Head of Engineering (Hands-on Builder & Systems Architect)

KitaLulus; Indonesia; On-site; IDR 223,200,000 - 446,400,000; Full time

Job summary

KitaLulus is seeking a Head of Engineering to own core architecture and drive the V3 platform transformation. The role blends hands-on coding with architectural leadership to scale our AI-powered SME operations platform.

The ideal candidate will migrate data from MongoDB to PostgreSQL, design deterministic APIs, establish testing and CI/CD, and mentor a growing engineering team while aligning with product and business goals.

Qualifications

• Minimum 8 years of professional software engineering experience.
• Experience in technical leadership roles such as Tech Lead or Head of Engineering.
• Hands-on involvement in software development, architecture, and decision-making.
• Strong PostgreSQL database expertise and data modeling capabilities.
• Experience migrating data architectures to relational databases.
• Backend tech experience with TS/Node.js, Python, or Go.
• Experience integrating AI/LLMs into production systems.
• Excellent English communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead the migration from MongoDB-based architecture to PostgreSQL with normalized schemas.
• Design automated testing, CI/CD pipelines, and contract testing systems.
• Model SME operational workflows and deterministic APIs.
• Build AI agent backend orchestration and data integration.
• Define engineering standards and provide technical mentorship across the team.

Skills

Technical Leadership

System Architecture

Backend Engineering

AI & LLM Integration

Engineering Automation

Business Acumen

Communication Skills

Tools

PostgreSQL

MongoDB

TypeScript/Node.js

Python

Go

CI/CD tooling

Job description

Our client is a technology company building an AI-powered operational platform designed to help Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) streamline and automate their business operations.

Today, many SMEs still rely on fragmented operational systems, ranging from scattered WhatsApp conversations and disconnected spreadsheets to legacy CRM platforms. Our client aims to address this challenge by developing a centralized AI-powered platform that enables businesses to move beyond conventional conversational bots toward autonomous AI agents capable of executing complex operational workflows.

The platform is being designed to support critical business functions, including pricing, dispatch, scheduling, and end-to-end lead management.

As part of its next stage of product development, the company is undergoing a major architectural transformation, moving from a legacy, unstructured system toward a more structured, deterministic, and scalable platform.

2. About the Role

1. About Our Client

Our client is a technology company building an AI-powered operational platform designed to help Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) streamline and automate their business operations.

Today, many SMEs still rely on fragmented operational systems, ranging from scattered WhatsApp conversations and disconnected spreadsheets to legacy CRM platforms. Our client aims to address this challenge by developing a centralized AI-powered platform that enables businesses to move beyond conventional conversational bots toward autonomous AI agents capable of executing complex operational workflows.

The platform is being designed to support critical business functions, including pricing, dispatch, scheduling, and end-to-end lead management.

As part of its next stage of product development, the company is undergoing a major architectural transformation, moving from a legacy, unstructured system toward a more structured, deterministic, and scalable platform.

2. About the Role

Our client is looking for a Head of Engineering who will take ownership of its core technical architecture and engineering execution.

This is a highly hands-on technical leadership position, with a strong emphasis on system architecture, backend engineering, data modeling, and AI-driven development infrastructure.

The ideal candidate is someone who combines strong engineering fundamentals with architectural thinking and a builder mindset. Rather than focusing primarily on people management or project coordination, this individual will play a central role in designing and building the technical foundation that enables the engineering team to scale efficiently.

A key priority will be leading the company's V3 platform transformation, including migrating its operational data infrastructure from MongoDB to PostgreSQL, establishing reliable data models, designing deterministic interfaces for AI agents, and building automated verification systems to maintain code quality and production stability.

This role is best suited for a technical leader who remains deeply involved in coding and architectural decisions while providing technical direction to the wider engineering team.

3. Key Responsibilities

A. System Architecture & Data Infrastructure

• Lead the migration from the existing MongoDB-based architecture to a centralized PostgreSQL relational database.
• Design normalized data schemas, transactional workflows, and state machines for critical business operations such as scheduling, pricing, and CRM.
• Establish a reliable single source of truth across the platform to minimize data inconsistencies and operational errors.

B. Engineering Quality & Automated Verification

• Design and implement automated testing frameworks, CI/CD pipelines, and contract testing systems.
• Establish automated quality assurance mechanisms to validate both human-written and AI-generated code.
• Build testing and verification infrastructure that ensures system reliability, scalability, and production stability.

C. Business Domain Modeling

• Understand real-world SME operational workflows, including dispatch management, service tiers, technician availability, and cancellation policies.
• Translate complex and sometimes ambiguous business requirements into structured system architecture and deterministic APIs.
• Work closely with product and business stakeholders to ensure technical solutions address actual customer needs.

D. AI Agent & Backend Infrastructure

• Design the backend orchestration layer and tool interfaces that enable AI agents to interact reliably with business systems.
• Integrate structured PostgreSQL data and retrieval mechanisms into AI-powered workflows.
• Ensure AI agents operate within defined business rules and deterministic processes, minimizing errors and unreliable outputs.

E. Technical Leadership & Engineering Culture

• Establish engineering standards, architectural guidelines, and development practices across the team.
• Define how engineering specifications are written, how AI coding agents are utilized, and how LLM performance is evaluated.
• Provide technical mentorship and guidance while maintaining high engineering standards.
• Promote an AI-native engineering environment that enables faster development without compromising system reliability.

4. Candidate Requirements

Our client is looking for candidates with the following qualifications:

A. Technical Leadership & Engineering Experience

• Minimum 8 years of professional software engineering experience.
• Previous experience in a technical leadership capacity, such as Tech Lead, Principal Engineer, Founding Engineer, or Head of Engineering.
• Strong hands-on involvement in software development, system architecture, and technical decision-making.
• Proven ability to lead technical execution while remaining actively involved in the codebase.

B. System Architecture & Database Expertise

• Strong expertise in relational database architecture, particularly PostgreSQL.
• Solid understanding of database normalization, schema design, indexing, transaction management, and data integrity.
• Experience migrating data architectures from unstructured or NoSQL databases into relational database systems.
• Familiarity with vector search and integrating it with operational databases is highly valuable.

C. Backend Engineering & Technical Fundamentals

• Strong experience with modern backend technologies such as TypeScript/Node.js, Python, or Go.
• Deep understanding of API design, asynchronous processing, runtime mechanics, and backend system architecture.
• Ability to navigate and understand complex codebases independently, with or without AI coding assistance.

D. Engineering Excellence & Automation

• Proven experience designing automated testing frameworks, end-to-end regression testing, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Strong understanding of software quality assurance, system resilience, and automated code verification.
• Ability to establish engineering processes that support high development velocity while maintaining production stability.

E. AI & LLM Integration

• Practical experience integrating Large Language Models (LLMs) into production applications.
• Understanding of AI agent architecture, tool calling, structured data extraction, and workflow automation.
• Ability to design systems that combine AI capabilities with deterministic business logic to ensure reliable execution.

F. Business Acumen & Communication

• Strong product mindset and ability to understand business problems before translating them into technical solutions.
• Comfortable working with founders and cross-functional stakeholders to translate ambiguous requirements into technical specifications.
• Strong verbal and written English communication skills.

5. Preferred Qualifications (Nice to Have)

• Previous experience as a Founding Engineer or technical leader within a high-growth B2B SaaS startup.
• Experience building operational systems for SMEs, particularly in field service management, dispatch, booking, or workflow automation.
• Experience integrating business-critical communication channels such as WhatsApp Business API or Twilio with backend transactional systems.
• hands-on experience using AI coding tools and autonomous development agents such as Cursor, Claude Code, or GitHub Copilot.
• Experience establishing AI-assisted engineering workflows within structured development and quality assurance processes.

6. Ideal Candidate Profile

Beyond the technical requirements, our client is particularly interested in candidates who demonstrate the following characteristics:

• Builder Mindset: Someone who enjoys designing and building systems hands-on rather than focusing exclusively on management and coordination.
• Architectural Thinking: Able to look beyond immediate engineering tasks and build scalable, maintainable technical foundations.
• Problem-Solving Orientation: Comfortable navigating ambiguity and translating complex real-world business problems into practical technical solutions.
• AI-native mindset: Understands how to leverage AI tools to accelerate engineering productivity without compromising technical quality.
• Ownership & Accountability: Capable of taking ownership of critical technical decisions and driving architectural execution from concept to production.
• Overall, our client is looking for a hands-on engineering leader who can help establish the company's next-generation technical foundation and lead its transition toward a scalable, AI-native platform.