Director of Engineering

TekRek; Vancouver; On-site; CAD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

TekRek, a Vancouver-based startup applying AI to the insurance industry, is scaling its engineering organization. The role oversees two teams focused on agentic workflows and natural language experiences, reporting to the VP of Engineering and owning delivery against a multi-quarter roadmap.

The ideal candidate has run engineering teams before, thrives in ambiguity, and seeks a hands-on leadership role in a growing AI company with strong production systems and scalable processes.

Qualifications

• 4+ years managing engineering teams
• 8+ years of overall professional engineering experience
• 5+ years delivering mission-critical software in production
• Strong grounding in the full SDLC, including code review, testing, and release practices at scale
• Experience designing databases, backends, and APIs, with a track record of operating software in production

Responsibilities

• Lead two engineering teams building agentic workflows and natural language product features
• Set the multi-quarter roadmap and drive delivery against scalability and reliability goals
• Hire, coach, and mentor engineers, building a strong cross-functional team
• Set technical direction and raise the bar on engineering practices across the product lifecycle
• Partner closely with product, data/AI engineering, and customer-facing teams to align priorities

Skills

Engineering Leadership

People Management

Roadmap Planning

Cross-functional Collaboration

Production Systems

Job description

A Vancouver-based startup applying AI to the insurance industry is scaling its engineering organization. The company is well funded by North American investors and has been recognized among Canada's fastest-growing tech companies. It builds vertically-focused AI products for insurance agencies and brokerages, combining deep domain expertise with proprietary models to automate real operational workflows.

The Role

This is an engineering leadership position overseeing two teams focused on agentic workflows and natural language product experiences. You will report to the VP of Engineering and sit on the engineering leadership team, owning delivery against a multi‑quarter roadmap while building the processes, standards, and culture that let the org scale with headcount. The ideal candidate has run engineering teams before, is comfortable operating in ambiguity, and wants a hands‑on leadership role in a growing AI company.

What You Will Do

• Lead two engineering teams building agentic workflows and natural language product features
• Set the multi‑quarter roadmap and drive delivery against scalability and reliability goals
• Hire, coach, and mentor engineers, building a strong cross‑functional team
• Set technical direction and raise the bar on engineering practices across the product lifecycle
• Partner closely with product, data/AI engineering, and customer‑facing teams to align priorities

What You Bring

• 4+ years managing engineering teams
• 8+ years of overall professional engineering experience
• 5+ years delivering mission‑critical software in production
• Strong grounding in the full SDLC, including code review, testing, and release practices at scale
• Experience designing databases, backends, and APIs, with a track record of operating software in production

Why This Role

This is a chance to lead engineering for the parts of the product driving the company's growth, with direct access to leadership and real input into how the org scales. The team builds AI‑first, working on problems with immediate, measurable business impact rather than incremental feature work.