Product Engineering Lead

Tether Operations Limited is at the forefront of a digital finance revolution, aiming to empower businesses worldwide with seamless integration of reserve-backed tokens across various blockchains. At its core, Tether facilitates instant, secure, and cost-effective global transactions with its pioneering digital asset tokenization services, including the widely adopted USDT stablecoin. The company prides itself on transparency and is seeking a driven individual to lead its product engineering efforts.

About the Role

This is an opportunity to steer the direction of innovative product development within a rapidly evolving fintech landscape. As a Product Engineering Lead, you will be instrumental in shaping the technical execution of new features and the overall product roadmap. You will work remotely, collaborating with a global team of talented professionals who are passionate about pushing the boundaries of blockchain technology and digital finance. The role demands a leader who can not only manage engineering teams but also contribute significantly to the strategic vision and technical architecture of Tether's offerings.

The day-to-day responsibilities of this role are multifaceted, focusing on ensuring the smooth operation and continuous delivery of the engineering teams. You will be expected to:

• Provide day-to-day management and support for application and feature teams, removing blockers and ensuring consistent delivery of work.
• Uphold and enforce a high standard for engineering excellence, particularly concerning performance, reliability, and the quality of API design.
• Take ownership of the technical design for new features and define the crucial API interfaces connecting the core AI components with the broader application.
• Collaborate closely with product managers to translate high-level vision and strategic roadmaps into tangible, well-scoped, and technically feasible work items.
• Critically evaluate project scope against realistic delivery capabilities, offering alternative and more effective technical solutions when necessary.
• Establish clear team objectives and communicate success metrics to ensure alignment and focus across the engineering group.

What They're Looking For

Tether is searching for a candidate with a proven track record in engineering leadership, specifically within the realm of consumer products, and ideally those incorporating artificial intelligence. Essential qualifications and attributes include:

• Demonstrated experience managing engineering teams or engineering leads who have successfully launched consumer-facing products, with a preference for experience with AI-powered applications.
• A strong product sensibility, capable of discerning genuinely valuable features from those that might add unnecessary complexity.
• An intuitive understanding of applied AI principles and the specific constraints associated with on-device processing.
• Deep technical proficiency in JavaScript and React is a fundamental requirement.
• A proactive and curious mindset, coupled with resilience in navigating challenges.
• The ability to provide and receive constructive feedback openly and effectively is crucial for team growth and development.

For individuals in South Africa considering a role in product engineering within the fintech sector, particularly in leading positions, the remuneration can vary significantly based on experience, the specific company's scale, and the complexity of the products involved. Entry-level engineering roles might start from R300,000 to R500,000 per annum, while experienced leads can command salaries well into the R800,000 to R1,500,000+ range. The fintech industry in South Africa is growing, with major banks, payment gateways, and burgeoning startups actively seeking skilled tech talent. Career progression often involves moving from individual contributor roles to team leads, and eventually to managerial or architectural positions, with opportunities to specialise in areas like blockchain, AI, or cybersecurity.

• Experience managing engineers or engineering leads who ship consumer product, ideally AI-powered apps.
• Strong product sense: able to distinguish a good feature from a busy one.
• Intuition for applied AI and on-device constraints.
• Deep JavaScript and React knowledge.
• Initiative, curiosity, resilience, and the ability to give and receive direct critique.