. Instead, it involves ensuring that the design process incorporates the requirement for incremental releases, enabling the team to showcase value and gather valuable insights from customers.

NB. While we think the above experience could be important, we’re keen to hear from people that believe they have valuable experience to bring to the role. If you identify with the team and mission, but not all of our requirements, then please still apply!!

Why Join us?

Our products have received resoundingly positive feedback from developers and customers alike, with Sequoia leading its $33 million Series A round, marking its first in the GCC. Yet, this is just the beginning. We’re working tirelessly to expand our coverage across the region while further deepening the value we provide to our stakeholders. To that end, we’re always on the lookout for talented, driven, and entrepreneurial candidates to join us in our mission of enabling the next generation of financial innovation. If you’re motivated by solving hard problems and leaving a lasting legacy while you’re at it, Lean’s where you need to be.

Not only do we offer competitive salaries, private healthcare, and flexible office hours, but we also insist that every member of the team hold a meaningful equity stake in the business to ensure long-term alignment.

We’d love you to join us for this journey!

Lean is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.