Software Engineering Team Lead

Orca AI is on a mission to reduce maritime collisions and make global shipping smarter and safer using artificial intelligence. Our AI-powered navigation platform helps ship crews and fleet managers make better, faster decisions in real time.

We’re growing fast and looking for an experienced Software Engineering Team Lead to join our R&D leadership and drive key backend initiatives. If you’re passionate about leading teams, building scalable systems, and working on a product that impacts the real world—you’ll love this role.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Lead and mentor a team of backend engineers—hands-on.
• Architect robust, scalable cloud-based systems in a real-time, mission-critical environment.
• Collaborate with Product, Algo, and System teams to bring new features and capabilities to life.
• Plan and deliver complex engineering projects—from design to deployment.
• Shape engineering culture, set standards, and improve development workflows (CI/CD, testing, code quality).
• Recruit, onboard, and develop top talent as the team grows.
• Report directly to the VP R&D and help shape the company’s technical roadmap.

Requirements:

Must-haves:

• B.Sc. in Computer Science or equivalent.
• 8+ years of hands-on software development experience (preferably in startups).
• 4+ years leading engineering teams.
• Deep experience in backend tech: Python, Docker, Kubernetes, SQL/NoSQL databases, message queues.
• Strong grasp of scalable system architecture and multi-threaded development.
• Cloud-native experience with AWS.
• Strong testing mindset and CI/CD familiarity.
• Excellent communication skills in English.

Nice-to-haves:

• Experience in computer vision or AI-driven products.
• Video systems background (e.g., streaming, encoding).
• Exposure to GitLab, InfluxDB, RabbitMQ, MongoDB, PyTorch, AWS services (SQS, Lambda, CloudFront, EKS).

Why Join Orca AI?

• Real-World Impact: Help prevent maritime accidents and reduce emissions across the globe.
• Tech-Forward: Work with modern tools in a product that integrates computer vision, real-time analytics, and cloud-scale architecture.
• Empowered Team: Join a startup environment where your ideas, initiative, and leadership matter.
• People: Join a talented, mission-driven team that’s pushing boundaries.

📬 Ready to make waves?

Let’s redefine the future of maritime together.