Team Lead Applications Developer - AI-Focused products with US Market Exposure.

Sortd Inc; Johannesburg; Remote; ZAR 800,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a dynamic startup as a Team Lead – Full Stack JavaScript Engineer, focusing on developing AI products for the US market. You'll lead a small team to enhance productivity platforms while utilizing your extensive full-stack experience and mentor junior developers. Ideal for those thriving in an agile environment with a passion for innovative technologies.

Qualifications

• 6+ years full-stack experience required.
• Proven leadership or mentoring ability.
• Experience with scalable backends and distributed systems.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a small development team.
• Architect and build full-stack applications.
• Ensure high code quality and system performance.

Skills

JavaScript

TypeScript

Angular

Node.js

MongoDB

PostgreSQL

Redis

DevOps

Education

Relevant tertiary qualification

Job description

JOB OPPORTUNITY: TEAM LEAD – FULL STACK JAVASCRIPT ENGINEER

Remote / Flexible | AI-Focused Products with US Market Exposure | Full-Time | Senior Level

Sortd Description

At Sortd, we are dedicated to revolutionizing the way teams work and communicate. Sortd is the world’s first Small Business Productivity Suite for Gmail, designed to incorporate Sales, CRM, Recruitment, Support, and Account Management. Our mission is to enhance productivity and foster meaningful collaboration across all levels of business operations. Sortd for Gmail transforms Gmail into a comprehensive “Email 2.0” platform, integrating business functions into one versatile workspace. Our AI Sales Assistant, Eva, empowers sales teams by automating lead generation, prospect nurturing, and follow-ups, thus maximizing sales productivity and ROI.

Role Description

This is a full-time remote role for a Team Lead Applications Developer with a focus on AI products and exposure to the US market. The individual will be responsible for leading a team of developers, overseeing software development processes, and providing technical support. The role includes managing project timelines, ensuring product quality, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to enhance AI-driven applications.

CODE LOFT

Code Loft is a software partner of Sortd Inc, focused on delivering innovative productivity and AI-driven platforms for the global SaaS market — with a growing focus on the U.S. customer base.

We operate like a startup — agile, fast-moving, and product-focused — supported by experienced founders and venture capital backing. Our cross-functional team is small, highly collaborative, and committed to building high-quality software that solves meaningful problems at scale.

SORTD: AT A GLANCE

• Creators of Sortd for Gmail – the world’s first productivity suite built inside Gmail
• #1 Gmail App on Product Hunt
• Featured in Fast Company, TechCrunch, Business Insider, Forbes and Wired
• Led by a seasoned team with deep product and engineering expertise

PRODUCTS YOU’LL BE BUILDING

Sortd for Gmail – A Gmail-native platform helping small business teams manage sales, support, hiring, and operations through email workflow transformation.

WonderHire (early stage) – An AI-first interview platform focused on the U.S. market. Uses conversational AI to automate and enhance early hiring processes.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

We’re hiring a Team Lead – Full Stack JavaScript Engineer to help architect, build, lead and scale our existing systems and developer AI-powered productivity platforms.

This is a hands-on leadership role where you’ll guide a small team, collaborate with founders, and directly build systems that bring cutting-edge AI features to global users — especially in the U.S.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Architect and build full-stack apps (web, backend, mobile)
• Lead and mentor a small dev team
• Collaborate with founders and PMs on product and architecture
• Ensure high code quality, testing, and CI/CD
• Manage cloud infrastructure and system performance
• Convert business needs into user-friendly solutions
• Support hiring and team growth
• Drive continuous improvement
• Participate in incident response and support

TECH STACK

Frontend: Angular (v17+), Ionic/Cordova, TypeScript, HTML5, CSS3

Backend: Node.js, Redis, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, (Golang a plus)

Infrastructure: AWS (EKS, EC2, IAM), Kubernetes, Terraform, Linux

Architecture: RabbitMQ, distributed systems

DevOps: CI/CD pipelines, OpenSearch

AI (Bonus): OpenAI APIs, LangChain, vector databases, prompt engineering

THIS ROLE IS FOR YOU IF…

• You love elegant, scalable systems that solve real problems
• You thrive in product-led, startup-style environments
• You want to shape both tech and product direction
• You enjoy mentoring and clean engineering practices
• You’re excited by AI-first products
• You’re interested in scaling tech for the U.S. market

THIS ROLE MAY NOT BE A FIT IF…

• You prefer top-down task assignment
• You need highly structured corporate environments
• You’re not comfortable leading others
• You dislike fast-moving, agile teams

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 6+ years full-stack experience
• Strong in JavaScript/TypeScript, Angular, Node.js
• Experience with scalable backends & distributed systems
• Familiar with AWS or similar cloud platforms
• Mobile app experience (Ionic/Cordova or native)
• Proficiency in MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Redis
• Proven leadership or mentoring ability
• Relevant tertiary qualification or equivalent experience

BONUS / NICE-TO-HAVE SKILLS

• Golang, Java (Android), Swift/Obj-C (iOS)
• Kubernetes, Docker, Terraform
• OpenSearch, observability tools
• AI/ML: LangChain, LLMs, vector DBs
• CI/CD and DevOps
• ORMs and software architecture experience

OUR CULTURE

At Code Loft, we value:

• Flat structure with real ownership
• Fast, thoughtful iteration
• Engineering excellence
• Practical innovation
• A mission to build products that matter