VP R&D (early stage start up)

One of our clients, a bootstrap fintech startup, is looking to hire a VP R&D to become a key player in shaping their technology and future growth. This innovative company is tackling post-payment fraud with a completely different approach compared to what's available in the market today. They already have paying customers and are preparing for their next scaling phase. As an early-stage company, this is a unique opportunity to join at a critical point where your leadership will have a direct, visible impact on both the product and the company's success.

Role Overview:

We are looking for a proactive and hands-on VP R&D to lead a small, remote development team. You will take full ownership of the technology strategy, execution, and team-building efforts. You will work closely with the CEO and other stakeholders to translate the business vision into scalable and secure fintech products. This is a rare chance to influence the technological foundations and culture of a company from the early stages.

Responsibilities:

• Lead and grow a remote development team, ensuring the delivery of high-quality software products.
• Set the technical direction and drive key architectural decisions.
• Design and implement backend systems using Node.js, React, TypeScript, and Python.
• Establish development best practices, including code quality, testing, and deployment pipelines.
• Mentor team members and create a strong, high-performing engineering culture.
• Proactively identify scalability, reliability, and performance challenges and lead the solutions.

Requirements:

• Proven experience leading and growing software development teams (preferably in early-stage startups).
• Hands-on expertise in Node.js, Python, TypeScript, and microservices architecture.
• Strong knowledge of cloud platforms (AWS/GCP) and infrastructure such as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation).
• Experience with real-time data processing (Kafka, Pub/Sub) and both SQL/NoSQL databases.
• Deep understanding of security standards (GDPR, PCI DSS) and fintech compliance.
• Skilled in building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines and DevOps best practices.
• Basic familiarity with machine learning concepts for fraud detection.
• Strong product mindset with an ability to translate business needs into scalable solutions.
• Excellent English communication skills and ability to operate in a remote environment.
• Self-driven, hands-on leadership style with a focus on delivery and team culture.

Preferred:

• Experience in fintech, fraud prevention, or payment systems.
• Background in building technology foundations from scratch in bootstrap startups.
• Expertise in system scalability, reliability, and performance optimization.

Company location: Tel Aviv, Israel.

Number of employees in the company: 15

Number of employees in the team: 3

This position reports to: CEO.