Tech lead

WHY THIS ROLE EXISTS
 

There is a difference between a developer who leads and a leader who develops. This role requires both, but in the right proportion. We need someone who can look at a codebase built by one person under pressure, understand it without judging it, and chart a clear path forward that the whole team can execute.
 

The engagement is a 12-plus month build of a custom internal platform for a US-based IT services company. The platform replaces a third-party PSA system and consolidates billing, ticketing, project management, and service delivery into one product. The company built the foundation themselves because they want a competitive advantage, not a vendor dependency. The existing developer is capable. What the team is missing is someone who can structure the work, raise the quality bar, and translate technical decisions into language that business stakeholders can act on.

We are in the pre-sale stage. The pilot is active. We are building a shortlist now so we are ready to move the moment the engagement confirms.
 

WHAT YOU WILL OWN
 

• Conducting an honest, constructive assessment of the existing codebase and identifying what needs to change and in what order
• Defining the technical roadmap for 2026 and presenting it to business stakeholders in terms of tradeoffs, not just tasks
• Making and documenting architecture decisions that the team can build on with confidence
• Leading a small team of two to three developers, including an existing in-house developer who has been working alone for 18 months
• Mentoring without micromanaging: setting standards, reviewing work, and creating an environment where the team improves over time
• Conducting or co-conducting technical interviews for developers joining the team
• Serving as the technical voice in client calls, translating engineering realities into business impact without oversimplifying or alarming
• Ensuring delivery stays on track against a hard deadline: the platform needs to be fully operational by January 2027
   

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
 

• 6 or more years in software engineering, with at least 2 years in a lead, principal, or equivalent role
• A track record of taking ambiguous or under-structured codebases and creating order without creating conflict
• Genuine experience communicating technical decisions to non-technical stakeholders who are engaged, opinionated, and smart
• Comfort with serverless and edge computing architectures (Cloudflare Workers, AWS Lambda, or similar)
• The ability to work fractionally and manage your own time and availability without being managed
• Availability to lead client calls in the US CT window
• A principled approach to code quality: you set standards because you believe in them, not because someone asked you to
   

TECH STACK
 

• Frontend: React 18, TypeScript, Vite, Shadcn/ui, TanStack Query, Zustand
• Backend: Node.js on Cloudflare Workers (serverless)
• Database: PostgreSQL
• Auth and backend services: Supabase

The tech stack is not exotic. The complexity here is organizational and architectural, not technological. The right person will see that clearly.

HOW WE WORK
 

You will operate at the intersection of two teams: our engineers on one side, and the client's internal team on the other. 

The full-stack developers on the team own execution. You own direction. That distinction matters and we expect everyone to respect it.

WHAT WE OFFER
 

• A technically interesting leadership challenge with real organizational complexity and a clear product vision
• A fractional structure that respects your time and lets you maintain other professional commitments
• A client relationship built on trust and directness, not politics
• The opportunity to shape not just one engagement but the standard for how Speed and Function leads technical work
• Transparent communication at every stage of the process, including honest conversations when circumstances change

ABOUT SPEED AND FUNCTION
 

Speed and Function is a software engineering firm that builds custom products for growth-oriented businesses. We work on engagements where the technical and human challenges are inseparable, and we have built our reputation by treating both with equal seriousness.

This engagement came through the community of founders and operators committed to long-term organizational growth. The client is not running a competitive evaluation. They chose us because of who we are and how we work. We hold that trust carefully.

HOW TO APPLY
 

Send a short message explaining your interest in this specific role and what you believe good technical leadership actually looks like in practice. Attach your CV or share your LinkedIn profile.

We do not need a formal cover letter. We need to understand how you think.