Lead, Product Engineering

Hugo Bank; Karachi Division; On-site; PKR 22,358,860 - 33,538,290; Full time

Job summary

Hugo Bank is looking for a Lead, Product Engineering to spearhead the development of consumer-facing digital products. The role demands extensive technical knowledge and leadership capabilities, involving both management and hands-on coding across applications and infrastructure. Ideal candidates will have over a decade of experience in software engineering, proven skills in launching consumer-oriented products, and a strong grasp of cloud-native architectures. This role supports an innovative coding culture, emphasizing mentorship and responsible AI-augmented development.

Qualifications

• 12–15+ years of experience in software/product engineering.
• 3–5+ years of experience in a leadership role.
• Proven experience in building and scaling consumer-facing digital products.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end product engineering for consumer-facing and backend systems.
• Contribute hands-on to application development and architecture design.
• Build mentor and manage high-performing engineering teams.

Skills

Leadership

Software Development

Cloud Computing

Problem Solving

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field

Tools

AWS

Terraform

Java

Kotlin

Node.js

Python

Go

Job description

We are seeking a hands‑on Lead, Product Engineering with a strong product mindset to lead the development and evolution of consumer‑facing digital products.

This role requires deep technical expertise, leadership capability, and ownership across the full stack—application and infrastructure. The ideal candidate has built and scaled real‑world consumer products, demonstrates strong engineering judgment, and is comfortable challenging product requirements to deliver better solutions.

This is a hands‑on leadership role requiring active involvement in architecture, coding, and engineering practices—not just team management.

Responsibilities:

• Lead end‑to‑end product engineering for consumer‑facing and backend systems
• Take ownership of existing platforms and drive improvements in scalability, reliability, and performance
• Contribute hands‑on to application development, architecture design, and infrastructure (cloud & IaC)
• Define and enforce coding standards, design principles, and engineering best practices
• Collaborate closely with Product, Design, and Business teams to refine requirements and challenge assumptions
• Build, mentor, and manage high‑performing engineering teams
• Drive adoption of cloud‑native architectures, DevSecOps, and automation‑first practices
• Ensure systems meet security, compliance, and regulatory requirements (especially in a banking environment)
• Own architectural decision‑making and drive long‑term platform scalability, resilience, and engineering strategy
• Ensure production stability, operational excellence, and incident ownership for critical systems

AI‑Augmented Engineering & Vibe Coding Culture

At HugoBank, we recognize that AI‑assisted development is now a core part of modern engineering workflows.

We support the responsible use of AI‑assisted development tools such as GitHub Copilot, Google Gemini, and Claude to enhance productivity, accelerate development, and improve developer experience.

However, we emphasize that:

• AI tools are accelerators, not substitutes for engineering thinking
• Engineers must fully understand, validate, and own all generated code
• Strong fundamentals in system design, debugging, and problem‑solving remain essential

As a Lead, you will:

• Define best practices for responsible AI‑assisted development
• Guide teams on effective and secure use of AI tools
• Ensure AI improves quality, maintainability, and security—not just speed
• Build a culture of AI‑augmented engineering with strong ownership and accountability

Team Development & Engineering Culture

The Lead, Product Engineering will help shape a high‑performing engineering organization by:

1. AI‑Augmented Engineering: Promote responsible AI usage with clear guardrails, ensuring validation, security compliance, and avoidance of blind copy‑paste development
2. Engineering Fundamentals: Strengthen system design, distributed systems, data structures, and debugging skills while balancing AI‑driven speed with engineering depth
3. Engineering Standards: Drive clean code practices, robust testing, CI/CD maturity, and structured design thinking
4. Mentorship & Growth: Develop engineers across all levels in cloud‑native development, microservices, DevSecOps, and AI‑assisted workflows
5. Ownership Culture: Foster end‑to‑end ownership, production accountability, and continuous improvement mindset

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field
• 12–15+ years of experience in software/product engineering
• 3–5+ years of experience in a leadership role
• Proven experience in building and scaling consumer‑facing digital products
• Strong hands‑on experience in modern programming languages (Java, Kotlin, Node.js, Python, Go)
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS preferred) and cloud‑native architectures
• Strong experience with infrastructure‑as‑code (Terraform, Pulumi, CloudFormation)
• Experience with microservices, APIs, and distributed systems
• Strong understanding of secure coding and cloud security principles
• Experience with CI/CD, automated testing, and release management
• Demonstrated ability to lead teams while remaining technically hands‑on
• Strong problem‑solving, communication, and stakeholder management skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in fintech, digital banking, or regulated environments
• Exposure to high‑scale, high‑availability systems
• Familiarity with compliance, security, and data protection requirements