Engineering Lead/ Head Of Prod

Job Title : Chief Technology Officer (CTO) – Blockchain & Web3

Location : Bangalore & Gurgaon

Job Type : Full-Time, On-Site

Working Days : 6 Days

About the Role :

• We are seeking an experienced and visionary Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to lead our Blockchain & Web3 initiatives.
• The ideal candidate will have a strong technical background in Blockchain, Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), Smart Contracts, DeFi, and Web3 applications.
• As a CTO, you will be responsible for defining and implementing the technology roadmap, leading a high-performing tech team, and driving innovation in the Blockchain and Web3 space.

Key Responsibilities :

• Define and execute the technical strategy and roadmap for Blockchain & Web3 products and services.
• Lead the architecture, design, and development of scalable, secure, and efficient blockchain-based applications.
• Oversee Smart Contract development, Layer-1 & Layer-2 solutions, DeFi, NFTs, and decentralized applications (dApps).
• Manage and mentor a team of engineers, developers, and blockchain specialists to ensure high-quality product delivery.
• Drive R&D initiatives to stay ahead of emerging trends and advancements in Blockchain & Web3 technologies.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including Product, Marketing, and Business Development to align technology with business goals.
• Ensure regulatory compliance, security, and scalability of Blockchain solutions.
• Build and maintain relationships with industry partners, investors, and technology vendors to drive innovation.

Required Qualifications & Experience :

• 10+ Years of overall experience in software development with at least 5+ Years in Blockchain & Web3 technologies.
• Deep understanding of Blockchain protocols (Ethereum, Solana, Polkadot, Hyperledger, etc.), consensus mechanisms, cryptographic principles, and tokenomics.
• Hands-on experience with Solidity, Rust, Go, Node.js, Python, or other blockchain programming languages.
• Proven track record of building and scaling decentralized applications (dApps), DeFi platforms, or NFT marketplaces.
• Experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS, Azure, GCP) and DevOps best practices.
• Strong leadership and management skills with experience in building and leading high-performing teams.
• Excellent problem-solving skills with the ability to work in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.
• Strong understanding of Web3, DAOs, Metaverse, and the evolving regulatory landscape.

Preferred Qualifications :

• Prior experience in a CTO, VP Engineering, or similar leadership role.
• Experience in fundraising, investor relations, and strategic partnerships.
• Knowledge of cross-chain interoperability and Layer-2 scaling solutions.
• Understanding of data privacy, security, and compliance regulations related to Blockchain & Web3.

As a Tech Lead at RaptorX.ai you will lead our development team through the planning, execution, and successful delivery of cutting-edge, scalable, and high-performance web applications. With your extensive experience in both front-end and back-end technologies, you will drive the architectural decisions, mentor junior developers, and ensure the technical excellence of our projects. Your role will be pivotal in fostering innovation, implementing best practices, and contributing to the strategic direction of our technology stack.

Key Responsibilities:

• Technical Leadership:
• Architect, design, and develop complex full-stack applications, ensuring robustness, scalability, and performance.
• Lead the technical planning and architecture discussions, making strategic decisions on technology stack, frameworks, and tools.
• Conduct code reviews, ensuring adherence to coding standards and best practices.
• Stay abreast of emerging technologies and trends, integrating them into projects to enhance innovation and efficiency.
• Project Management:
• Collaborate with project managers, business analysts, and stakeholders to define project scopes, goals, and deliverables.
• Create detailed project plans, timelines, and roadmaps, ensuring timely delivery and alignment with business objectives.
• Manage risk assessment and mitigation strategies throughout the project lifecycle.
• Team Leadership and Development:
• Mentor and coach developers, fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement.
• Lead by example, promoting a collaborative team environment that encourages open communication and innovation.
• Facilitate knowledge sharing sessions and technical workshops to enhance team skills and expertise.
• Quality Assurance:
• Implement and oversee rigorous testing frameworks and methodologies to ensure the delivery of high-quality solutions.
• Collaborate with the QA team to define test strategies, review test plans, and ensure that applications meet functional and non-functional requirements.
• Stakeholder Engagement:
• Communicate effectively with stakeholders, translating technical concepts into business language and vice versa.
• Gather and analyze feedback from end-users and stakeholders to inform continuous improvement of applications.
• Participate in client meetings, presentations, and proposal development.
• Operational Excellence:
• Ensure the reliability, security, and maintainability of applications.
• Oversee the deployment and operation of applications, including performance monitoring and optimization.
• Implement best practices for source control, continuous integration, and continuous deployment.

Prior Experience and Skills Required:

• Minimum 10 years of experience in full-stack web development.
• Proven track record of leading development teams in delivering complex web applications.
• Expertise in front-end technologies (e.g., JavaScript, React.js, HTML5, CSS3) and back-end technologies (e.g., Node.js, Python, Java).
• Strong experience with database design and management (SQL and NoSQL).
• Proficiency in cloud technologies and services (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Experience with containerization and orchestration technologies (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Familiarity with Agile methodologies and ability to adapt to changing priorities and deadlines.
• Excellent problem-solving, analytical, and technical troubleshooting skills.

Education:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.

Language Skills:

• Strong command of Business English, both verbal and written.

Other Skills:

• Strong leadership and team management skills.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• High level of personal accountability and responsibility.
• Ability to think strategically and execute tactically.

Salary:

• Competitive, based on experience and market standards.

Role Description

Location - Bangalore / Remote/WFH

This is an equity-only role.

We are looking for a young but mature mindset with highly skilled Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to provide sound technical leadership in all aspects of the business. This person will be added as a Co-founder in the Team.

CTO should be able to take technical decision and having a Strategic thinking mindset with strong business acumen. We expect you to be well-versed in current technological trends and familiar with a variety of business concepts.

You will work directly with the CEO and will act as both a technology and business expert, making decisions that will impact the current and future operations of the company. If you are self-motivated, emotionally strong, enjoy challenges and have a never give-up approach, we’d like to meet you.

CTO / Co- Founder Responsibilities

Lead the technology division with new-age technologies and processes

Build on the vision for the organization by technology

Identify new opportunities and develop products and processes in line with cutting edge technologies

Deploy, develop and implement solutions in a cost-efficient manner

Experience in building scalable products, platforms, and modern technologies

Experienced on the internet/ e-commerce industry, B2B platforms, start-up setups is a plus

Hands-on experience in digital initiatives, big data, mobile apps, AI & ML, analytics, and business intelligence solutions

Ability to convert data into usable modern technology-driven solutions

Experience or knowledge on AWS server side is required

Requirements

B.E / B.tech / Masters Degree in computer science or related field.

6+ years of working in a technological role is preferable but not mandatory

Experience working in an early-stage tech start-up will be a plus

A strong product sense and can build engaging tech for customers

Ability to conduct technological analyses and research

Deep knowledge of full-stack modern development practices (node.js, angular, java javascript, AWS, DS, react, etc.) Can work / learn and work on AI/ML

Have a proven understanding of best engineering practices for the full software development life cycle (SDLC), including coding standards, code review, source control, build, test, deploy, and operations

Experience in project management to ensure timely deliverables

Strong communication skills with the ability to present the technology vision confidently in a way that motivates others both internally and externally

About First Principles

We are a Tech Holding Company and our portfolio companies generate millions in revenue. What is unique about FirstPrinciples is that most of our companies remain controlled and majority owned by First Principles and its team members rather than by external investors. We are proud that our product engineering team builds world class products from India. https://firstprinciples.io/">https://firstprinciples.io/

About this Role

As we scale and build our organisation, we would like to add an individual to our core Technical Leadership who can scale our key products and projects and help us build and foster relationships with Enterprise clients.

We are looking for an experienced Technology Leader to join our fast growing organisation to help us with driving Technical Strategy, Approach and oversee the Implementation for internal and external products. You should be someone who loves Engineering, have amazing debugging skills and slay problems with technology. 

In this role, you will undertake Technical / Solution Architecture and should also be able to help team with Engineering and coding wherever required. That includes, working along with the team, writing code, doing R&D or POCs, ensuring we follow modern industry standards and building beautiful high performing Software and Applications and thus delivering a better solution and product. You will also help FP build strong relationships with clients and technical leadership on the client side.

You would be required to have a minimum of 10+ years of experience with a mix of Engineering, DevOps, Infrastructure, Cyber - Network Security, Enterprise Application Maintenance, Database Management along with Project, Client and People Management skills which are necessary to lead the team and be their voice. You should be a leader and not just a manager who loves delegating things to the off-shore team, but rather someone who would not hesitate to take over Git-Pull and start writing code and show ‘here is how it’s done’ and amaze everyone with your expertise! :-) 

Because this is a Senior role, you would also be involved working with the Product/Project Manager and will be responsible for the delivery and output.

Tech Stack [High-Level]: We are JavaScript focused i.e. we work in ReactJS, NodeJS, AngularJS, TypeForm, TypeScript, Redis. On the server side, we work with AWS/GCP/DO. Database: MySQL, PostgreS and MongoDb. API: REST and GraphQL API. We also have a strong DevOps stack - including Kubernetes(K8), Dockers and CI/CD automation. 

Interview Process: 

• 60 min Discovery Call
• 15 mins introduction and what you bring to the table (We love people who say, “We build the damn table”) 
• 15 min understanding your experience and background
• 15 min on why you want to join our team and your expectations, future plans
• 15 min Q&A
  
  
• 60-90 min Technical Interview  (May be more than 1)
• Technical Call
  
  
• 45-60 min Final Call
• 15 min discussion on results 
• 15 min CTC expectations / negotiations 
• 15 min closure
• 15 min buffer

• upGrad was awarded the Best Tech for Education by IAMAI for 2018-19,
• upGrad was also ranked as one of the LinkedIn Top Startups 2018: The 25 most sought-after startups in India.
• upGrad was earlier selected as one of the top ten most innovative companies in India by FastCompany.
• We were also covered by the Financial Times along with other disruptors in Ed-Tech.
• upGrad is the official education partner for Government of India - Startup India program.
• Our program with IIIT B has been ranked #1 program in the country in the domain of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

• Work with Product Managers and Business to understand business/product requirements and vision.
• Provide a clear architectural vision in line with business and product vision.
• Lead a team of architects, developers, and data engineers to provide platform services to other engineering teams.
• Provide architectural oversight to engineering teams across the organization.
• Hands on design and development of platform services and features owned by self - this is a hands-on coding role.
• Define guidelines for best practices covering design, unit testing, secure coding etc.
• Ensure quality by reviewing design, code, test plans, load test plans etc. as appropriate.
• Work closely with the QA and Support teams to track quality and proactively identify improvement opportunities.
• Work closely with DevOps and IT to ensure highly secure and cost optimized operations in the cloud.
• Grow technical skills in the team - identify skill gaps with plans to address them, participate in hiring, mentor other architects and engineers.
• Support other engineers in resolving complex technical issues as a go-to person.

• 12+ years of experience in design and development of ecommerce scale systems and highly scalable SaaS or enterprise products.
• Extensive experience in developing extensible and scalable web applications with
  • Java, Spring Boot, Go
  • Web Services - REST, OAuth, OData
  • Database/Caching - MySQL, Cassandra, MongoDB, Memcached/Redis
  • Queue/Broker services - RabbitMQ/Kafka
  • Microservices architecture via Docker on AWS or Azure.
  • Experience with web front end technologies - HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript libraries and frameworks such as jQuery, AngularJS, React, Vue.js, Bootstrap etc.

• Extensive experience with cloud based architectures and how to optimize design for cost.
• Expert level understanding of secure application design practices and a working understanding of cloud infrastructure security.
• Experience with CI/CD processes and design for testability.
• Experience working with big data technologies such as Spark/Storm/Hadoop/Data Lake Architectures is a big plus.
• Action and result-oriented problem-solver who works well both independently and as part of a team; able to foster and develop others' ideas as well as his/her own.
• Ability to organize, prioritize and schedule a high workload and multiple parallel projects efficiently.
• Excellent verbal and written communication with stakeholders in a matrixed environment.
• Long term experience with at least one product from inception to completion and evolution of the product over multiple years.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement features spanning across systems in a manner that satisfies requirements of performance, scale, security and robustness
• Contribute to improvement of technology and execution processes in the company
• Collaborate in setting technology standards with technology leaders across the company
• Serve as a knowledge center on current and emerging technologies, and help train others when required
• Foster a strong technical culture by mentoring other engineers
• Keep up to date with the latest technologies, evaluate new tools

Relevant Experience and Qualifications 

• Demonstrated expertise in system-level design of large scale distributed systems on the Java stack, and experience with web services and service oriented architectures
• Solid experience with Spring (Core/Boot/Security/MVC/Data)
• Have 8 - 12  years of professional experience in software development.
• Extensive experience with modern open source systems including relational / non relational data stores and bigdata processing
• Experience with AWS stack, at least the common datastores and services 
• Experience with containerization technologies and concepts including Docker
• Basic knowledge about security concepts and secure coding
• Excellent analytical, conceptual and communication skills in spoken and written English.
• Experience leading projects developed across continents.

Great to have Experience and Qualifications 

• Knowledge of machine learning concepts, and some hands-on experience implementing machine learnt models
• Experience with infrastructure design for cloud based apps, especially AWS.
• Past experience with information and data security standards (PCI-DSS, ISO27000) very nice to have.