Lead Software Engineer – Product Builder

Jobtailor; Southwestern Ontario; On-site; CAD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor is seeking a senior software engineer to own the full product lifecycle from concept to launch, focusing on AI-assisted development and scalable microservices. You will write production code, shape architecture, and lead the team through hands-on mentorship, code reviews, and design discussions.

The role emphasizes rapid prototyping, MVP launches, and data-driven iteration, with cloud deployments on AWS/Azure and frequent production releases.

Qualifications

• 7–10 years of hands-on engineering experience, with recent, demonstrable coding work.
• Demonstrated experience using AI-assisted development tools in day-to-day software development.
• Strong practices for prompting, code review, testing, security, and validating AI-generated code.
• Experience designing and building scalable microservices, APIs, and distributed systems.
• Product mindset focused on user value.
• Ability to make decisions with incomplete information and adjust based on learning.
• Hands-on experience deploying and operating software in the cloud using AWS and Azure.
• Experience with CI/CD, containers, and frequent production releases.
• Knowledge of performance, observability, security, and resilient system design.
• Ability to influence technical direction without relying on hierarchy.
• Experience mentoring engineers.
• Strong communication skills and ability to explain complex systems simply and persuasively.
• Nice to have: startups, accelerators, or innovation labs
• Nice to have: AI/ML systems, LLMs, prompt engineering, or agentic architectures

Responsibilities

• Own the full product lifecycle from concept to launch
• Rapidly design, build, and scale transformative digital products including an agentic AI platform
• Write production code and make pragmatic architecture decisions
• Use AI-assisted development and coding agents for prototyping, implementation, testing, debugging, and code review
• Balance speed, quality, scalability, and business impact
• Prototype quickly, launch MVPs, run experiments and validate ideas with real users
• Instrument products, gather feedback, and iterate based on data
• Guide the technical direction of the team through hands-on development
• Establish lightweight architecture and engineering practices
• Provide technical leadership through code reviews, design discussions, and mentorship
• Collaborate with product managers, designers, and business stakeholders
• Communicate trade-offs, risks, and timelines to technical and non-technical audiences
• Champion modern engineering practices, tools, and technologies
• Build reusable components and technical foundations for future products
• Report to the Director of Engineering, In-House Accelerator

Skills

AI-assisted development

CI/CD

Cloud deployment

Microservices design

Distributed systems

Prompt engineering

Code reviews

Mentorship

Performance & observability

Security practices

Architecture decisions

Communication

Startup/accelerator experience

Tools

AI Platforms

CI/CD Tools

Containers

Cloud Services (AWS, Azure)

Job description

• Own the full product lifecycle from concept to launch
• Rapidly design, build, and scale transformative digital products, including an agentic AI platform and client experience solutions
• Write production code and make pragmatic architecture decisions
• Use AI-assisted development and coding agents for prototyping, implementation, testing, debugging, and code review
• Balance speed, quality, scalability, and business impact
• Prototype quickly, launch MVPs, run experiments, and validate ideas with real users
• Instrument products, gather feedback, and iterate based on data
• Guide the technical direction of the team through hands-on development
• Establish lightweight architecture and engineering practices
• Provide technical leadership through code reviews, design discussions, and mentorship
• Collaborate with product managers, designers, and business stakeholders
• Communicate trade-offs, risks, and timelines to technical and non-technical audiences
• Champion modern engineering practices, tools, and technologies
• Build reusable components and technical foundations for future products
• Report to the Director of Engineering, In-House Accelerator

Requirements

• 7–10 years of hands-on engineering experience, with recent, demonstrable coding work
• Demonstrated experience using AI-assisted development tools in day-to-day software development
• Strong practices for prompting, code review, testing, security, and validating AI-generated code
• Experience designing and building scalable microservices, APIs, and distributed systems
• Product mindset focused on user value
• Ability to make decisions with incomplete information and adjust based on learning
• Hands-on experience deploying and operating software in the cloud using AWS and Azure
• Experience with CI/CD, containers, and frequent production releases
• Knowledge of performance, observability, security, and resilient system design
• Ability to influence technical direction without relying on hierarchy
• Experience mentoring engineers
• Strong communication skills and ability to explain complex systems simply and persuasively
• Nice to have: experience in startups, accelerators, or innovation labs
• Nice to have: experience with AI/ML systems, LLMs, prompt engineering, or agentic architectures

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in the full product lifecycle, from concept to launch, with a strong focus on AI-assisted development, scalable microservices, and cloud deployment using AWS and Azure. Capable of providing technical leadership, mentoring engineers, and communicating complex systems effectively to diverse audiences.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• AI-Assisted Development Tools
• Scalable Microservices Design
• Cloud Deployment (AWS, Azure)
• CI/CD and Containerization
• Technical Leadership and Mentorship

Hard Skills

• Production Code Writing
• Architecture Decision Making
• Prototyping and MVP Launch
• Code Review and Testing
• Security Practices
• Distributed Systems Design
• Performance and Observability
• Resilient System Design
• Prompt Engineering
• Agentic Architectures

Soft Skills

• Strong Communication Skills
• Ability to Influence Technical Direction
• Decision Making with Incomplete Information

Industry Keywords

• Product Mindset
• User Value Focus
• Startups
• Accelerators
• Innovation Labs

Tools & Technologies

• AI Platforms
• CI/CD Tools
• Containers
• Cloud Services (AWS, Azure)