Founding Engineering Manager

Job description / Role

About InDebted

InDebted provides future-thinking organisations with products and solutions to support overdue consumers through debt. Backed by technology with a human touch, we use machine learning and AI to personalise the collections journey and champion positive customer experiences – all so we can change the world of consumer debt for good.

Founded in Australia, today we're a team of over 300 people living and working around the world. We're rapidly expanding throughout North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. We're a $50m revenue (and growing) organisation, having recently completed our Series C funding round, backed by leading investors such as Airtree. Now is an exciting time to join the team as we continue to make the experience of debt resolution smoother and more human.

About the role

We're looking for an Engineering Manager to lead our Forward Deployed Engineering team in the UAE, building our technical presence in one of our most strategic markets. This is a unique opportunity to establish and scale a new engineering function that combines technical excellence with direct customer impact.

As the Engineering Manager for Forward Deployed Engineering, you'll build and lead a team of engineers who work directly with clients and customers, understand their pain points firsthand, and ship solutions that accelerate our growth in the UAE and broader Middle East region. You'll be responsible for both the technical success of your team and the business outcomes they deliver.

This role is perfect for an engineering leader who thrives at the intersection of technology and business, someone who can context-switch between shipping and reviewing code, customer meetings, and strategic planning – often in the same day.

The reality of the role

This isn't a typical engineering management position. You'll be building a new function from the ground up in a rapidly evolving market.

You'll need to be equally comfortable discussing test coverage percentages with your engineers as you are explaining delivery timelines to a client's C-suite. You'll translate between the language of business ("we need this for the ADCB deal") and the language of engineering ("here's how we architect this for scale").

What you'll own

• Team building & leadership
  Hire, mentor, and develop a small team of forward-deployed engineers onshore in the UAE, or nearshore
  Build a high-performing engineering culture that balances rapid delivery with technical excellence
  Create career development paths for engineers who want more client exposure
  Foster collaboration between your UAE team and global engineering teams
  Champion our engineering standards while adapting to local market needs
• Technical strategy & execution
  Define the technical roadmap for UAE-specific solutions and integrations
  Ensure your team follows our global coding standards, tech stack, and review processes
  Own the technical architecture decisions for regional implementations
  Balance "ship it now" urgency with "don't create technical debt" sustainability
  Guide your team through complex integrations with partners (FinTechs, Banks, etc)
• Customer & business partnership
  Partner closely with the UAE Managing Director to align engineering efforts with business priorities
  Participate in enterprise client meetings to understand requirements and propose solutions
  Enable the sales team by providing technical expertise during deal cycles
  Transform customer feedback into actionable engineering initiatives
  Measure and communicate the business impact of your team's work
• Regional technical ownership
  Your team will own:
  Arabic-specific technical requirements (SMS workflows, data processing, UI localisation, etc)
  Integrations with UAE and GCC clients for both Receeve and Collect products
  Automation for UAE-specific processes and compliance requirements
  AI-powered solutions tailored to the regional market

What we're looking for

Must-have experience

• 10+ years of software engineering experience with at least 5 years in engineering management
• Proven track record of building and leading engineering teams (3-10 engineers)
• Experience managing engineers in a distributed or remote environment
• Strong technical background with ability to conduct code reviews and guide architectural decisions
• Experience with customer-facing or client-services engineering teams
• Track record of shipping production systems at scale

Technical leadership skills

• Deep understanding of software architecture and system design
• Experience with Domain-Driven Design and clean code principles
• Familiarity with our tech stack (Go, AWS Serverless, React, Terraform) or similar technologies
• Knowledge of API design, system integrations, and event-driven architectures
• Experience with DevOps practices, CI/CD, and modern deployment strategies
• Ability to make pragmatic technical trade-offs

Business & soft skills

• Exceptional communication skills – can translate between technical and business stakeholders
• Experience working directly with customers or strong desire to be customer-facing
• Proven ability to hire, develop, and retain engineering talent
• Strategic thinking – can see beyond immediate technical challenges to long-term implications
• Cultural awareness and sensitivity to Middle East business practices
• Entrepreneurial mindset with comfort in ambiguity

Preferred qualifications

• Experience working in the UAE/GCC region or similar emerging markets
• Arabic language skills (reading, writing, or speaking)
• Background in fintech, banking, or financial services
• Experience building engineering teams from scratch
• Knowledge of UAE regulatory and compliance requirements
• Track record of enabling sales and accelerating revenue through technical solutions
• Experience with the "forward deployed" or "solutions engineering" model

How you'll work

Team structure

• Report to the global Director of Engineering
• Dotted line to the UAE Managing Director for regional priorities
• Start as a hands-on manager, building the team while contributing code
• Eventually manage 3-5 forward-deployed engineers
• Collaborate closely with global product and platform teams

Success metrics

• Time to onboard enterprise clients (should decrease quarter over quarter)
• Regional revenue per engineer (should exceed global average)
• Technical blockers in sales cycles (should approach zero)
• Quality of feedback loops to global product team
• Team retention and growth
• Code quality metrics and technical debt management

Location & working arrangements

• Based in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, UAE
• Initial onboarding period in Sydney with global engineering leadership
• Hybrid working model with flexibility
• Regular travel to client sites within UAE
• Quarterly travel to global headquarters for planning and alignment
• Competitive compensation package including regional allowances and potential equity

Our benefits packages vary depending on region and role requirements. Our talent acquisition team will be able to share more during the recruitment process.

At InDebted, we respect and celebrate the unique attributes, characteristics, and perspectives that make each person who they are. We also believe that bringing diverse individuals together allows us to build better products and a better overall company. InDebted is an equal opportunity employer.