Head of Engineering

Lagos - Nigeria

Salary: Not Disclosed

Experience Required: 8years

Posted on: 6 hours ago

Vacancies: 1 Vacancy

Job Summary

Our client runs a technology-enabled errands and delivery service built primarily around WhatsApp designed to function effectively within Nigerias challenging operating landscape. They are seeking to hire Head of Engineering in Lagos. This role is not about building perfect systems experimenting endlessly or running process theatre. It exists to ship a working stable MVP impose execution discipline and own delivery end-to-end.

Job Summary

The Head of Engineering exists to:

Own technical execution from idea to production

Convert ambiguous product intent into shippable systems

Drive delivery discipline predictability and accountability

Build systems that work reliably in real Nigerian operating conditions

Remove the engineering execution load from the CEO entirely

Key Responsibilities

1. Engineering Execution & Delivery (Primary Accountability)

Own what ships when it ships and why

Break product scope into realistic testable shippable units

Enforce delivery timelines and sprint commitments

Eliminate almost done culture

Identify execution risks early and resolve or escalate immediately

Establish a culture where missed deadlines are explained not excused

2. System Architecture & Technical Direction

Design and maintain pragmatic architecture for:

WhatsApp Business API integrations

Dispatch assignment and order lifecycle logic

Wallets payments commissions and settlements

Admin ops and internal management tools

Notifications logging and monitoring etc

Guiding principles:

Simplicity over elegance

Reliability over novelty

Speed over perfection

All trade-offs must be explicit and documented

3. Engineering Leadership & Accountability

Lead coach and performance-manage engineers

Set and enforce standards for:

Code quality

Documentation

Ownership

Testing discipline

Identify underperformance early and act decisively

Build a culture of responsibility not heroics

4. Cross-Functional & Founder Partnership

Partner closely with the Product Manager on scope and feasibility

Push back firmly on:

Vague requirements

Scope creep

Unrealistic timelines

Translate founder intent into executable technical plans

Act as an execution buffer between the CEO and the engineering team

Own delivery dependencies sequencing and escalation

Technical Stack & Competency Expectations

You will work primarily with the existing stack improving only where it materially affects delivery or stability.

Expected exposure (fluency required mastery in all not mandatory):

Backend: and/or Python (API-driven systems)

Frontend: React or similar (admin dashboards internal tools)

Databases: PostgreSQL / MySQL / NoSQL

Integrations:

WhatsApp Business API

Payment gateways and wallet systems

Mapping and geolocation services

Cloud: Azure AWS GCP or equivalent

DevOps: CI/CD pipelines version control deployments

Tool choice matters less than delivery competence.

Required Experience

8 years of professional software engineering experience

3 years leading engineering teams (515 engineers)

Proven record of shipping at least one messy real MVP

Prior experience in one or more of:

Marketplaces

Logistics

Fintech

Payments

Strong system-level thinking

Calm decisive leadership

Comfortable saying no to the CEO with logic and data