Hands-On R&D Team Lead JB-5253

• We are looking for a hands-on R&D Team Lead to become one of the first technical hires and lead the engineering build

• from zero.

• This is not a VP R&D role and not a pure management role. We are looking for someone who wants to lead, but still code

• most of the time. The expected balance is roughly 70% hands-on development and 30% leadership, especially in the

• first stage.

• What you’ll do

• Lead the technical build of the product from zero.

• Own architecture decisions together with the Technical Product Lead and founding team.

• Be hands-on across backend, frontend, mobile, integrations, infrastructure, and internal tools.

•  Build and lead the first engineering team.

• Define engineering standards, code quality, development workflows, CI/CD, testing approach, and release processes.

• Design scalable systems for subscriptions, payments, offers, merchants, raffles, tournaments, rewards, CRM, CMS,

• dashboards, analytics, and admin tools.

• Help choose and validate the tech stack.

• Build with speed while keeping the system maintainable.

• Review code, mentor developers, and unblock technical issues.

• Work closely with product and design to translate requirements into working software.

• Use AI coding tools and modern development workflows to improve speed, quality, and team productivity.

• 8–10+ years of software engineering experience. Previous experience as a hands-on team lead, tech lead, or senior engineer leading other developers.

• Strong backend and fullstack capabilities.

• Strong experience with Node.js, TypeScript, relational databases, and modern frontend frameworks.

• Experience building production-grade consumer products, marketplaces, ecommerce systems, loyalty platforms, gaming

• products, fintech, subscription products, or complex SaaS/admin systems.

• Ability to design systems from scratch, not only maintain existing ones.

• Strong understanding of APIs, integrations, data modeling, performance, security, testing, and deployment.

• Product-minded engineering approach.

• Ability to balance speed, quality, technical debt, and business priorities.

• Experience working in early-stage startups or small high-ownership teams.

• Strong practical experience using AI coding tools such as Cursor, GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, or similar tools as

• part of a serious engineering workflow