KE Engineering Lead

Tala was named one of the top 50 FinTech companies in the world. We are a financial technology company on a mission to make financial services simple, inclusive, and accessible for the doers and dreamers globally.  We are building the digital bank for the next billion!So far, more than 6 million people in emerging markets have borrowed through our Android app, which provides instant credit scoring, lending, education, and other personalized financial services. Headquartered in Santa Monica, we support the needs of our customers in Kenya, Mexico, Philippines, and India.The RoleAs the KE Engineering Lead , you will manage and recruit a team of Backend Software Engineers for KE. As a coach and mentor, the Engineering Lead will guide the team towards advancing Tala’s mission and business objectives. As a leader within the Engineering Department, he/she ensures consistent practice of Tala’s engineering processes and standards. Close interactions with the US office and collaboration with the other Engineering hubs across the globe are vital to the success of this role.This is a leadership role within Tala’s management track and will be part of the Country Leadership Team. You will report to the Head of Engineering and collaborate cross-functionally with all Tala teams across the globe.

What you'll do

• Lead and manage a team of Backend Software Engineers and KE Engineering Manager to execute on current roadmap
• Recruit, mentor, coach and level-up 5 to 10 Engineers
• Effectively partner with Product and Program management team to achieve Key Results
• Review design documents, do code reviews and weigh in on tech implementation choices
• Support and collaborate with cross functional teams (Customer Experience, Product, Program, Data, Credit, and BI) to ship scalable software solutions
• Work on High Level Technical approach and feasibility review for new key initiatives
• Effectively manage and drive the engineering team to achieve results while adhering to Engineering principles
• Provide guidance on squad staffing changes, comfortably handle change management and reduce context switching for the team.
• Review architectural changes to our platforms and provide guidance on the same 

Qualifications

• 7+ years of software engineering experience, including hands-on technical management
• 5+ years coding in one of the following languages: Java, Scala, GoLang and/or PHP
• 5+ years of experience as an Engineering Manager with People management skills
• Demonstrated ability to recruit and manage technical teams, including performance management
• Developed and launched large scale consumer applications on Cloud infrastructure (AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure) using microservices architecture paradigm
• Experience with designing tables/schemas in relational database (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, or MS SQL)
• Working knowledge in REST API development for Mobile/Web use
• Hold your own in technical discussion, be a subject matter expert, and have strategic influence
• Expert proficiency in Agile development process
• Excellent ability to prioritize and communicate in a fast-paced environment
• BS/BA degree in Computer Science or related fields
• Bonus: Experience in predictive analysis and machine learning
• Bonus: NoSQL databases

About TalaOur vision is to build a new financial ecosystem where everyone can participate on equal footing and access the tools they need to be financially healthy. We strongly believe that inclusion fosters innovation and we’re proud to have a diverse global team that represents a multitude of backgrounds, cultures, and experience. We hire talented people regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.