Squad Leader

The Squad Leader is a hybrid technical-management role combining people leadership, agile facilitation, and technical excellence. This position requires someone who can lead a cross-functional team to deliver high-quality software autonomously while fostering team growth and maintaining engineering standards.

Core Responsibilities

People Management

· Direct Management: Lead a squad of 5-8 engineers across multiple disciplines:

o Backend developers

o Full-stack developers

o Video processing ML engineers\VLM and LLM integration specialists

o QA engineers (automation and manual testing)

· Matrix Management: Coordinate with DevOps engineers assigned to the squad

· Career Development: Drive professional growth through mentoring, skill development, and performance management

· Talent Acquisition: Define hiring requirements, conduct interviews, and build the team

Technical Leadership & Quality Assurance

· Code Quality Standards powered by PRIME:

o Enforce coding standards and architectural design compliance

o Ensure comprehensive unit test coverage

o Maintain OWASP Top 10 security compliance

o Protect main branch stability and prevent regression

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· Integration & Delivery:

o Ensure backward-compatible interfaces with other squads

o Implement feature flag strategies for controlled releases

o Validate merge-readiness and CI/CD pipeline integrity

· Technical Oversight:

o Enforce and implement guidelines provided by PRIME SMEs

o Review architectural decisions and design patterns

o Guide technical debt management

o Facilitate cross-domain technical collaboration

Scrum Master Facilitation

· Sprint Operations:

o Moderate daily stand-ups

o Facilitate sprint planning, reviews, and retrospectives

o Conduct live demos showcasing sprint deliverables (E2E, API, or mock-based)

· Backlog Management:

o Collaborate closely with PM/PO on backlog prioritization

o Lead grooming sessions for next 3 sprints

o Ensure user stories meet Definition of Ready

· Impediment Resolution:

o Identify and remove blockers proactively

o Address emerging squad needs and dependencies

o Escalate organizational impediments when necessary

Squad Autonomy & Value Delivery

· Mission: Enable the squad to deliver functional, demo-ready increments every sprint

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· Delivery Standards:

o Each sprint must produce mergeable, production-ready code

o Features should be demonstrable (full E2E, API-level, or with mocks)

o Maintain continuous integration with main branch

o Ensure smooth, streamlined development workflow

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1. Cross-Squad Collaboration & Dependencies

· Dependency Management: Proactively identify and manage inter-squad dependencies to prevent bottlenecks

· API Contract Management: Establish and maintain clear interface contracts with other squads

· Integration Testing: Coordinate integration testing across squad boundaries

· Knowledge Sharing: Facilitate technical knowledge transfer sessions across squads

2. Technical Debt & Refactoring Strategy

· Debt Visibility: Maintain a technical debt backlog and communicate impact to stakeholders

· Refactoring Budget: Allocate sprint capacity for addressing technical debt (typically 15-20%)

· Quality Metrics: Track and improve code quality metrics (test coverage, complexity, duplication)

3. Incident Management & Production Support

· Incident Response: Lead post-mortem analysis and implement preventive measures

· Hotfix Process: Manage urgent production fixes while maintaining quality standards

4. Continuous Improvement Culture · Process Optimization: Regularly evaluate and improve squad processes based on retro feedback

· Innovation Time: Advocate for dedicated time for learning and experimentation

· Metrics-Driven Improvement: Track velocity, cycle time, defect rates, and use data to drive improvements · Learning & Development: Foster a culture of continuous learning and skill enhancement

5. Stakeholder Management & Communication

· Transparency: Provide regular updates on squad health, velocity, and risks

· Cross-functional Alignment: Coordinate with PMO, UX, IT, DevOps, Customer Support, HR other corporate functions as needed

· Executive Reporting: Prepare and present squad performance and strategic initiatives to leadership

6. DevOps & Platform Engineering Collaboration

· Infrastructure Requirements: Advocate for squad infrastructure and tooling needs

· Platform Standards: Ensure squad compliance with platform engineering standards

· Cloud Cost Management: Monitor and optimize cloud resource usage

7. Product & Domain Expertise

· Domain Knowledge: Develop deep understanding of the product area and business domain

· Strategic Thinking: Contribute to product strategy and roadmap discussions

· Market Awareness: Stay informed about industry trends and competitive landscape

8. Engineering Culture & Team Health

· Psychological Safety: Create an environment where team members can take risks and voice concerns

· Work-Life Balance: Monitor team capacity and prevent burnout

· Diversity & Inclusion: Foster an inclusive environment that values diverse perspectives

· Conflict Resolution: Address interpersonal conflicts constructively and promptly

· Team Building: Organize activities that strengthen team cohesion

9. Compliance & Documentation

· Documentation Standards: Maintain architecture decisions, API documentation, and runbooks

· Audit Readiness: Prepare for security and compliance audits

· Knowledge Base: Keep squad wiki and technical documentation current

10. Measurement & KPIs

· Velocity & Predictability: Track sprint commitment vs. delivery

· Quality Metrics: Monitor defect escape rate, production incidents, test coverage

· Deployment Frequency: Measure release cadence and lead time

· Team Satisfaction as part of Retro: Conduct regular pulse checks on team morale and engagement

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Required Qualifications

Technical

· 5+ years of software development experience across multiple disciplines

· Strong understanding of backend, full-stack, ML/AI systems, and QA practices

· Deep knowledge of secure coding practices (OWASP)

· Experience with CI/CD, feature flags, and modern DevOps practices

Leadership

· 2+ years managing engineers directly

· Proven track record of building high-performing teams

· Experience conducting technical interviews and hiring

· Strong coaching and mentoring skills

Agile/Scrum

· Certified Scrum Master (CSM) or equivalent experience

· 3+ years practicing agile methodologies

· Experience facilitating all scrum ceremonies

· Understanding of scaling frameworks (SAFe, LeSS, or similar)

Soft Skills

· Excellent communication and stakeholder management

· Strong problem-solving and conflict resolution abilities

· Ability to balance technical excellence with business needs

· Resilience under pressure and adaptability to change