Head of Engineering

Location: Remote, or Relocation to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Reports to: Co-founder / Chief Technology Officer
Type: Full-time

About the Role:
The Head of Engineering will be the operational leader of our engineering function, driving the scaling and operational maturity of the team over the next 18 to 24 months. This role is key to building trust with regulators and tier-1 institutional customers. You will collaborate closely with the CTO, who handles technical strategy, while you focus on recruiting, guiding, and retaining top engineering talent to ship a regulated-grade custody platform consistently.

Key Responsibilities:

• Team Build and Hire:
  • Manage hiring from top-of-funnel to closing offers.
  • Develop compensation bands, performance cycles, and headcount planning as we progress into Series A and beyond.
• Engineering Operations:
  • Oversee on-call duty, incident command, and foster a post-mortem culture.
  • Establish code review standards, deployment hygiene, and release cadence.
• Delivery:
  • Translate the technical roadmap into quarterly deliverables against set outcomes.
  • Identify and mitigate execution risks early.
• Audit and Regulatory Compliance:
  • Lead efforts towards SOC 2 Type II completion, establish SAMA-aligned controls, and prepare for future ISO 27001 compliance and regulatory licensing readiness.
• Cross-Functional Leadership:
  • Partner with Product, Compliance, Security, and the CTO to coordinate roadmaps, sequencing, and trade-off decisions.
• Engineering Culture:
  • Uphold hiring standards, promote internal mobility, and nurture professional growth to retain senior engineers and develop a reputed workplace.

Essential Qualifications:

• Experience:
  • 7 to 12 years in software engineering, with at least 4 years focused on custody platforms or key management systems at a regulated entity (e.g., custody firm, regulated digital-asset bank).
  • Proven hands-on experience in HSM lifecycle management, MPC/TSS systems, or threshold signing protocols.
  • Managed a team of 15+ engineers directly or through embedded engineering managers.
  • Hired over 10 engineers, including at least one senior-level leader.
  • Led the engineering side of an SOC 2 Type II or equivalent audit cycle.
  • On-call experience related to production custody or payment systems, with a history of impactful post-mortem documentation.
• Leadership Philosophy:
  • Able to articulate a reflective leadership philosophy with examples of adaptability.
• Collaboration:
  • Comfortable working with a hands-on, technical CTO.
• Language:
  • Proficient in English (both written and verbal).

Desirable Skills:

• Direct experience interfacing with regulators (e.g., SAMA, NYDFS, FCA, MAS).
• Contributions to public technical standards, RFCs, or audit-facing publications.
• Open-source contributions relevant to custody (MPC libraries, signing services, key management tools).
• Experience with M&A integration, engineering diligence, and team restructuring, retaining senior talent during changes.
• Familiarity with Go and Rust programming languages, particularly in custody-critical functions.
• Previous experience in a Head of Engineering, VP Engineering, or a current Director/Senior Engineering Manager ready for growth.

This Role is Not Suitable If:

• Your experience is primarily in consumer product, frontend, or trading app engineering without custody expertise.
• You are seeking a CTO role as the position is already occupied by a hands-on individual.
• You need a non-compete waiver exceeding six months from a current digital-asset custody position.
• You are uncomfortable with regulatory scrutiny expected in running a custody business in the GCC.

Technical Stack:

• Backend: Go (primary), Rust (for custody-critical paths), some TypeScript.
• Data Management: Aurora Postgres, ClickHouse, Temporal for orchestration.
• Cryptography: In-house MPC stack, HSM integrations, multi-chain signing service.
• Supported Chains: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and more.
• Infrastructure: AWS, Kubernetes, GitHub Actions CI, Terraform.
• Security Posture: Active SOC 2 Type II initiative, SAMA-aligned controls, emphasis on dual-control workflows, preparing for ISO 27001 readiness.
• AI in Engineering: Utilization of AI tools is standard, affecting coding, code review, documentation, and operational tasks. Each engineering member is expected to engage with these tools.

Benefits of Joining Us:

• A foundational role in the GCC's evolving digital-asset infrastructure.
• Direct influence over the engineering organization with access to founders.
• Opportunity to work with a functional custody platform currently engaging institutional capital, rather than theoretical projects.
• Work based in Riyadh, a hub for significant regional financial development.