R&D Lead (Hands-on) | AdTech

A stable and innovative global AdTech company is looking for an experienced R&D Lead to lead a small, highly skilled engineering team while remaining deeply hands-on.

The company develops advanced programmatic monetization solutions for app developers and publishers, operating across the global advertising ecosystem.

This is a high-impact role with direct influence on technology strategy, architecture, product direction, and business growth.

We are looking for a strong technical leader who enjoys building scalable systems, solving complex engineering challenges, mentoring developers, and working closely with Product and Business teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a small team of software engineers while remaining hands-on with development.
• Own the architecture, scalability, and technical direction of the AdTech platform.
• Design and develop high-performance, distributed backend systems and modern web applications.
• Build scalable services, APIs, SDK integrations, and real-time advertising infrastructure.
• Drive engineering best practices, code quality, CI/CD, and system reliability.
• Lead architecture discussions, technology selection, and long-term platform evolution.
• Optimize system performance, scalability, security, and availability.
• Work closely with Product, Data, and Business teams to translate business needs into scalable technical solutions.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and AI opportunities to improve engineering productivity and product capabilities.

Requirements

• 10+ years of software development experience, including large-scale distributed systems.
• Previous experience leading software development teams while remaining hands-on.
• Mandatory: proven experience in AdTech / Programmatic Advertising.
• Deep understanding of the programmatic ecosystem, including:
• RTB
• SSPs & DSPs
• Header Bidding
• Bidders
• SDK integrations
• Publisher monetization
• Expert-level Java experience.
• Strong hands-on experience with Node.js and React.
• Proven experience designing scalable, high-performance, cloud-native architectures.
• Strong experience with AWS.
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes, Docker, and containerized environments.
• Strong understanding of CI/CD and DevOps best practices.
• Experience with MySQL, MongoDB, and data-intensive applications.
• Experience designing REST APIs, microservices, and distributed systems.
• Experience working with real-time, high-volume production environments.
• Strong understanding of architecture, scalability, performance optimization, and system reliability.
• Excellent leadership, mentoring, and communication skills.
• Business-oriented mindset with the ability to connect technology decisions to business goals.
• Fluent English.

What We Offer

• Join a stable, growing global AdTech company.
• Lead the technology behind a large-scale programmatic advertising platform.
• High ownership and influence over architecture, product, and engineering strategy.
• Work with a small, highly skilled engineering team.
• Exposure to cutting-edge AdTech technologies and AI-driven innovation.
• Competitive compensation and long-term growth opportunities.