Head of Software Engineering

Overview

We're hiring a Head of Software Engineering to own the architectural health, scalability, and performance of our SEO platform. This is a senior technical leadership role for someone who thrives in fast-paced startup environments yet brings the rigor and best practices learned from larger organizations.

You will partner with the VP of Engineering to set the technical direction of our platform, oversee refactoring initiatives, and lead efforts to optimize infrastructure, performance, and code quality across all services. Your mission is to make our systems faster, more reliable, and easier to maintain, enabling product teams to move quickly without compromising long-term stability.

This is a hands-on leadership position. You will dive deep into complex backend systems, review critical code paths, and guide large-scale refactors, while also mentoring engineers and enforcing architectural standards. You will have a strong backend foundation in Python/Django, solid infrastructure skills, and the flexibility to adapt solutions pragmatically in a startup context.

Role Details

• Fully Remote — work from anywhere
• Timezone: EST or CST
• Please upload your resume in English

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain long-term platform architecture and establish coding standards across engineering teams
• Lead large-scale refactoring projects to improve maintainability, scalability, and performance
• Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks across API, database, and infrastructure layers
• Optimize task queues, background processing, caching, and deployment pipelines
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to senior engineers, ensuring high-quality, maintainable code
• Collaborate with infrastructure teams on observability, reliability, security, and cost-efficient scaling
• Lead incident postmortems with root-cause analysis and long-term fixes
• Stay hands-on with coding, prototyping, debugging, and adapting to changing priorities with high-leverage solutions

Requirements

• 7+ years in software engineering, with at least 5 years of backend Python/Django experience
• 3+ years in a technical leadership role (Head of Engineering, Principal Engineer, or Tech Lead)
• Proven experience leading large-scale refactoring and optimization projects
• Deep PostgreSQL expertise, including indexing, query optimization, and schema design
• Proficiency in Celery or similar distributed task processing systems
• Strong infrastructure foundation, containerization (Docker), CI/CD, Kubernetes familiarity, monitoring, and alerting
• Experience with observability tools like Sentry, Datadog, and Grafana
• Startup experience and exposure to larger organizations, with the ability to blend agility with engineering best practices
• Excellent communication and mentorship skills in distributed teams

Nice to Have

• Familiarity with ClickHouse, Elasticsearch, or other large-scale data systems
• Experience with Next.js or modern frontend frameworks (for cross-stack awareness)
• Knowledge of event-driven architectures or AI-powered systems
• Experience with multi-tenant SaaS architecture at scale

Salary & Benefits

• $6,000-$8,000 USD per month (depending on location and experience)
• 15 days paid time off + Christmas Day + New Year's Day paid off

Our Recruitment Process

• Step 1: Initial screening call with our recruitment team
• Step 2: Assessment to showcase your skills (if applicable)
• Step 3: Final interview with our Hiring Manager
• Step 4: Offer extended

Life at Search Atlas

We are committed to fostering a healthy work-life balance, innovation, and a collaborative, inclusive culture—no matter where you work. We host monthly virtual game days and events, and our team enjoys the flexibility of contributing to charity initiatives of their choice. We believe in supporting both personal growth and professional success, ensuring that remote work doesn't mean disconnected work.

Core Values

• Collaborative & Engaged: We're a tight-knit team that supports each other and shares knowledge.
• Excellence Driven: We aim for the highest standards, always raising the bar.
• Self-Starter Mentality: We take initiative and problem-solve independently.
• Innovative: We embrace change, experiment, and think outside the box.
• Student Mentality: We learn from our mistakes and constantly evolve.

Why Join Us?

We're proud of the recognition we've received for our growth and commitment to creating a positive, inclusive work environment. Here are just a few of the accolades that highlight our success and culture:

• 2023 + 2022 Inc. 5000 List of the Fastest-Growing Companies in America
• Nevada's Top Workplaces - #1 Small Business, Best New Ideas
• Best Start-Up Agency (U.S. Search Awards)
• Top B2B Companies (Clutch)
• Inc's On The Rise and Best Places to Work (Inc. Magazine)
• Great Place to Work Certified (Great Place to Work)

Details

• Seniority level: Executive
• Employment type: Full-time
• Industries: Software Development

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