Head of Engineering (Founding Team)
Explicitly supports vibe coders by integrating AI dev tools (Replit, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Lovable) so non-technical contributors can prototype and iterate quickly.
About the Role
Lead TrophyScan’s engineering organization as a hands-on Head of Engineering based in Austin, reporting to the CPO. Drive technical strategy, scale a 20+ contract team, evolve the Swift iOS app and C++ backend, evaluate cross-platform approaches, and integrate AI-assisted development to accelerate product velocity.
Job Description
Role
The Head of Engineering (Founding Team) will report to the Chief Product Officer and own technical strategy, architecture, and roadmap for TrophyScan. This is a hands-on leadership role responsible for product velocity, team scaling, architecture decisions, and cross-platform expansion from an existing Swift iOS app and C++ backend.
Key Responsibilities
- Define and execute technical strategy, architecture, and engineering roadmap to ensure speed, stability, and scalability.
- Act as a player/coach: write code, drive architecture, and mentor engineers while setting technical standards.
- Own and evolve the existing Swift iOS app and C++ backend; evaluate cross-platform frameworks (Flutter, React Native) for Android and web expansion.
- Lead and optimize a 20+ person contract engineering team; develop a hybrid staffing model combining in-house and outsourced talent.
- Design and deliver gamified features (leaderboards, scoring systems, contests) to drive engagement and viral growth.
- Build analytics and experimentation frameworks to measure behavior, optimize retention, and improve conversion funnels.
- Integrate and champion AI-powered development tools (e.g., Replit, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Lovable) to boost velocity and enable rapid prototyping.
- Collaborate cross-functionally with product, design, marketing, and operations; represent engineering with investors and partners.
Requirements
- 5+ years of full-stack or mobile engineering experience, ideally with Swift, C++, or other high-performance frameworks.
- Proven experience building and scaling consumer-facing mobile apps, preferably involving imaging, 3D, AR, or game-like features.
- Strong leadership as a player/coach: comfortable coding, making architecture decisions, and mentoring teams.
- Experience managing distributed teams and designing scalable staffing models that balance internal and contractor resources.
- Comfortable with data-driven growth, gamification, analytics, and experimentation-driven product improvements.
- Enthusiasm for AI-assisted development workflows and enabling non-technical contributors to prototype and iterate.
- Strong communication skills for conveying technical direction to executives, investors, and external partners.
- Based in or near Austin, TX.
Why Join
- Founding-level equity and competitive early-stage compensation.
- Work on a live product in the App Store with an active roadmap and the opportunity to own and evolve the technical foundation.
- Blend cutting-edge tech (3D scanning, AR, AI-assisted development) with an outdoor-focused community and a close founding team partnership in Austin, TX.