Head of Engineering
Overview
A Chennai-based electric auto ride-hailing company completing 60,000+ trips monthly and expanding to other cities is hiring a Head of Engineering. The role involves leading a 10–15 member engineering team, reporting to the Founder, and driving the next phase of growth. This is a hands-on builder role with full autonomy to shape the technical organization.
Location & Work Mode
Preferred location is Chennai, with Bangalore as an alternative.
Key Responsibilities
Lead a 10–15 member engineering team with 3–5 direct reports.
Ship key product features like recurring commutes, school rides, and metro integrations.
Scale the platform for multi-city operations and improve dispatch, real-time, and payments infrastructure.
Architect systems, review code, and unblock teams as a hands-on technical leader.
Set the engineering culture and grow the team.
Must Have
B2C Product Company Experience: Strong engineering background in consumer-facing platforms, preferably ride-hailing, mobility, logistics, or on-demand delivery (Ola, Uber, Rapido, Grab, DoorDash, Swiggy, etc.). Not primarily SaaS-based.
Engineering Leadership & Ownership: 10+ years of engineering experience, including 3+ years leading teams of 10+ engineers. Must be capable of owning the entire technology function, hiring, and scaling the team.
Strong Technical Expertise: Hands-on experience with Node.js, TypeScript (5+ years), microservices, distributed systems, PostgreSQL, Redis, and message queues.
Startup Scaling Experience: Proven experience building and shipping products rapidly in high-growth startups, ideally from Seed/Series A onward. Must be a builder, not just a people manager.
Location Flexibility: Willing to work in Chennai for the first 3 months and subsequently relocate to Bangalore.
Good to Have
Mobility/Dispatch Systems: Experience building ride-matching engines, location-based services, real-time tracking, or dispatch systems.
High-Scale Transaction Platforms: Experience scaling consumer platforms from thousands to 1M+ monthly transactions across multiple cities.
Early-Stage Startup Experience: Worked as an early engineering employee or technical leader in a startup that scaled significantly, with experience building teams from 5–10 to 15+ engineers.
EV & Fleet Technology: Exposure to electric vehicles, fleet management, telematics, driver payouts, or payment integrations
IIT Background: Engineering degree from an IIT preferred. MBA not required.
Key Skills & Technologies
Primary tools, core competencies, and technical domains relevant to this role:
What to Expect
Fast-Track Review
Otavo directly coordinates with hiring managers for accelerated screening.
Transparent Feedback
Get real-time updates and clear interview progression at each stage.