Head of Engineering

Compensation: $55k – $60k • No equity

About SMPL

SMPL is a forward-thinking investment and venture-building group focused on developing, investing in, and scaling innovative businesses across AI, technology, and other high-growth industries. We combine investment expertise, technology innovation, and operational support to build scalable businesses and accelerate the growth of our portfolio companies.

Role Overview

We are looking for an experienced, hands-on Head of Engineering to lead our engineering strategy, technical architecture, and software development teams across our technology and AI-driven ventures. The ideal candidate is a strong technical leader with extensive experience building scalable products, managing high-performing engineering teams, and delivering complex software solutions. This role requires someone who can balance strategic technical leadership with hands-on engineering expertise, drive innovation, and support multiple products from early-stage development through large-scale deployment.

Key Responsibilities

Engineering Leadership & Strategy

• Define and execute the overall engineering strategy aligned with business and product objectives.
• Build, lead, mentor, and scale high-performing engineering teams.
• Establish engineering best practices, coding standards, and development processes.
• Drive technical decisions, architecture reviews, and technology selection.
• Collaborate with founders, product managers, and business stakeholders to translate business requirements into technical solutions.

Product Development & Architecture

• Lead end-to-end development of scalable web, mobile, SaaS, and AI-powered products.
• Design and oversee robust, secure, and scalable software architectures.
• Guide engineering teams across backend, frontend, cloud infrastructure, and integrations.
• Ensure high-quality product delivery through effective development methodologies.
• Manage technical debt, system performance, reliability, and scalability.

AI & Emerging Technologies

• Oversee the integration of AI/ML capabilities into digital products and platforms.
• Work closely with AI engineers and data teams to support AI-powered product development.
• Evaluate emerging technologies, including LLMs, Generative AI, and automation frameworks.
• Ensure AI solutions are production-ready, scalable, and commercially viable.

Engineering Operations & Delivery

• Own engineering roadmaps, delivery timelines, and technical execution.
• Implement CI/CD pipelines, DevOps practices, automated testing, and monitoring.
• Establish measurable engineering KPIs covering delivery, quality, reliability, and productivity.
• Manage engineering resources, infrastructure costs, and technical budgets.
• Support technical due diligence and engineering assessments for portfolio companies.

Requirements

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field.
• 10+ years of software engineering experience, including at least 4–5 years in engineering leadership.
• Proven experience as a Head of Engineering, Engineering Director, VP Engineering, or senior Engineering Manager.
• Strong hands-on technical background in software development and system architecture.