Head of Engineering

Merquri Pte Ltd.; Singapore; On-site; SGD 260,000 - 450,000; Full time

Job summary

Merquri Pte Ltd. in Singapore seeks a Head of Engineering to own the engineering strategy, governance, and execution for our software platforms.

You will steer architectural direction, ensure security-by-design and high availability, and align with enterprise goals. You will lead a global engineering organization, drive delivery maturity across the SDLC, implement CI/CD, observability, and AI-assisted development to boost productivity, code quality, and time-to-market.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of software engineering with leadership experience.
• 6+ years directing multi-team engineering organizations and multi-million-dollar pipelines.
• 3–5 years in high-transaction real-time tech domains.
• Proven track record modernizing engineering cultures and managing offshore/vendor resources.

Responsibilities

• Define, scale, and drive the engineering vision, standards, and operating model aligning with commercial goals.
• Own end-to-end architectural direction for transactional platforms, APIs, and cloud-native solutions with security-by-design and high-availability.
• Lead and scale a global engineering organization; coach, recruit, and develop leaders and teams.
• Establish high-quality delivery frameworks across the SDLC: estimation, testing automation, CI/CD, observability, production support.
• Strategic AI adoption: embed AI-assisted coding tools and agentic workflows into daily engineering tasks.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Distributed systems

Cloud-native architecture

AI adoption

Stakeholder management

Strategic planning

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or related field

GLI-19 or GLI-33 familiarity

AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional

TOGAF 9/10 certification

CISSP/CISM or AWS Security – Specialty

Tools

AWS

Job description

The Head of Engineering is a strategic executive leader who owns the engineering strategy, architectural governance, and execution delivery model for our Engineering division. Reporting directly to the Managing Director / CEO, this role is responsible for driving high-performance, resilient, and compliant enterprise software solutions for clients. The successful candidate will foster a high-performing engineering culture, bridging the gap between sophisticated corporate strategy and robust delivery pipelines.

A critical focus of this modern leadership role is the systematic adoption of artificial intelligence—specifically embedding AI-assisted development tools and agentic workflows into everyday engineering operations. This leader will successfully transition AI from experimental proof-of-concepts into scaled, standard operating procedures that exponentially improve engineering productivity, code quality, and time-to-market.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Engineering Strategy & Operating Model

• Define, scale, and drive the engineering vision, technical standards and modern operating models for the Technology division, ensuring close alignment with broader commercial goals.

Architectural Governance & Solution Design

• Own end-to-end technical and architectural direction for transactional software platforms, API integrations, and cloud-native solutions, guaranteeing robust scalability, security-by-design, and high-availability operations.

Executive Leadership & Stakeholder Management

• Work as a trusted partner to the CEO/MD, senior business executives, project managers, and client-facing product owners to shape technical roadmaps, de-risk complex implementations, and manage high-value client technical escalations.
• Directly lead and scale a global engineering organization of software developers, architects, and engineering managers; champion continuous coaching, recruitment, performance evaluation, and professional growth pipelines: champion engineering restructuring

Standardization of Delivery Practices

• Establish and maintain high-quality delivery frameworks across the full software development lifecycle (SDLC), including rigorous practices for estimation, testing automation, CI/CD, observability, and production support.

Strategic AI Adoption & Automation

• Establish standard operating procedures for integrating generative AI, AI-assisted coding assistants, and agentic workflows into daily engineering tasks, ensuring continuous productivity gains and team buy-in.

EXPERIENCE & REQUIREMENTS

• 12+ years of overall software engineering experience, featuring a strong technical foundation in building robust, high-performance distributed systems.
• 6+ years of direct, senior technology leadership experience (e.g., Director of Engineering, VP of Engineering, or Head of Engineering) managing multi-team structures, engineering managers, and multi-million-dollar delivery pipelines.
• 3 to 5 years of domain-specific high-transaction real-time technology experience.
• Demonstrated track record of scaling engineering organizations, modernizing engineering cultures, and managing offshore, nearshore, or vendor resources.
• Proven expertise in modern software architecture patterns, cloud-native platforms (AWS preferred), API design, and microservices.
• Highly developed stakeholder management capabilities, with experience presenting complex technical options confidently to the Executive Committee, MD/CEO, and enterprise-level client leads.
• Strategic knowledge or practical exposure to integrating AI tools (e.g., LLM APIs, code-generation assistants, agentic automation) to drive team efficiency and establish structured AI standards.
• Deep understanding of technical governance, risk mitigation, QA automation, and continuous delivery pipelines (CI/CD).

EDUCATION & PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Academic Foundation

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a highly quantitative field.

Highly Valued Professional Credentials

To reflect the strategic nature of this role, we value candidates who demonstrate expertise across key domains via official certifications or proven organizational track records. The following certifications are highly preferred:

• Familiarity with or training in GLI-19 or GLI-33 standards is strongly preferred.
• Cloud Infrastructure Architecture: AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional or equivalent senior cloud architecture credential.
• Information Security & Risk Management: CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional), CISM (Certified Information Security Manager), or AWS Certified Security – Specialty, highlighting a commitment to security-by-design.
• Enterprise Architecture Governance: TOGAF 9 / 10 certification, representing expertise in scalable organizational systems design.