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Lead Engineer | Full-Time or Part-Time | Hybrid (London/Edinburgh)
About SmartyPlants
SmartyPlants aims to help 22 million UK plant owners to have thriving plants by using smart sensors to understand exactly what their houseplants need. We've developed the technology in house, run a successful prelaunch campaign (selling over £140k in pre-orders) and are launching to the market publicly in a few months’ time. We have an opportunity for a technical leader to join at a critical inflection point ahead of a period of rapid growth.
The opportunity
As our Lead Engineer, you will take ownership of SmartyPlants’ technology at a critical stage of our growth. Your primary focus will be on designing and delivering a robust, scalable architecture that forms the backbone of our product and supports future growth. You’ll work hands-on, leading our development team to define and implement the core infrastructure, and ensuring technical decisions align with our strategic goals. Over time, you’ll grow and manage a lean, high-performing team to expand capacity while maintaining architectural integrity and technical excellence.
You will work closely with our Founder and Director of Product to align technology decisions with our product vision and strategic goals. You will have real creative control and impact in a high-growth startup with ambitions to lead the market. This role spans data, apps, cloud services, IOT devices and firmware, with end-to-end responsibility for delivering robust, scalable systems that are fit for purpose.
What You’ll Do
* Design, validate, and execute the technical architecture and roadmap, providing end-to-end leadership across the full technology stack - from mobile/web app to data infrastructure, IoT devices/firmware, cloud services, and AI/ML integration.
* Take a hands-on role in architecting and building core infrastructure components (firmware, sensor-to-cloud pipeline, app, backend with AI/data analytics).
* Launch our MVP and deliver new features that delight users.
* Establish robust, scalable systems that balance reliability with pragmatism — fit for purpose, not over-engineered.
* Manage and grow a lean technical team, adapting hiring strategy (direct hires vs fractional/contract) as we grow.
* Design and implement CI/CD pipelines, monitoring, and iteration systems to ensure quality, reliability, and agility.
* Own technology risk, aligning infrastructure with business objectives and future scale.
Who we are looking for:
* Strong technical leadership experience, having previously held Head of engineering/Lead developer/CTO level roles
* Hands-on full stack expertise, across: cloud infrastructure, data systems, app (mobile/web), AI/ML integration; exposure to IOT device management and firmware is a plus, but not essential.
* Ambitious and driven with a high degree of autonomy. Looking for the challenge of joining an early-stage company with enormous growth potential at a critical time.
* Proven experience designing and implementing processes for consumer applications; incident response, customer support ticketing, technical debt management, CI/CD pipelines, and usage analytics integration.
* Experience building and running lean development teams
* Proven track record of delivering IOT products at scale (100ks+ of devices)
* Experience working early stage in a high growth startup, ideally in hardware/software scaleups.
* Experience across C++, ESP32, NodeJS, Typescript,, AWS, Terraform, Docker, Cloudwatch (or similar e.g. Datadog) and AI tools (Cursor, WindSurf, etc).
* Knowledge of embedded frameworks, scaling systems, systems architecture, databases (e.g. setting up data lakes), and APIs
* Experience of being involved with fundraising as a technical expert
* Understanding of electronic engineering, including power management
* Interest in sustainability, wellness, or home automation.
* Love of houseplants and a good knowledge of how to care for them - or a desire to learn!
Note: While this is primarily a remote role, candidates must be able to travel to London or Edinburgh occasionally. Unfortunately, we are unable to sponsor visas at this time.
We are not engaging with recruiters or agencies for this role - please do not contact us regarding recruitment services.
Seniority level
* Seniority level
Mid-Senior level
Employment type
* Employment type
Full-time
Job function
* Job function
Management and Manufacturing
* Industries
Technology, Information and Internet
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