Pavago

Head of Engineering

Remote, United States remote Entry Salary not listed
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About the role

Head of Engineering
Position Type: Full-Time, Remote
Working Hours: U.S. Business Hours
Location: Remote (Pakistan, LATAM, Eastern Europe Preferred)
About the Role
We are hiring a highly technical and hands-on Head of Engineering to own the entire engineering function of a fast-growing SaaS platform. This role combines deep backend engineering, distributed systems architecture, AI infrastructure, and technical leadership in a fast-moving startup environment.
This is not a purely managerial role. You will actively write production code, make architectural decisions, oversee infrastructure reliability, and guide a lean engineering team while helping scale a platform operating across multiple services and AI-powered workflows.
The ideal candidate thrives in startup environments, takes ownership of systems end-to-end, and understands how to balance rapid product development with long-term scalability and reliability.
What You’ll Own
Backend Architecture & Engineering
Design, build, and maintain scalable backend systems using .NET 8.0, C#, ASP.NET Core, and Entity Framework Core
• Own system architecture across 14+ independently deployed microservices
• Implement Clean Architecture and Domain-Driven Design (DDD) principles
• Deliver new product features, optimize existing systems, and resolve performance bottlenecks
• Improve system scalability, maintainability, and engineering standards across the codebase

AI Systems & LLM Infrastructure
Design and manage production-grade AI and LLM pipelines across multiple providers
• Build scalable workflows for personalization, segmentation, automation, and AI-assisted features
• Optimize prompts, orchestration logic, failover systems, and provider routing strategies
• Monitor token usage, rate limits, latency, and cost efficiency across AI systems
• Integrate AI-assisted development workflows and tooling into engineering operations

Databases & Data Infrastructure
Manage and optimize MySQL, Redis, and MongoDB production environments
• Oversee caching strategies, analytics pipelines, event-driven systems, and bulk data operations
• Ensure strong performance, reliability, and data consistency across distributed services
• Improve database architecture, indexing, and query performance

Infrastructure, DevOps & Reliability
Own Linux-based infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, deployments, and operational reliability
• Implement centralized monitoring, observability, alerting, and logging systems
• Proactively identify scalability, reliability, and performance risks before they impact users
• Maintain high platform uptime and deployment stability across environments

API Integrations & System Resilience
Manage and maintain 25+ third-party API integrations in production
• Design retry logic, graceful degradation systems, fallback strategies, and provider failover handling
• Ensure platform stability during outages, API failures, or degraded external services
• Improve resilience and fault tolerance across all external dependencies

Team Leadership & Engineering Standards
Lead and mentor a small engineering team through code reviews, architecture guidance, and technical feedback
• Establish and enforce engineering best practices, workflows, documentation standards, and deployment processes
• Collaborate directly with leadership and founders on product direction and technical roadmap planning
• Create a culture of ownership, execution quality, and engineering excellence

What Makes You a Great Fit
Senior-level engineer comfortable owning systems end-to-end
• Strong architectural thinker who still enjoys hands-on coding daily
• Calm under pressure and highly capable in fast-moving startup environments
• Deeply analytical with strong problem-solving instincts
• Strong communicator capable of aligning engineering decisions with business goals
• Passionate about scalability, reliability, AI systems, and engineering excellence

Required Experience & Skills
Deep expertise in .NET 8.0, C#, ASP.NET Core, and Entity Framework Core
• Strong experience designing distributed systems and microservice architectures
• Production experience with MySQL, Redis, MongoDB, and event-driven systems
• Hands-on DevOps experience with Linux infrastructure and CI/CD pipelines
• Experience managing large-scale API integrations and distributed workflows
• Proven experience building and operating AI/LLM systems in production environments
• Strong understanding of monitoring, observability, scalability, and reliability engineering
• Experience leading small engineering teams and mentoring developers

• Strong English communication skills
Preferred Experience
• Startup or high-growth SaaS experience
Experience scaling AI-powered platforms or automation systems
• Familiarity with Kubernetes, Docker, Terraform, or infrastructure-as-code tooling
• Experience optimizing AI cost efficiency and inference performance
• Knowledge of event streaming, asynchronous processing, and high-throughput architectures
• Familiarity with AI-assisted software development workflows

What a Typical Day Looks Like
A Head of Engineering’s day revolves around balancing architecture, execution, reliability, and leadership. You will:
• Write and review production backend code
• Make architectural decisions across services, infrastructure, and AI systems
• Monitor production systems and resolve scalability or reliability issues
• Guide developers through code reviews and technical implementation decisions
• Collaborate with leadership on roadmap planning and technical prioritization
• Improve deployment reliability, observability, and engineering workflows
• Optimize AI systems for performance, stability, and cost efficiency
In essence: you own the technical foundation of the platform and ensure the engineering organization can scale reliably while moving quickly.
Key Metrics for Success (KPIs)
• System uptime and platform reliability
AI pipeline stability and operational efficiency
• Deployment reliability and engineering velocity
• Backend performance and scalability improvements
• Code quality and reduction in technical debt
• Team delivery consistency and engineering execution quality
• Infrastructure stability and incident reduction

Interview Process
• Initial Screening Call
Technical Interview with Pavago Recruiter
• Technical / Architecture Interview with Client
• Final Leadership Interview

• Offer & Onboarding
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Originally posted on Himalayas

Interview prep

Walk in with sharper answers.

Use this as a quick practice sheet before you speak with the employer.

Role
Technology & IT API integration Data Analysis MySQL Operations Remote Collaboration remote

Likely questions

  1. Tell us about work you have done that is close to the Head of Engineering role.
  2. How would you approach your first 30 days at Pavago?
  3. Which of API integration, Data Analysis and MySQL have you used recently, and what did it help you achieve?
  4. Describe a time you solved a problem without waiting to be told exactly what to do.
  5. How do you stay organised and communicate clearly when working remotely?

Prepare before the call

  • A recent example that proves your experience with API integration, Data Analysis and MySQL.
  • One short story with a problem, your action, and the result.
  • Two examples that show the strengths listed on your CV.
  • A clear reason why this role and company interest you.
  • Your availability, preferred work style, and salary expectations.

Ask them

  • What would success look like in the first 90 days?
  • What are the main problems this hire should help solve?
  • How does the team give feedback and measure good work?
  • What does a normal working week look like for this role?
Practice line

I am interested in the Head of Engineering role because I can bring practical experience in API integration, Data Analysis and MySQL, learn the team quickly, and contribute to the outcomes Pavago needs from this hire.

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