Technical Lead

Appnovation is the AI Product Company. Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, with teams around the world, Appnovation builds AI products, delivers enterprise AI and digital solutions, and co-invests with clients to bring new AI products to market.

Open source has been the foundation of Appnovation's work since 2007, and it remains the foundation underneath every AI product the company builds today. Appnovation teams work with organizations in highly regulated industries, including global leaders such as Pfizer, Google and AstraZeneca, to help them adopt AI they can govern and own.

We are hiring a Technical Lead to own the technical direction, quality and client relationship for a new dedicated Appnovation team serving a health and longevity client.

You will be the team's technical voice to the client, translating business goals into a clear technical plan and communicating trade-offs, risk and progress to stakeholders.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role, not a line-management position. You will design, code and review across a React and Next.js frontend and Python and Node.js services, while being accountable for the technical outcome of the whole team.

• Set the team's technical direction and own architecture and design decisions.
• Uphold coding standards and best practices through consistent code review.
• Ensure developers test their own work before it reaches QA.

• Own documentation for architecture, design decisions and technical specifications.
• Turn one-to-one guidance into reusable material so onboarding and handoff don't depend on any one person.
• Stay current on compliance requirements for handling personal health data.

• Break plans down into well-formed tasks and stories the team can act on.
• Delegate work fairly and evenly across the team.
• Coach and mentor developers to grow the team's capability.

• Serve as the client's primary contact for technical discussions.
• Explain technical concepts, options and status to non-technical stakeholders in plain language.
• Manage client expectations honestly on scope, effort and risk.

• Lead technical input to planning, estimation and backlog refinement.
• Track progress against milestones and budget with the project manager.
• Identify technical risks early and escalate critical issues before they become surprises.

• Seek client feedback and fold it into development cycles.
• Spot genuine opportunities to add value for the client, and bring them to the account team.

• At least 8 years of professional software engineering experience, including 2+ years leading a team's technical direction.
• Proven ability to turn a technical vision into a clear, actionable plan a team can execute.
• Excellent communication with non-technical audiences.

• Frontend: React, Next.js, TypeScript
• Backend: Python, Node.js

• Consulting or agency experience, managing client relationships alongside delivery.
• Experience in health, life sciences or other regulated industries, including handling sensitive personal data.
• Experience establishing team practices from scratch on a new engagement.

• You make decisions with incomplete information, document the reasoning, and revisit them when the evidence changes.
• You lead by raising the capability of the people around you, so the team never depends on one person.
• You earn trust by explaining technology in terms of the outcomes people care about.

• Challenging and rewarding work with real impact
• Direct Access to Cutting-Edge AI Platforms
• Diverse and Inclusive Culture
• Growth opportunities for personal and professional development
• A collaborative and innovative work environment where your ideas are valued
• Exposure to exciting projects and high-profile clients
• Supportive work environment with access to company leaders
• Hybrid working model