At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead a team to build an AI operations platform for retail and CPG enterprises.
- Company: Join a fast-moving tech company on a mission to revolutionise enterprise workflows.
- Benefits: Enjoy competitive pay, unlimited AI budget, and opportunities for personal growth.
- Other info: Work in a dynamic environment that values autonomy, accountability, and direct feedback.
- Why this job: Make a real impact by solving complex problems with cutting-edge AI technology.
- Qualifications: Proven experience in shipping products, technical leadership, and AI/ML literacy.
The predicted salary is between 110000 - 220000 £ per year.
Who We Are
Enterprise teams still copy data between systems all day. Work gets stuck in emails, legacy UIs, and handoffs. That chaos is costly, slow, and risky. We're a fast-moving team on a mission to end it for good. Traction is strong and we're solving real problems for real customers—but to win, we need exceptional talent. We stay humble, do the work, and let results speak.
What We Are Building
We're building the AI operations platform for retail and CPG enterprises—a horizontal platform where AI agents execute end-to-end work across UIs and APIs with governance built in. Where copilots stop, Duvo finishes the job. Business users specify the outcome; agents plan, act, request approvals on exceptions, and learn with every run. We start with a retail wedge (category management, supply chain, finance ops) where ROI is obvious, then expand to adjacent functions and sectors. Velocity is our moat: ship fast, iterate faster, compound learning.
The role
You will own the technical direction of an initiative and the team that delivers it. You're an excellent product engineer who ships code alongside your team — and you combine that IC excellence with accountability for your people. This is not a "manager who used to code" role. You write production code, review PRs, make architecture calls, and set the engineering standard your team rallies around. Expect to spend 50–60% of your time in code. You also run 1:1s, give feedback, hire, and grow people — but your leadership is rooted in technical credibility. Your unit of ownership: the technical quality, velocity, and direction of your initiative, plus the growth and performance of your engineers.
We're a growing product team scaling into multiple initiatives, each with a lead, engineers, a design engineer, and an AI-focused engineer. You'll lead one of these initiatives. We have strong engineers who could grow into this role — we're hiring externally for management experience from day one, so our existing engineers can focus on shipping.
What We're Looking For
- Shipping and ownership. You've repeatedly taken ambiguous problems to production with measurable outcomes. You own features end-to-end: UI → API → data → deployment.
- Technical leadership. You make architecture decisions, manage tech-debt tradeoffs, and set quality standards. Your team trusts your judgment because you're in the codebase with them.
- AI/ML product literacy. You have hands-on experience building with LLMs, retrieval systems, or evaluation harnesses. You understand the primitives well enough to make sound build-vs-integrate decisions and catch failure modes.
- Product judgment. You can define MVP scope, pick the right metric to move, and kill work that isn't delivering value. You connect technical choices to customer outcomes, not just technical elegance.
- People management. You run 1:1s, give direct feedback, support career development, and hire well. Your management style is shoulder-to-shoulder, not top-down. Part of your job is developing engineers on your team into future technical leaders.
- Judgment under pressure. You'll decide build-vs-buy, choose between shipping fast and shipping right, and make architecture calls that affect the whole platform — often without complete information.
You might also
- Have a strong sense for security and reliability in production AI systems.
- Have excellent UI/UX taste and an eye for detail — our product is the interface between enterprises and AI agents, and craft matters.
- Be a full-stack generalist who thrives on new problems and ambiguity.
- Have designed and operated distributed systems at scale.
- Have deep applied LLM experience — evaluation design, prompt engineering, safety controls, and cost optimization in production.
This is not for you if
- You want a pure management role without writing code — see Engineering Manager.
- You see management as career advancement rather than a way to multiply your team's impact.
Our tech stack
- TypeScript-first
- React and Fastify
- Postgres, GCP
- Latest AI primitives
How we work
- Initiative-driven. We organise around customer problems, not org charts. Problems surface through product feedback, competitive analysis, and direct customer conversations — then we prioritise, build, and ship weekly.
- Customer-obsessed. We solve real problems, not hypothetical ones. Features that don't move customer metrics get cut.
- Iterative by default. We ship small, learn fast, and never get attached to yesterday's code. This means things break sometimes — we fix forward.
- AI-first leverage. We use AI to move faster and focus human time where it matters most. If a tool can do it, a person shouldn't.
- Direct feedback. We give each other actionable feedback immediately. This can feel uncomfortable — we think that's worth it.
- Autonomy with accountability. We trust people to make decisions and hold them to outcomes, not process.
What we offer
- Unlimited AI budget. We don't just allow AI tools — we strongly encourage them. Want to try a new tool? Buy it. Want to automate part of your workflow? Do it.
- Autonomy to do your best work. Want to meet someone to learn from? Set it up. Want a mentor? Go get one. Want to fly out to talk to an important customer? Just ask.
- A real AI product with real customers. You're not building demos or internal tools. Enterprise customers use what you ship, and their feedback drives what you build next.
- A sharp, motivated team that values ownership and candour.
- Competitive compensation with a meaningful equity component. You can trade salary for additional equity if you prefer more upside.
How we hire
- We respect your time and aim to move fast: Hiring manager screen (30 min). We'll talk about what you've built, how you lead, and whether there's mutual fit.
- Remote task (async, time-boxed, ~1 hour). A realistic technical leadership exercise — an architectural decision, not just coding.
- Technical interview (Prague, ~1 hour). Meet the team. We'll go deeper on system design, product thinking, and how you lead people. No trick questions — we want to see how you think and build.
- On-site trial day (2 days). Ship something small to production with us and see how we work together. Fully compensated.
Compensation Range: €110K - €220K
AI-First Tech Lead: Drive Architecture & Growth employer: duvo.ai
At our company, we pride ourselves on fostering a dynamic and innovative work culture that empowers employees to take ownership of their projects while collaborating with a sharp, motivated team. With a strong focus on AI-driven solutions, we offer unlimited resources for professional growth, competitive compensation, and the autonomy to make impactful decisions in a fast-paced environment. Join us in shaping the future of enterprise technology in a role that combines technical leadership with meaningful contributions to real-world applications.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land AI-First Tech Lead: Drive Architecture & Growth
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to folks in your industry on LinkedIn or at meetups. A personal connection can often get you a foot in the door faster than any application.
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! If you’ve got a portfolio or GitHub, make sure it’s up to date. Share projects that highlight your technical leadership and problem-solving abilities—this is your chance to shine!
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for those interviews! Research the company and its products, especially how they use AI. Be ready to discuss how your experience aligns with their mission and how you can contribute to their growth.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, we love seeing candidates who take that extra step!
We think you need these skills to ace AI-First Tech Lead: Drive Architecture & Growth
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Your Passion:When you're writing your application, let your enthusiasm for AI and tech shine through! We want to see that you’re genuinely excited about the role and our mission. Share why you’re drawn to this position and how you can contribute to our goals.
Be Specific About Your Experience:Don’t just list your past roles; dive into the details! Talk about specific projects where you’ve taken ownership and delivered measurable outcomes. We love seeing how you've tackled ambiguous problems and what impact your work had on the team or product.
Connect the Dots:Make sure to link your technical skills to real-world applications. Explain how your experience with AI/ML and architecture decisions has led to successful outcomes. We’re looking for candidates who can connect their technical choices to customer needs and business results.
Keep It Professional Yet Personal:While we appreciate a friendly tone, remember to keep it professional. Use clear language and structure your application well. A personal touch is great, but make sure it aligns with the role and showcases your qualifications effectively. And don’t forget to apply through our website!
How to prepare for a job interview at duvo.ai
✨Know Your Tech Stack
Familiarise yourself with the tech stack mentioned in the job description, especially TypeScript, React, and Fastify. Be ready to discuss how you've used these technologies in past projects and how they can be applied to solve the challenges faced by the company.
✨Demonstrate Ownership
Prepare examples that showcase your ability to take ambiguous problems to production. Highlight specific features you've owned from UI to API, and be ready to discuss measurable outcomes. This will show that you understand the importance of shipping and ownership.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Style
Since this role requires a blend of technical expertise and people management, be prepared to discuss your management style. Share experiences where you've supported career development and provided direct feedback to your team, emphasising your shoulder-to-shoulder approach.
✨Connect Technical Choices to Customer Outcomes
Be ready to discuss how your technical decisions have directly impacted customer satisfaction or business metrics. This will demonstrate your product judgment and ability to prioritise features that deliver real value, aligning with the company's customer-obsessed philosophy.