Engineering Lead

Client type: Corporate/Enterprise

Client location: USA (EST time)

Project technology stack: React / NextUS / Python / AWS / PostgreSQL / Databricks / Snowflake

Position: Engineering Lead

SFIA Level: Level: 5–6 (Ensure/Advise to Initiate/Influence) / Individual Contributor Role

Workload: 100% (full-time)

Project start date: ASAP

Engagement period: Ongoing

Candidate location: EU (remote)

Language: English C1

Interview timeline: ASAP

Interview process: 1) CV review 2) Interview with Devspace manager 3) Interview with end client 

Number of interviews: 2

Description:

Our client is a leading life sciences and technology company that supplies a broad range of analytical instruments, laboratory equipment, reagents, software and services used in scientific research, healthcare, biotechnology and pharmaceutical manufacturing worldwide. Its mission is to enable customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer by supporting breakthroughs in areas from life-sciences research and clinical diagnostics to complex analytical challenges and drug development. 

They offer a wide range of scientific software products that help laboratories manage, analyze and automate data and workflows. Their portfolio includes enterprise lab informatics platforms with Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS), Electronic Lab Notebooks (ELN) and data management tools.

We are seeking an Engineering Lead to provide technical leadership, architectural direction, and delivery oversight across software product teams. This role combines responsibilities from both Software Lead and Principal Engineer, ensuring high engineering standards, scalable and secure system design, and compliant delivery within a GxP and CFR Part 11 regulated environment. The Engineering Lead supports engineers’ growth, drives cross-team technical initiatives, and collaborates closely with Product and Delivery leadership to deliver high‑quality digital products.

Key Accountabilities:

• Own technical strategy, architectural integrity, and engineering quality.
• Ensure engineering practices support regulatory, validation, and audit requirements.
• Provide technical leadership, coaching, and capability development for engineers.
• Oversee CI/CD pipelines, environments, and secure-by-design engineering practices.
• Govern implementation standards, code quality, and documentation completeness.
• Ensure reliability, scalability, and operational readiness of systems.

Key Responsibilities:

• Define and communicate architectural direction, patterns, and standards.
• Lead technical planning and feasibility assessments for new features and initiatives.
• Review and sign off on technical designs, ensuring traceability and compliance.
• Mentor and coach engineers across software, test, and platform disciplines.
• Oversee CI/CD pipelines, Infrastructure as Code, and deployment processes.
• Partner with Product Manager and Delivery Lead on prioritisation and release planning.
• Ensure technical documentation, traceability, and validation evidence are complete.
• Drive continuous improvement in engineering practices and tooling.
• Identify and mitigate technical risk, debt, and quality issues.
• Support incident response, RCA activities, and CAPA processes.
• Engage with vendor teams to ensure quality and consistency across deliveries.
• Facilitate architecture reviews and participate in system design forums.

Skills & Competencies

SFIA Skills:

• Solution architecture (ARCH)
• Systems design (DESN)
• Programming/software development (PROG)
• Project management (PRMG)
• Quality management (QUMG)
• Workforce planning and capability development (WFPL)

Technical & Domain Competencies:

• Software architecture and system design
• Secure coding and secure‑by‑design engineering practices
• CI/CD pipelines, DevOps, and infrastructure automation
• Cloud technologies and modern software frameworks
• Strong understanding of GxP, CFR Part 11, validation, and data integrity
• Environment and configuration management

Soft Skills:

• Clear, influential communication across technical and non‑technical stakeholders
• Leadership, mentoring, and team development
• Strategic thinking and decision‑making
• Collaboration and conflict resolution
• Ability to operate effectively under complexity and ambiguity

Collaboration & Ways of Working:

• Partners with Product Manager for feature shaping, feasibility, and scope alignment.
• Works with Agile Delivery Lead to ensure predictable and high-quality delivery.
• Collaborates with Platform, QA, and Validation teams to ensure compliant releases.
• Engages with Security, Compliance, and Architecture governance forums.
• Works closely with vendor engineering teams to ensure consistent technical standards.
• Supports cross‑team dependencies and participates in roadmap and release planning.

Regulatory & Compliance Expectations:

• Ensure architectural decisions meet GxP and CFR Part 11 requirements.
• Maintain robust traceability across architecture, implementation, and testing.
• Oversee documentation and validation evidence for audits and reviews.
• Support controlled change management, release processes, and risk assessments.
• Ensure data integrity (ALCOA+) and secure access management are upheld.

Experience & Qualification Guidelines:

• Experience operating as a Staff, Principal, or equivalent senior engineer, applying critical thinking to lead engineering teams in digital or software environments and make evidence-based architectural and delivery decisions.
• Proven background in software development and architecture.
• Experience in regulated industries strongly preferred (life sciences, pharma, clinical).
• Familiarity with Agile, DevOps, and modern cloud-native engineering practices.
• Leadership, architecture, or cloud certifications are beneficial.

Please note: Background and reference checks will be conducted as part of the selection process.