Head of Engineering

Head of Engineering | AI / Fintech | New York$250k-$300k base + meaningful equity Some Head of Engineering roles are really management jobs - this one isn't.I'm working with a well-backed Seed-stage AI/fintech company in New York that is building infrastructure to make business verification faster, more reliable and easier to scale globally. They're looking for a Head of Engineering who has already made the transition from strong engineer to engineering leader, without leaving the engineering behind. You’ll spend roughly half your time building and half leading. That means writing production code, making architecture decisions and getting deep into technical problems, while also hiring the team, setting the engineering bar and working directly with the founders on product and company direction. You’ll take responsibility for engineering as the business moves through its next stage of growth. You’ll: Remain hands-on in the codebase and ship alongside the team Build and scale the engineering organisation Own the technical vision and architecture as the platform grows Lead the company's AI engineering strategy and production AI systems Work directly with the founders on product direction, UX and technical priorities Set the hiring bar and recruit the next generation of engineers Build systems capable of supporting demanding enterprise customers across multiple markets This isn't a role for someone looking to manage engineering from a distance. The background we’re looking for: The strongest people for this role will have spent meaningful time inearly-stage startups, ideally Seed through Series B, and know what it feels like when the product, team and architecture are all evolving at once. You’ll likely have:7-15 years in software engineering Built and led an engineering team, rather than simply inheriting one Written production code recently and still enjoy being close to the technical work Owned architecture and technical direction as a product scaled Shipped AI/ML systems into production Strong product instincts and the ability to influence what gets built, not just how Experience building B2B or enterprise softwareA Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Physics or similarly technical background Experience infintech, identity, KYC/KYB, fraud, risk or another regulated environmentwould be highly relevant, but isn’t essential.