Lead Engineer

Malaa Technologies; Municipality of Al Shamal; On-site; SAR 300,000 - 420,000; Full time

Job summary

Malaa Technologies in Riyadh is seeking a Lead Engineer to shape the technical direction of critical systems. This hands-on leadership role requires writing code while primarily guiding decisions, architecture, and people to deliver high-impact outcomes.

You will own major domain directions, mentor engineers, and collaborate with product, design and leadership to translate business goals into scalable technical strategies across the platform lifecycle.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of hands-on software engineering experience.
• 2+ years in a technical lead or team lead role.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience.
• Experience in developing web services and APIs.
• Strong understanding of SQL databases.
• Experience with event-driven architecture and messaging systems (Kafka, RMQ).
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines.
• Strong communication and leadership abilities.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical direction and architecture of a domain or major system.
• Act as the primary technical owner of multiple solutions developed by your team.
• Lead architectural decisions and keep services and domains aligned.
• Build a deep understanding of the full business workflow and system lifecycle.
• Set and drive technical standards, best practices and engineering quality.
• Mentor, coach and develop senior and mid-level engineers.
• Raise the bar for engineering excellence and delivery discipline.
• Lead technical planning, prioritization and execution of strategic initiatives.
• Partner with Product, Design and Leadership to turn business goals into technical strategy.
• Identify systemic risks early and address scalability, reliability and security.
• Improve developer experience and team effectiveness across the domain.

Skills

Hands-on leadership

Architectural leadership

Web services

Team mentorship

CI/CD expertise

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/SE or equivalent

Tools

SQL databases

Kafka

RabbitMQ

Git

Job description

Lead Engineer

Application Deadline: 30 November 2026

Department: Engineering

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Riyadh

Description

About the Role

Lead Engineers at Malaa shape the technical direction of the systems they own. You’ll work on foundational financial platforms that enable innovation, resilience and trust across the ecosystem. You’ll lead engineers and influence how we build, not just what we build.

This is a hands-on leadership role. You will write code, but your main impact comes from decisions, direction and people.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the technical direction and architecture of a domain or major system
• Act as the primary technical owner of multiple solutions developed by your team
• Lead architectural decisions and keep services and domains aligned
• Build a deep understanding of the full business workflow and system lifecycle
• Set and drive technical standards, best practices and engineering quality
• Mentor, coach and develop senior and mid-level engineers
• Raise the bar for engineering excellence and delivery discipline
• Lead technical planning, prioritization and execution of strategic initiatives
• Partner with Product, Design and Leadership to turn business goals into technical strategy
• Identify systemic risks early and address scalability, reliability and security
• Improve developer experience and team effectiveness across the domain

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• 5+ years of hands-on software engineering experience, including at least 2 years in a technical lead or team lead role
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• Solid experience in developing web services and APIs
• Hands‑on experience writing high‑quality, testable code, with a strong understanding of software architectures.
• Solid experience with working with SQL database’s and it’s fundamentals
• Good understanding of event driven architecture and messaging services (Kafka, RMQ, etc..)
• Understanding of CI/CD pipeline.
• Proficient with versioning tools, preferably Git.
• Knowledge of Agile Software Development Methodologies.
• Proficient in solving horizontal strategic challenges.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and inspire teams of multiple engineers, driving high‑impact outcomes.
• Expertise in prioritizing and executing strategic initiatives effectively.
• Strong communication skills, adept at bridging the gap between technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to lead chapter meetings, prioritize strategic initiatives, and drive them to execution.