Head of Research And Development

A well-established, profitable fintech company is looking for a highly hands-on Head of Development to take full ownership of its software development function.

This is a key leadership role for a strong technological builder who combines deep technical expertise with direct people management. The position includes responsibility for complex, business-critical systems, software architecture, delivery, production stability, team development, and the implementation of an AI-first development approach.

We are looking for someone who wants to understand the systems in depth, challenge technical solutions, solve complex problems, and lead development from business need through production and ongoing maintenance.

Responsibilities:

- Manage and professionally lead a small development team, including remote developers, QA professionals, and external vendors
- Take end-to-end ownership of the company’s software systems, from architecture and planning through development, deployment, and production
- Lead system design and architectural decisions for complex, high-availability systems
- Maintain deep, ongoing involvement in technical planning, design reviews, code reviews, and the resolution of complex production issues
- Build reliable development processes and improve delivery predictability, release quality, and time to market
- Own version management, development environments, deployments, releases, and production readiness
- Identify technological risks, technical debt, and knowledge gaps, and proactively build plans to address them
- Lead the gradual modernization of existing systems while maintaining stability and business continuity
- Implement AI tools and AI agents across development, testing, debugging, documentation, and maintenance processes
- Define meaningful engineering KPIs and provide clear visibility into delivery, quality, incidents, and team performance
- Work closely with company leadership, Product, System, Support, and other business functions
- Translate business needs into practical technological solutions and execution plans

The role requires full ownership of a broad software environment, including development, maintenance, production availability, QA, security, delivery, and technological planning.
דרישות התפקיד:
Must have Requirements:

- Significant experience in Backend or Full Stack development of complex software systems
- Proven experience directly managing a software development team
- Recent and meaningful hands-on involvement in software architecture, system design, code, and production environments
- Proven experience building a significant system or product from the ground up
- Experience owning business-critical production systems, including releases, deployments, incidents, and ongoing maintenance
- Experience in a fintech, payments, or highly transactional software environment - mandatory
- Strong experience with relational databases and SQL
- Experience working with legacy systems and leading gradual modernization processes
- Experience managing versions, libraries, environments, and deployment processes
- Advanced and practical use of AI development tools and AI agents
- Ability to demonstrate how AI has improved development speed, quality, automation, or team productivity
- Experience working with remote teams or outsourced development providers
- Strong English communication skills
- High ownership, sound judgment, strong execution capabilities, and the confidence to challenge decisions when necessary

Significant Advantages:

- Experience with PHP and MySQL
- Experience with on-premises or hybrid environments
- Experience with high-availability systems
- Experience working in regulated environments
- Knowledge of secure development practices and information security standards
- Experience with QA automation and CI/CD processes

PHP experience is an advantage rather than a requirement. The essential requirement is the ability to enter a complex existing environment, understand it deeply, and take responsibility for its architecture, versions, environments, and production operation.