Head of Engineering

AlemX is a technology company building a next-generation product at the intersection of fintech, payment infrastructure, and the creator economy. We have an established core team, filed provisional patents, strategic partnerships with key industry players, and an active SOC 2 Type I engagement. The company is preparing for public launch and a Seed Round. AlemX is incorporated as a Delaware C-Corp with an Estonian entity. Headquarters are in Baku; the team is distributed across multiple countries. ABOUT THE ROLE We are hiring a Head of Engineering — the first engineering leader who will take full ownership of executing AlemX's technical strategy. This is an execution-focused leadership role. Your mandate is to turn the existing architecture and team into a machine that consistently ships. You will remove operational engineering overhead from the CEO and uphold the quality, security, and delivery velocity that a fintech product handling real financial flows demands. RESPONSIBILITIES Engineering Delivery: • Full ownership of the roadmap and sprints: planning, prioritization, shipping • Leading the current team and scaling it to 8–12 engineers over the next 12 months • Establishing processes: code review, CI/CD, incident response, on-call rotation • Weekly engineering reports to the CEO and board Security & Compliance: • Closing critical findings from the recent technical audit • Operational ownership of the SOC 2 Type I process alongside the Compliance Lead • Security hygiene: secrets management, access control, dependency audits Hiring & Team: • Screening, hiring, and onboarding new engineers • Performance management, 1-on-1s, career development • Shaping the engineering culture: accountability, ownership, code quality Vendor & Partnerships: • Technical stewardship of relationships with infrastructure and payment partners • Due diligence on new technical partners Communication: • Representing engineering in investor conversations • Aligning with product, compliance, marketing, and other functions REQUIREMENTS Must-have: • 8+ years in engineering, including 3+ years in a management role (Engineering Manager / Head of Engineering / VP) • Experience leading teams of 5–15 engineers in a product company • Shipping experience in fintech, payments, or a similarly regulated environment • Strong operational discipline: processes, metrics, delivery predictability • Readiness to operate in an early-stage startup: hands-on, no corporate comfort, multiple context switches per day • Fluent English (written and spoken); Russian is a welcome bonus but not required Nice-to-have: • Experience passing SOC 2, PCI DSS, or similar audits • Experience with mobile-first products built on React Native • Experience with distributed / remote teams across different time zones Personal Fit: • Ownership mindset: you take a problem and drive it to completion rather than handing it off • Low ego: comfortable operating within an already-established architecture rather than rewriting it to match your preferences • Doer, not a slide-maker: your output is working product in production, not PowerPoint • Communication: able to explain technical decisions to non-technical stakeholders (investors, legal, compliance) WHAT WE OFFER • Compensation: market-rate base salary (finalized after screening) • Equity: meaningful equity package from the Employee Option Pool (4-year vesting, 1-year cliff) • Impact: the #1 engineering role with a direct reporting line to the CEO and a seat at the table for all key decisions • Ownership: full autonomy over engineering; you are the final authority on all technical processes • Remote-first with periodic visits to Baku (team, offsites) HIRING PROCESS • Screening call (30 min, with CEO) — mutual introduction, fit check • Technical deep dive (90 min, with CEO + Lead Developer) — architecture discussion, past projects, problem-solving • Case study (async, 3–5 hours) — a practical scenario based on real AlemX engineering challenges • Cultural + reference round (60 min + references) — final check • Offer The full process takes 2–3 weeks from the first call to an offer. An NDA is signed before the technical deep dive. How to Apply: send your CV to hr@alemx.com