Role overview

The Role

We are looking for a hands-on Technical Lead ready to build something from the ground up, not maintain someone else's roadmap. You will help architect, build, deploy, and scale a next-generation backend and platform for AI-driven data centre infrastructure.

This role is not a traditional software management position. We are looking for someone who is equally comfortable making high-level technical decisions and rolling up their sleeves to implement production systems across cloud infrastructure, DevOps, backend services, optimization workflows, and real-time orchestration.

The ideal candidate has deep technical fluency across multiple engineering domains and thrives in fast-moving startup environments where ownership, adaptability, and execution matter. You will take ownership of evolving an existing prototype and architecture into a secure, scalable, production-grade platform while helping establish the technical foundation for future engineering growth.

Key Responsibilities

Take technical ownership of the platform architecture and make critical engineering decisions across infrastructure, deployment, scalability, and system reliability.
Lead the transition of the platform from prototype to production-ready deployment.
Design, implement, and maintain cloud infrastructure and hosting environments.
Build and manage CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure automation, and DevOps workflows to support reliable deployment and operations.
Develop and maintain backend systems, APIs, orchestration services, and operational tooling.
Translate thermal, power, and closed-loop control domain requirements into backend and platform architecture decisions.
Support implementation and operationalization of optimization and machine-learning systems involving multi-objective decision-making.
Maintain architectural awareness of thermal management, liquid cooling infrastructure, power systems, and closed-loop control processes, without owning the hands-on OT/industrial-systems engineering directly.
Establish engineering best practices for security, uptime, observability, monitoring, and incident response.
Help define technical standards, development workflows, and long-term platform scalability strategies.
Operate effectively in a startup environment by wearing multiple hats and driving execution across both strategic and hands-on technical work.
Support future team growth through technical mentorship, hiring input, and engineering leadership.
Own realistic estimation of engineering work, timelines and effort, and proactively flag risks, delays, or scope changes as soon as they are visible, not after they have already become a problem.

Requirements

6+ years of experience in backend, infrastructure, or platform engineering, with meaningful product development experience; prior formal leadership title is not required if you are ready to step into one.
Proven experience taking complex technical products or platforms from prototype/MVP stage to production deployment.
Strong hands-on experience with cloud infrastructure platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP.
Deep experience with DevOps tooling, CI/CD pipeline implementation, infrastructure automation, and production operations.
Experience with containerization and orchestration technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes.
Strong backend engineering and API development experience.
Experience designing and operating highly available, high-uptime production systems.
Strong understanding of security best practices, infrastructure hardening, and compliance-oriented engineering environments.
Startup or high-growth company experience with demonstrated ability to operate independently and manage ambiguity.
Demonstrated ability to lead technically while remaining hands-on in implementation and execution.
Strong cross-disciplinary technical fluency and systems-thinking mindset.
A demonstrated habit of staying current with new tools, frameworks, and technical approaches rather than defaulting to what is familiar.
Track record of scoping and estimating technical work realistically, and communicating risk or slippage early rather than letting it surface as a surprise.
Meaningful technical understanding in at least one of the following: optimization systems and machine-learning infrastructure; multi-objective optimization and operational decision systems; infrastructure telemetry, monitoring, and operational analytics.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience working within AI infrastructure, data centers, energy systems, industrial automation, or mission-critical infrastructure environments.
Experience with real-time orchestration systems, distributed infrastructure, or edge computing environments.
Familiarity with optimization frameworks, MILP solvers, or operational AI systems.
Experience supporting liquid cooling systems, thermal optimization, or power-aware infrastructure operations.
Experience with battery management systems, power electronics, or energy dispatch systems.
Experience building platforms requiring high reliability, resilience, and operational safety.
Prior experience as a founding engineer, technical lead, or early-stage engineering leader.
Experience helping scale engineering organizations and technical processes.
Familiarity with security and compliance frameworks such as SOC 2, ISO 27001, or similar operational standards.
Strong communication skills with the ability to translate complex technical concepts across multidisciplinary teams.

Benefits

Base salary: CAD $120,000 – $170,000, commensurate with experience.
Performance bonus tied to project milestones.
Stock options.
Extended health and dental benefits.
Real room to grow with the company as the engineering org scales.