About Vahan

At Vahan, we’re helping 300M+ blue-collar workers in India find jobs. Over time, we want to
become the center of all money and financial needs for blue-collar workers and will thus expand
to use cases in financial services and upskilling. We’re a Y Combinator company that is backed by
marquee investors such as Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund and Airtel. Several executives from
Google and Flipkart are also investors in the company.

Job Summary

We’re seeking a Head of Engineering in India (Bangalore- Work from Office) to work closely with
our Senior Engineers and Product team to design and scale our product infrastructure and
architecture. This person will partner with cross functional stakeholders across engineering, AI,
product management, QA, design, operations and sales to lead the technology vision and
direction.
This role reports directly to the CEO and will involve working closely with him and the product
team to refine and iterate on the product and engineering roadmaps.

Key Requirements:

● 8-12 years of architecture, software design, engineering, and implementation experience
in a complex and fast-moving early-stage start-up environment.
● Strong expertise in systems architecture and a service-based codebase.
● Strong expertise in designing highly available, fault-tolerant, scalable systems.
● Experience building and leading engineering teams that took products from idea to launch
(0 to 1) and launch to scale (1 to 10).
● Strong communication and leadership abilities especially in the current remote
environment.
● Strong developer who can give the best in their team a run for their
money!
● A passion for building impactful products.
● Deep knowledge of backend and frontend technologies such as NodeJS, Java,
Postgres/MySQL, ReactJS, Docker, and Kubernetes.
● Experience with mobile development: Android and/or React Native.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Building the Engineering Team and Culture
The power of a good engineering leader is to build out the engineering team and set a start-up’s engineering culture, especially when the organization gets to the size where that middle layer of
management is required. A strong head of engineering should therefore be able to determine
who will be good leads for the team, hire them, and be able to groom that skill set over time.
We have talented engineers who are technically proficient, but the goal is to transform them
into builders and problem solvers, not just tech experts.
2. Product Planning
Not only the ability to execute, but the leader’s role prior to development is also critical to the
product-planning phase. While product management/marketing will provide insight into the
features, market size, pricing etc. the engineering leadership needs to provide feedback into the
resources (headcount, equipment, etc.) needed to deliver by a given date. An engineering leader
brings sanity to this process with a unified view of broader objectives.
3. Execution
Ultimately, the output of any engineering organization is the product. A well-functioning
organization will not only build a high-quality product, but also hit pre-determined dates and
accurately forecast updates to the timeline as it changes. One has to have a command of the
software development process, and ensure the correct process is in place and followed.
4. Handling Chaos
When a product launch goes right and catches the world on fire, the feedback from the market
can be overwhelming. Even with marginal success, engineering will be inundated with customer
escalations, feature requests etc. All of this must be addressed while continuing to drive the
product forward. A hallmark of a strong engineering leader is to maintain composure while
navigating this chaos.

Why you’ll LOVE this job

We’re a small team that enjoys working hard, getting a lot done and having fun. Not to mention
that you’ll get to work on a product that is making a profoundly positive impact on people’s lives.
We also provide an outstanding training ground for aspiring entrepreneurs. We can promise:

● Unlimited PTO so you can take the time you need to rejuvenate.
● We care about you. We offer competitive health insurance for employees and their
dependents.
● We also offer two days of mandatory wellness leaves per month.
● Our co-workers are a close-knit, intelligent, and motivated team.

Compensation
Commensurate with experience (cash + bonus + equity)

Vahan is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an
inclusive environment for all employees.