existlive.com

We're seeking a Technical Lead to own technical execution, code quality, and hands-on development while our technical leadership focuses on strategy, architecture, and team growth. You'll enforce technical standards, mentor developers through rigorous code review, and lead by example on challenging features. You'll work closely with our Technical Project Manager, who handles delivery tracking, standups, and coordination.

Format: Remote, full-time
Timezone: EEST (Kyiv) with at least 4 hours overlap
Start: mid-February (flexible)

RESPONSIBILITIES

Code Quality & Technical Leadership

• Review and approve 90% of pull requests (technical leadership reviews critical architecture changes only).
• Enforce quality standards: test coverage, code patterns, proper error handling, and documentation.
• Mentor developers through code reviews and pair programming.
• Build clean and fast Go services on Cloud Run (stateless, timeouts, concurrency, graceful shutdown).
• Develop and refine Stripe payment flows (Checkout / Connect / SetupIntents, webhooks, idempotency, retries).
• Design and evolve REST APIs (OpenAPI-first), ensure backward compatibility and proper error handling.
• Work with PostgreSQL: schema design, migrations, indexes, EXPLAIN/ANALYZE, query optimization.

Technical Execution

• Write backend code and lead by example on challenging features.
• Implement ticketing logic (reservations, row-level locks, compensations on failure).
• Integrate with Elastic proxy for event/ticket indexing and rebuild pipelines.
• Break down complex features into technical tasks with effort estimates.
• Manage deployment coordination and production releases.
• Handle incident response and coordinate fixes when production issues arise.
• Add observability (Datadog metrics/logs/traces) and maintain monitoring standards.
• Participate in technical design sessions with leadership for major features.

Collaboration

• Provide technical feasibility assessments and effort estimates to TPM and product leadership.
• Clarify technical requirements and constraints with product team.
• Make tactical technical decisions: refactor now vs. later, when to take technical shortcuts (with explicit debt tracking).
• Escalate technical risks and architecture concerns to technical leadership.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required:

• Fluent English AND Russian (or Ukrainian) - both written and conversational is mandatory.
• 4+ years of production Go experience (context, goroutines, sync, http, pgx/driver, profiling).
• Strong SQL/PostgreSQL expertise (complex transactions, EXPLAIN, deadlocks, row-level locking, performance tuning).
• Rigorous code review skills with ability to enforce quality standards consistently.
• Understanding of Stripe/webhooks/idempotency patterns.
• Strong GCP/Docker experience (Cloud Run, environments, secrets, deployments).
• Excellent communication skills: explain technical trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong API design and system architecture mindset (SOLID, Clean Architecture, microservices).
• Strong conversational and written English + Russian/Ukrainian.
• Self-driven, reliable, proactive in identifying and resolving technical issues.
• Comfortable escalating problems early rather than hoping they resolve themselves.

Preferred Skills:

• TypeScript/Angular or React experience (code review for full-stack team).
• Python experience (APIs, automation, data processing).
• Firebase Auth, external OAuth providers.
• Datadog APM (distributed tracing, log correlation, custom metrics).
• Elasticsearch integration and indexing pipeline optimization.
• OpenAPI-first development; compile-time DI (Wire/alternatives).
• Experience in fintech or payment processing domains.

TECH STACK

Backend: Go 1.25+, Chi router, GORM, PostgreSQL + PostGIS
Frontend: Angular/React, TypeScript
Search: Elasticsearch
Payments: Stripe (Checkout / Connect / SetupIntents)
Auth: Firebase Auth
Infrastructure: GCP (Cloud Run, App Engine, Cloud Storage), Docker
CI/CD: GitHub Actions
Observability: Datadog
Code Quality: golangci-lint, testify tests

REPORTING & COLLABORATION

Report to: Technical leadership
Work closely with: Technical Project Manager (daily coordination), Product leadership (requirements clarification), 5 developers (mentorship/reviews), Technical leadership (architecture decisions)
Own: Code quality, technical execution, developer mentorship
Escalate: Major technical decisions, architecture concerns, quality vs. speed trade-offs

How We Work

• GitHub Flow: small PRs, meaningful commits, rigorous code review culture.
• Linters via golangci-lint, formatting with gofmt/goimports.
• Mandatory idempotent handlers for webhooks and retries with backoff.
• Non-functional priorities: reliability > performance, with performance budgets for hot paths.
• Quality is non-negotiable, but you'll make tactical trade-off calls with leadership approval.

What We Offer

• Direct impact on technical quality: you set the bar for engineering excellence.
• Visible impact: your work powers real-world events and fundraising.
• Close partnership with product and technical leadership - shape technical direction.
• Authority to enforce standards and make technical decisions.
• Transparent collaboration and respectful team culture.
• Paid 2-week trial period, followed by clear decision from both sides.
• 20 paid vacation days per year (flexible usage).

What Success Looks Like (First 90 Days)

Month 1: Review all PRs with consistent quality standards, understand codebase deeply, build trust with team.
Month 2: Lead technical implementation of 2-3 major features, mentor developers effectively through code reviews.
Month 3: Team consistently produces high-quality code, technical debt is tracked and managed, leadership trusts your technical judgment completely.

💬 Don’t meet every single requirement?

No problem. If you’re excited about what we’re building, we’d love to hear from you.

Role Overview

We're seeking a Technical Project Manager to own day-to-day delivery coordination, project tracking, and team communication. You'll be the bridge between product leadership and the engineering team, run daily standups, track progress across 5 developers, identify blockers early, and ensure projects ship on time. You'll work closely with our Technical Lead, who owns code quality and technical execution, while you focus on keeping the team organized, aligned, and moving forward with urgency.

Format: Remote, full-time
Timezone: Western European Business Hours preferred, to overlap with EEST (Kyiv) & EST (New York).

Start: mid-February (flexible)

RESPONSIBILITIES

Project Management

• Break down product requirements into user stories and coordinate with the Technical Lead on technical task breakdown.
• Manage Jira:
  • Maintain roadmaps and plans with clear milestones and deliverables.
  • Track and visualize dependencies between tasks across the team.
  • Build and maintain dashboards and analytics for delivery visibility.
  • Keep tickets up-to-date with accurate status and progress.
• Coordinate cross-functional work across developers with Technical Lead's input on technical dependencies.
• Facilitate requirement clarification sessions between product and engineering.
• Gather effort estimates from Technical Lead and developers, communicate timelines to product team.
• Track technical debt and coordinate with Technical Lead on prioritization.
• Manage scope changes and communicate impact to stakeholders.

Delivery & Coordination

• Own day-to-day delivery tracking: monitor progress, identify blockers, raise risks early to technical leadership.
• Run daily standups and ensure the team maintains momentum and urgency.
• Coordinate sprint planning and retrospectives with product and technical leadership.
• Be the primary coordination point between product leadership and the engineering team.
• Report delivery status and risks weekly (or immediately when timelines are threatened).
• Track and communicate timeline commitments to stakeholders.
• Maintain project visibility through tickets, roadmaps, and status dashboards.
• Run and perform sprint demos biweekly to showcase completed work.
• Record demos of functionality for documentation and stakeholder review.
• Monitor and ensure production environment health, coordinating with the Technical Lead on incidents.

Communication & Stakeholder Management

• Translate product requirements into clear, actionable work items with the Technical Lead for the engineering team.
• Communicate technical concepts and constraints to non-technical stakeholders.
• Manage stakeholder expectations around timelines, scope, and delivery.
• Facilitate demos and showcase completed work to product leadership and stakeholders.
• Maintain transparent communication about progress, blockers, and risks.
• Coordinate release planning and communicate deployment schedules.

Process & Continuous Improvement

• Maintain and improve team processes and ceremonies.
• Track team velocity and delivery metrics.
• Identify process bottlenecks and work with leadership to resolve them.
• Facilitate retrospectives and drive action items to completion.
• Document and maintain project artifacts (roadmaps, timelines, decisions).
• Creating Jira Automations and Dashboards

QUALIFICATIONS

Required:

• Fluent English AND Russian (or Ukrainian) - both written and conversational is mandatory.
• 3+ years of technical project management or delivery coordination experience.
• Proven track record owning delivery: tracking progress, surfacing risks, shipping on time.
• Strong understanding of software development lifecycle and agile methodologies.
• Experience coordinating engineering teams (5+ developers).
• Excellent stakeholder management skills - ability to manage expectations and communicate trade-offs.
• Proficiency with Jira (roadmaps, plans, dependencies, dashboards, analytics).
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to identify and escalate blockers and risks proactively.
• Technical background - comfortable discussing implementation details with technical leads.
• Self-driven and reliable - able to run daily operations without constant oversight.
• Comfortable escalating problems early.

Preferred Skills:

• Working in Western European business hours to overlap with EEST (Kyiv) & EST (New York).
• Familiarity with Git/GitHub workflows and development processes.
• Comfortable setting up Jira Automations 
• Understanding of payment processing, fintech, or event ticketing domains.
• Experience coordinating distributed/remote teams across time zones.
• Certification in Agile/Scrum methodologies (CSM, PSM, etc.).
• Experience with Datadog or similar observability tools (for understanding production issues).

REPORTING & COLLABORATION

Report to: Technical leadership
 Work closely with:

• Product leadership (daily requirements, timeline communication)
• Technical Lead (coordination on technical tasks, estimates, and technical risks)
• 5 developers (standups, progress tracking, blocker removal)
• Technical leadership (weekly delivery status, scope/timeline risks)

Own: Day-to-day delivery tracking, standups, project coordination, stakeholder communication, process facilitation
 Escalate: Timeline risks, scope/quality trade-offs, resource constraints, major blockers

WHAT WE OFFER

• Direct impact on delivery: you're the reason projects ship on time.
• Visible impact: coordinate work that powers real-world events and fundraising.
• Close partnership with product and technical leadership - shape how the team operates.
• Authority to drive process improvements and team efficiency.
• Transparent collaboration and respectful team culture.
• Paid 2-week trial period, followed by a clear decision from both sides.
• 20 paid vacation days per year (flexible usage).

What Success Looks Like (First 90 Days)

Month 1: Run daily standups confidently, understand the product and codebase context, establish trust with engineering team and product leadership, learn the existing tracking systems and processes.

Month 2: Independently coordinate 2-3 feature deliveries end-to-end, identify and resolve coordination blockers without leadership involvement, maintain accurate project tracking and timeline visibility.

Month 3: Leadership says "I don't worry about day-to-day delivery anymore" - you're the reliable coordinator keeping the team organized and shipping on time. Team velocity is visible, blockers are caught early, and stakeholders always know where things stand.

💬 Don’t meet every single requirement?

No problem. If you’re excited about what we’re building, we’d love to hear from you.