At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead engineering strategy and manage a growing team to ensure system reliability.
- Company: Innovative fintech startup making options trading accessible for everyone.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, equity options, 30 days leave, and your birthday off.
- Other info: Dynamic startup environment with opportunities for personal and professional growth.
- Why this job: Join a pivotal role in shaping the future of trading technology.
- Qualifications: 6+ years in software engineering and 1.5+ years leading teams.
The predicted salary is between 130000 - 150000 € per year.
Our Mission: Historically, investing in options has been complex and limited to wealthy and professional investors, but our mission is to level the playing field and finally make options trading accessible. After raising £3.5mn, we launched our first mobile app that strips back the complexity, removes the commissions, and enables options to be traded as easily as shares.
The Role: We are looking for a Head of Engineering to drive and take ownership of our engineering strategy, manage our growing engineering team, and ensure our systems remain reliable as we scale toward 100,000+ users. You will work alongside our CTO to help define the technical vision.
You will be responsible for building a best-in-class product, partnering with our CTO to define the technical strategy and long-term architecture of the Investa platform. You’ll also ensure that as the team grows, our systems remain fast, our releases are frequent and stable, and our engineers are mentored to be high-performing.
You are senior enough to architect complex solutions on a whiteboard, yet technical enough to dive into the backend to unblock the team or resolve production issues when necessary. This is your chance to step into a key leadership role at a pivotal phase of Investa’s growth journey.
What You’ll Do:
- Team Management & Onboarding: You will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the squad. As we continue to grow our engineering team, you will lead the onboarding process, career development, and performance reviews to ensure new hires integrate and perform quickly.
- Operational Excellence: You are responsible for system reliability. You’ll implement on-call structures, performance monitoring, and incident response processes to ensure platform stability.
- Strategic Partnership: Work directly with the leadership team to turn the product roadmap into a realistic engineering execution plan.
- Technical Unblocking: Maintain a deep understanding of our stack (TypeScript, Serverless, GCP/AWS) to resolve technical bottlenecks and guide architectural decisions.
- Standards & Quality: Maintain high standards for code quality and testing. You ensure best practices are followed across every pull request and release.
About You:
- Engineering Leader: You have experience managing engineers, handling difficult performance conversations, and coaching team members through their career progression.
- Technical Background: You have a strong background (6 years+) in Backend architecture with enough exposure to Frontend and Mobile to understand a full-stack trading application.
- End-to-End Ownership: You have a track record of delivering complex projects from initial concept through to deployment and long-term maintenance.
- Startup Mindset: You understand the pace of an early-stage company and have that pragmatic, ‘builder’ mindset.
- Reliability Mindset: You are focused on system uptime, security, and building scalable infrastructure.
- Regulatory Awareness: A genuine interest in working within an FCA-regulated business and is aware of the security standards required for a UK fintech app.
Your Background:
- 6+ years software engineering experience in a high performing team and/or company, with a proven track record of owning robust, scalable systems and delivering mission-critical impact.
- 1.5+ years proven experience leading engineering teams in a fast-paced environment. (FinTech experience is a plus).
- Strong technical foundation in Backend languages and a deep understanding of systems design environments.
- Experience implementing engineering metrics such as Uptime, Latency, and Deployment Velocity.
On-call: All engineers at Investa are involved in providing support for our products. This involves responding to events outside of working hours and is a core part of the role of all engineers.
Compensation and Benefits:
- Salary: £130,000 - £150,000 depending on experience, with an annual salary review.
- Equity: 0.2% - 0.4% of the company as an initial grant in stock options. Additional grants linked to performance and milestones.
- 30 days of annual leave (including bank holidays) + your birthday off.
Interview Process:
- Stage 1: Introductory chat with Talent Lead (20 mins)
- Stage 5: Final Behavioural interview (60 mins)
Head of Engineering employer: Investa
Investa is an exceptional employer that champions innovation and accessibility in the fintech space, offering a dynamic work environment where your contributions directly impact the future of options trading. With a strong focus on employee growth, you will have the opportunity to lead a talented engineering team, drive strategic initiatives, and enjoy generous benefits such as competitive salaries, equity options, and ample annual leave. Located in a vibrant tech hub, Investa fosters a collaborative culture that values creativity and encourages a startup mindset, making it an ideal place for those looking to make a meaningful difference in the industry.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Head of Engineering
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to your connections in the industry, attend meetups, and engage with relevant online communities. You never know who might have the inside scoop on job openings or can put in a good word for you.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for those interviews! Research the company, understand their tech stack, and be ready to discuss how your experience aligns with their needs. Practise common interview questions and have your own questions ready to show your interest.
✨Tip Number 3
Showcase your projects! Whether it's through a portfolio or GitHub, make sure to highlight your best work. This gives potential employers a tangible sense of your skills and what you can bring to the table.
✨Tip Number 4
Apply through our website! We love seeing applications directly from candidates who are excited about our mission. It shows initiative and gives you a better chance of standing out in the crowd.
We think you need these skills to ace Head of Engineering
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Your Passion:When writing your application, let your enthusiasm for the role and our mission shine through. We want to see that you’re genuinely excited about making options trading accessible to everyone!
Tailor Your Experience:Make sure to highlight your relevant experience in engineering leadership and system reliability. We’re looking for someone who can drive our engineering strategy, so connect your past achievements to what we’re doing at Investa.
Be Clear and Concise:Keep your application straightforward and to the point. We appreciate clarity, so avoid jargon and focus on what makes you a great fit for the Head of Engineering role.
Apply Through Our Website:Don’t forget to submit your application through our website! It’s the best way for us to keep track of your application and ensure it gets the attention it deserves.
How to prepare for a job interview at Investa
✨Know Your Tech Stack
Make sure you have a solid understanding of the technologies mentioned in the job description, like TypeScript, Serverless, and GCP/AWS. Be prepared to discuss how you've used these technologies in past projects and how they can be applied to solve potential challenges at Investa.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Skills
As a Head of Engineering, you'll need to demonstrate your experience in managing teams. Prepare examples of how you've successfully onboarded new team members, handled performance reviews, and mentored engineers. Highlight your approach to fostering a high-performing culture.
✨Discuss Operational Excellence
Be ready to talk about your strategies for ensuring system reliability and performance monitoring. Share specific instances where you've implemented on-call structures or incident response processes that improved platform stability in your previous roles.
✨Align with the Company’s Mission
Understand Investa's mission to make options trading accessible and be prepared to discuss how your vision aligns with this goal. Show enthusiasm for working in a fintech environment and express your awareness of regulatory standards, as this will resonate well with the interviewers.
