Head of Engineering

Head of Engineering - Agtech Startup

Company location:
USA

Development Office Location:
Nairobi, Kenya

Type:
Full-time

Reports to:
Founder & CEO

About the Company

The opportunity is a stable, long-term position at USA-based AgTech startup revolutionizing certification processes for organic and sustainable agriculture. We're building AI-powered tools that help farmers, suppliers, and certifiers navigate complex compliance workflows with speed and transparency. Our mission is to make sustainable agriculture more accessible across Africa and beyond.

We're at an inflection point: transitioning from no-code MVPs to a unified, scalable platform built on modern hard-code technologies. This is a rare opportunity to architect the technical foundation of a growing product company from the ground up.

The Role

We're hiring a Head of Engineering to own the technical vision, architecture, and execution of our platform rebuild. You'll work directly with our Founder & CEO to migrate two separate no-code products (Softr + Airtable, WeWeb + Xano) into a single, production-grade application built on modern JavaScript/TypeScript infrastructure.

This role is critical for solving consistent pressure on
preventing and fixing bugs, improving the tech stack, and releasing new features
during a period of rapid growth. You will serve as the
bridge between leadership and engineering
, setting realistic expectations, and will actively
reduce the CEO's involvement
in daily technical and product decisions.

Your time will be split between
30% hands-on coding, 40% mentoring/upskilling team members
, and
30% management/stakeholder engagement
. You'll write code, mentor a talented but less-experienced team of five engineers, set technical standards, and make critical decisions about stack, DevOps, and AI tooling.

What You'll Do

Architect & Build

• Lead the technical design and migration strategy for consolidating two no-code products into one scalable platform.
• Select and implement the modern tech stack (frameworks, databases, cloud infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines), ensuring the stack and tooling remain
  intentionally simple but powerful
  to support rapid iteration.
• Own systems architecture, DevOps, and infrastructure decisions from day one, with a focus on future growth and the timely
  incorporation of new technologies and AI support
  .
• Write production code daily across the full stack (frontend, backend, APIs, infrastructure).

Lead & Mentor

• Manage and
  actively mentor
  a team of five engineers: 1 Middle Fullstack Engineer (no-code background), 2 Middle+ Fullstack Engineers (hard-code background), 1 Junior QA Engineer (manual), and collaborate with 1 Technical Product Manager
• Establish engineering culture, code standards, development workflows, and quality practices to address current struggles in
  Velocity, Prioritization, and Clear Communication
  .
• Guide the team in
  prioritizing work
  and ensuring that bugs found in one product are addressed consistently across the entire unified suite.
• Balance velocity with technical excellence during a high-stakes technical migration, using a
  Collaborative, Coaching-oriented, and Clear communication
  leadership style.

Innovate with AI

• Integrate modern AI development tools and workflows into the team's daily practice
• Understand and apply prompt engineering, agentic AI patterns, and Model Context Protocol (MCP)
• Evaluate and implement AI-native IDEs (Cursor, Windsurf, V0, etc.) and deployment tools (Vercel, etc.)
• Stay ahead of the curve on AI tooling and know which tools solve which problems

Who You Are

Required

• 7-10 years of software engineering experience
  , with at least 3 years in technical leadership or senior IC roles.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics, or related field
  (Master's degree is a strong plus).
• Expert-level fullstack JavaScript/TypeScript development
  , , , or similar modern frameworks).
• Strong systems architecture and DevOps experience
  (cloud infrastructure, CI/CD, containerization, database design).
• Hands-on experience with AI development tooling
  : prompt engineering, agentic AI, MCPs, AI-native IDEs.
• Migration or platform rebuild experience
  : you've led or contributed to large-scale refactors or tech stack migrations.
• Based in Nairobi, Kenya
  (or willing to relocate).
• Non-negotiable Traits:
  You are defined by
  Clarity, Integrity
  , and the ability to
  stand up for what you believe
  —we need a leader who can respectfully push back on and challenge leadership to protect the long-term health of the product.

Desired

• Scrappy, startup mentality: you know how to move fast, make pragmatic tradeoffs, and ship, avoiding a
  "too big tech" mindset
  that overcomplicates solutions and processes for a resource-conscious startup environment.
• Curious about emerging technologies: you actively experiment with new tools and frameworks, especially AI related.
• Strong product intuition: you understand how technical decisions impact user experience and business outcomes, and can balance customer needs, product requirements, and technical feasibility.
• Experience mentoring engineers from different backgrounds (including those transitioning from no-code).
• Comfortable working directly with founders in a fast-paced, high-trust environment.
• You are a
  clear, direct communicator
  who is not afraid of challenging conversations, is NOT
  highly ego driven
  , and operates with a
  team-oriented ("we") mindset
  .

Tech Stack (You'll Help Define It)

Current (No-Code MVPs):

• Product 1: Softr + Airtable
• Product 2: WeWeb + Xano

Future (You'll Architect):

• Frontend:
  React, , TypeScript (or similar modern framework)
• Backend:
  , TypeScript, REST/tRPC APIs
• Database:
  PostgreSQL, MongoDB, or other production-grade DB
• Infrastructure:
  AWS/GCP/Azure, Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines
• AI Tooling:
  Cursor, Windsurf, V0, Vercel, Claude API, MCP integrations

You'll have significant influence over final stack decisions.

Why Join Us?

• High Impact:
  Own the technical foundation of a mission-driven agtech company at a critical growth stage
• Founder-Facing:
  Report directly to the CEO and shape product and technical strategy
• AI-First Culture:
  Work with cutting-edge AI development tools and integrate them into your daily workflow
• Competitive Compensation:
  Market-rate salary + opportunity to grow with the company
• Nairobi-Based Team:
  Join a talented, collaborative engineering team building for global impact from Kenya

Benefits

• 0% Interest Loans & Lines of Credit:
  Access flexible financial support when you need it
• Professional Development & Learning Allowance:
  Invest in courses, conferences, books, and certifications
• 15-30 Days of Paid Time Off (PTO):
  Generous time off to recharge and maintain work-life balance
• Hallmark Holidays Off:
  Celebrate important cultural and national holidays
• Cash Bonuses for Performance:
  Rewarded for exceptional contributions and results
• Ecosystem-Wide Recognition:
  Outstanding performance gets visibility across our partner network

Why Work From Our Nairobi Coworking Space

Our VamosWatu coworking space isn't just an office; it's a hub for dependable engineers from across Africa and Latin America. You'll collaborate with peers building global products, share knowledge, and grow in a vibrant, startup-style ecosystem.

You'll have access to:

• A reliable coworking space with high-speed internet
• A professional environment for collaboration
• Community events, mentorship, and networking with founders
• Support from the VamosWatu PeopleOps team

How to Apply

The application process is intentionally rigorous to ensure a great fit for both sides:

Step 1: Submit Your Application

omplete the application form and upload your resume. Highlight your technical impact and measurable achievements.

Step 2: AI Interview + Code Exercise

Qualified applicants will join a combined AI interview and coding session to assess technical reasoning, problem-solving, and communication.

Step 3: Evaluation & Review

Submissions are reviewed for code quality, clarity, and architectural decisions.

Step 4: Live Interview

Finalists will meet with VamosWatu and the partner's engineering leadership to discuss technical alignment, collaboration style, and culture fit.

Final Step: Selection

Top performers will move forward for final selection and onboarding into the engineering team.