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# Head of Software Engineering

- **Company:** Recruiting from Scratch
- **Location:** New York, NY, United States
- **Experience:** Expert
- **Salary:** $237,000 - $340,000
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Code Review, Distributed Systems, Python (Programming Language), Software Architecture, Scientific Computating, Software Engineering, Backend, Production Code, Golang
- **Published:** November 13, 2026
- **Apply:** https://www.careerbuilder.com/job-details/head-of-software-engineering-brooklyn-ny--90f08499-b8d1-4b64-8823-501639acadba

## About the Role

Software Engineering, Needs Assessment, Team Lead/Manager, Seed Funding, Laboratory, Scientific Research, Automation Systems, Automation, Distributed Computing, Software Engineering, * 8-15 years of professional software engineering experience, including several years of senior engineering leadership.

 * Previous experience leading software engineering teams at a startup.
 * Demonstrated success personally building an engineering team from fewer than approximately 15 people within the last five years.
 * Prior people management experience at a Head of Engineering or comparable senior leadership level.
 * Strong hands-on software engineering experience with Go and/or Python.
 * Currently writes or ships production code rather than exclusively managing or reviewing engineering work.
 * Deep understanding of distributed systems, system design, and software architecture.
 * Experience making technical decisions under ambiguity and operational constraints.
 * Proven ability to establish engineering processes that improve execution without unnecessary bureaucracy.
 * Strong communication and cross-functional leadership skills.
 * Comfortable working closely with founders and multidisciplinary technical teams.
 * Willing to work onsite in Brooklyn five days per week.

Preferred

 * Previous Head of Engineering, VP Engineering, Director of Engineering, or equivalent startup leadership experience.
 * Experience scaling software teams during periods of rapid company growth.
 * Background in complex distributed systems, infrastructure, or backend platforms.
 * Experience working in deep technology, robotics, industrial automation, scientific computing, or hardware-integrated software environments.
 * Strong experience with Go, Python, and production software architecture.
 * Experience leading teams through demanding customer deployments.
 * Demonstrated ability to balance technical excellence with rapid product delivery.
 * Experience collaborating with scientists, hardware engineers, or other highly specialized technical stakeholders.

## Description

Recruiting from Scratch is a specialized talent firm dedicated to helping companies build exceptional teams. We partner closely with our clients to deeply understand their needs, then connect them with top-tier candidates who are not only highly skilled but also the right fit for the company's culture and vision. Our mission is simple: place the best people in the right roles to drive long-term success for both clients and candidates.
https://www.recruitingfromscratch.com, * Hire, develop, mentor, and retain exceptional engineers across core and platform engineering.

 * Remain hands-on by reviewing code daily and shipping production code every week.
 * Lead architectural decisions involving complex distributed systems, scalability, reliability, and performance.
 * Establish engineering processes, including planning, standups, retrospectives, and code review practices.
 * Develop an engineering culture that prioritizes speed, ownership, collaboration, and high-quality execution.
 * Partner directly with founders to define the long-term software engineering roadmap.
 * Translate ambiguous scientific, product, and business requirements into actionable engineering priorities.
 * Collaborate closely with hardware, science, product, and design teams.
 * Make pragmatic technical decisions while balancing development speed, correctness, and scalability.
 * Lead the engineering organization through rapid hiring, architectural evolution, and customer deployments.
 * Act as a senior technical voice in company leadership discussions.