About the Role
We are hiring a deeply hands-on Tech Lead in Kuwait to act as the Group CTO's right arm on the ground for the Cloud platform. This position is not for a manager who reviews work from a distance; instead, it demands an individual who actively writes code, owns architecture, communicates directly with clients, and prioritizes development tasks.
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Why This Hire Matters
Our technology and product team is distributed across Pakistan, Egypt, and the UAE. The Cloud platform requires a senior technical anchor to be physically present in Kuwait, our primary client hub. This individual will translate between clients, the Group CTO, and the build team, carrying real technical authority and running the technical agenda on a day-to-day basis.
Non-Negotiable Requirements
A candidate must meet all of the following to be shortlisted. If any one of these is missing, they are not the right fit:
- Hands-on, current: Still actively writes code today; comfortable in a codebase, reviewing pull requests, and debugging production issues independently.
- Hands-on architecture: Has personally led the architecture of real systems, making trade-off decisions and managing the consequences.
- Shipped big products: Has launched at least one large-scale application in retail or fintech as the technical lead, with firsthand experience running applications at scale.
- Agentic delivery (demo required): Has delivered and shipped a large-scale product using an agentic development process, orchestrating multiple agents. A live demo of their agentic work will be required on the first call.
- Product and client exposure: Has experience in product management and direct client engagement; understands that engineering serves a business outcome.
- Communication and prioritization: Capable of negotiating with clients, pushing back when necessary, and making decisions about the build roadmap for upcoming sprints.
- Location and visa: Based in Kuwait with a legally transferable visa; capable of starting without visa complications.
What They Will Own
- Technical delivery for Cloud on the ground in Kuwait, collaborating with the distributed team in Pakistan, Egypt, and the UAE.
- Architectural decisions for both new and existing systems, with the Group CTO as the sole person above them on technical calls.
- Prioritization of the build roadmap in partnership with the Group CTO and the business team.
- Direct client conversations regarding technical scope, feasibility, and project timelines.
- Maintenance of code quality, adherence to technical standards, and management of code reviews across the team.
Ideal Background
- Domain: Experience in retail and/or fintech; familiarity with commerce or enterprise platforms is a strong plus.
- Seniority: Approximately 10+ years in engineering, with several as a technical lead or principal who actively codes.
- Scale: Experience in leading the delivery of applications with significant user volume or transaction load, with insights into scalability challenges.
- Agentic build: Proven ability to ship a real product built through an agentic development process involving multiple agents; able to demo this work live on the first call.
- Product: Should have had a genuine stint in product management or close product ownership at some point, comfortable owning outcomes rather than just task tickets.
- Soft Skills: Confident communicator capable of negotiating scope and timelines with clients, including the ability to say no when necessary.
- Location: Must be located in Kuwait with a transferable residency visa, as this is an on-site role.
