Head of Technology for high growth running app

About Coopah

Coopah is a run coaching app combining real human coaches with responsive, proactive technology. 

We are a fast-growing UK startup on a mission to raise the standard of training in endurance sport.

• Official training partner of the TCS London Marathon
• Co-founded by Olympic distance runner and British record holder Eilish McColgan
• A global, ambitious team building AI-driven tools used by runners worldwide

We are entering our next phase of growth and are looking for a senior technical leader to take ownership of engineering as we scale.

The Role

We are hiring a Head of Technology to lead engineering at Coopah.

This is a hands-on leadership role. You will define technical direction, own architecture decisions, manage developers day to day, and work closely with product to shape and deliver new features.

You will still spend approximately 50% of your time working on code, particularly on new features, architectural work, and high-impact initiatives. This is not a purely managerial role — we are looking for someone who leads from the front technically.

We are actively transitioning toward an AI-assisted, scope-driven approach to development. We believe engineering is moving toward smaller, clearly defined scopes executed rapidly with AI support. We are looking for someone who:

• Has experience using AI coding tools (e.g. Claude Code or similar) in real production environments
• Understands how to structure work into clearly defined scopes optimised for AI-assisted delivery
• Can design systems and review code effectively within an AI-augmented workflow
• Is excited about evolving engineering processes to take advantage of agentic development

This role requires someone comfortable redefining how software teams operate — not just maintaining traditional workflows.

Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Architecture

• Own system architecture across Flutter (mobile), Node.js (backend), and supporting services
• Make and evolve architectural decisions as the platform scales
• Ensure systems are maintainable, scalable, and performant
• Drive engineering standards, documentation, and best practices
• Make informed tooling decisions across CI/CD, testing, monitoring, and AI-assisted workflows

Hands-On Engineering

• Contribute 50%+ of time to delivering features
• Lead development of technically complex or high-impact features
• Review and merge code, ensuring quality and consistency
• Own engineering processes around pull requests, merging, and release readiness
• Work closely with product to iterate and improve shipped features

Team Leadership & Management

• Day-to-day management of developers
• Set expectations, define scopes, and ensure delivery accountability
• Train, mentor, and coach engineers to grow technical capability
• Build a high-performance, product-oriented engineering culture
• Help structure and grow the team as the company scales

Product Collaboration

• Partner closely with Product to innovate and shape new features
• Translate product strategy into clear, executable technical scopes
• Ensure delivery quality and performance standards are maintained
• Balance speed of iteration with long-term technical health

Platform Oversight & Maintenance

• Oversee maintenance, stability, and technical debt management
• Ensure robust monitoring and error reporting processes
• Maintain high integration standards across third-party services

What We’re Looking For

Experience

• 15+ years of professional software engineering experience
• Strong hands-on experience with Node.js and Flutter, with working knowledge of React
• Proven experience leading engineering teams building and scaling mobile applications
• Experience managing developers day to day in a fast-moving environment
• Experience working closely with product teams to define, scope, and prioritise features
• Demonstrated experience making architectural decisions that scale

Technical Capability

• Strong full-stack capability across Node.js (backend APIs and services), Flutter (mobile applications), and familiarity with React where relevant
• Deep understanding of scalable system architecture and clean code principles
• Experience implementing and evolving engineering processes (code review, PR standards, CI/CD, testing strategy)
• Strong judgement in reviewing and merging code, maintaining quality and consistency across the codebase
• Comfortable operating in and shaping AI-assisted, scope-driven development workflows
• Experience making tooling decisions that improve team velocity and product quality

Leadership & Mindset

• High standards and strong technical judgement
• Comfortable making decisions with incomplete information
• Experience training, mentoring, and coaching engineers
• Able to balance innovation with operational stability
• Clear communicator across technical and non-technical stakeholders

Running & Fitness Alignment

• A genuine interest in running, endurance sport, or performance-focused fitness
• Ideally experience building or leading teams within health, fitness, or sports-related products
• Appreciation for how athletes use data, structure, and feedback to improve performance

Nice to Have

• Experience scaling early-stage startups
• Experience building AI-driven or data-intensive consumer products
• Experience working on subscription-based consumer apps
• Experience integrating analytics, experimentation, and performance tooling