The Role: Lead a 6\-10 person engineering team on a strategic, multi\-year platform program. Backend\-heavy by design, but you must hold the full MERN stack — credible reviewing React.js code, debugging end\-to\-end, and pairing on tricky frontend problems. Hands\-on, not a management track.
*Key Responsibilities:**
Own architecture, design reviews, and RFCs; drive solutioning and brainstorming sessions
Stay hands\-on — 30\-50% time writing production Node.js code on the spine of the system (core services, Kafka backbone, critical integrations)
Set the bar for code review, test strategy, and CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Terraform, automated quality gates)
Define guardrails for AI\-assisted development across the team — tools, prompt hygiene, what’s acceptable to ship
Identify and lead AI integration opportunities in the product (RAG, summarisation, classification)
Lead delivery, mentor seniors and mid\-levels, drive hiring, run the interview bar
Be the senior technical face of the team with product, partners, and leadership
*Requirements:**
8–12 years of engineering experience, predominantly in backend development, with 5\+ years building and maintaining production\-grade Node.js services
2\+ years of experience as a Tech Lead or Staff Engineer leading teams of 5 or more engineers
Strong full\-stack proficiency with the MERN stack, including the ability to develop, review, and maintain production\-quality React.js applications
Solid foundation in data structures, algorithms, and distributed systems design
Deep expertise in Apache Kafka, including topic design, partitioning strategies, consumer semantics, idempotency, and replay mechanisms
Strong experience designing and scaling REST APIs, with knowledge of OAuth 2\.0, rate limiting, idempotency, and webhook architectures
Proven experience in data modelling and database design across MongoDB and relational databases such as MS SQL Server or PostgreSQL
Hands\-on experience with AWS services including ECS/EKS, API Gateway, IAM, and CloudWatch, along with Infrastructure as Code using Terraform
Strong understanding of CI/CD practices, including pipeline design, Infrastructure as Code, automated testing, and deployment strategies
Demonstrable expertise in code reviews and comprehensive testing strategies, including unit, integration, contract, and end\-to\-end testing
*Good to Have:**
Experience in the airport, airline, travel, or travel insurance domain
Hands\-on experience with payment gateway integrations and reconciliation workflows
Experience designing and implementing rules engines, policy engines, or configurable workflow platforms
Strong working knowledge of Redis, Elasticsearch, and Apigee
Proven track record of delivering AI\-powered features from concept to production, including design, implementation, deployment, and monitoring
Working proficiency with AI\-assisted development tools such as GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and Claude Code, with practical knowledge of prompt engineering, LLM integrations, and RAG architectures
Must be actively contributing to production code and engineering delivery, not operating in a purely managerial capacity