Back to jobs

Head of Engineering

HyperDev AI
Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Full-time
Applications go directly to the hiring team

Full Description

This isn't a step away from engineering. You'll still design systems, review real code, and ship features, while leading a small team to do their best work. This is a role for someone who wants to stay close to the craft, not step away from it.

You'll work directly with our Founders to turn product ideas into reliable execution. That means balancing speed with craft, experimentation with discipline, and AI assistance with human judgment, making practical decisions that keep us moving without cutting corners we'll regret later.

This is a hands-on engineering role for someone who enjoys building as much as leading, cares deeply about developer experience, and can say "not yet" to founders without killing momentum. Above all, you believe AI should amplify engineers, not replace them, and you want to shape how that actually works in a real product.

Responsibilities

You'll build alongside the team

* You'll contribute directly to the HyperDev platform—designing backend services, shaping AI workflows, and improving the frontend experience developers actually touch.

* You'll review real code, including AI-generated output, and make sure what we ship is clear, testable, and maintainable.

* When things get tricky, you'll pair with engineers rather than just pointing at a ticket

You'll Shape How Humans And AI Work Together

* You'll help define our human-in-the-loop way of building software—deciding when AI should lead, when humans should intervene, and how we keep ownership of the final result.

* You'll introduce practical standards for reviewing AI-assisted work, evaluating RAG pipelines, and keeping outputs predictable rather than magical

You'll grow people, not just velocity

* You'll mentor engineers through feedback, pairing, and example.

* You'll help hire the next wave of the team and create an environment where curiosity beats ego, and quality beats shortcuts.

* Day to day, you'll remove blockers so engineers can focus on building rather than fighting process

You'll connect product and engineering

* You'll work directly with our Co-Founders and the wider team to translate commercial priorities into technical plans that actually make sense

* You'll help make practical trade-offs without hand-waving the details, and keep delivery moving even when the roadmap is still taking shape

You'll Build On What's Already There

* You'll build on the foundations already in place, improving CI/CD, testing, observability, and releases so we can move quickly without creating future pain

* You'll treat reliability and security as part of everyday engineering, not something bolted on after incidents

About Us

At HyperDev, we don't believe AI replaces developers. We believe it should make them faster, clearer, and more human.

Our platform turns natural language into real, working software while keeping people firmly in the loop. AI generates structure and logic; humans guide intent, judgment, and quality. The result is code that stays understandable, controllable, and owned by the people building it, not a black box you're afraid to touch.

HyperDev is a spin-out within the HyperionDev ecosystem, backed by a profitable global tech education company. Our founding team includes engineers who have worked on generative AI models at OpenAI and technical leaders behind award-winning software products. We're building tools for developers who want leverage, not autopilot.

If you care about craft as much as speed, and you want to shape how humans and AI build software together, you'll feel at home here.

Requirements

Minimum:

* 2+ years as an Engineering Manager, Tech Lead, or leading engineers while remaining hands-on

* 6+ years building production software

* Shipped at least one production feature using LLM APIs, RAG, or agent workflows

* Professional experience with TypeScript, React, and Python

* Built and maintained third-party integrations in production

* Experience with CI/CD pipelines and automated testing

* Track record of shipping in environments with evolving priorities

* Delivered work end-to-end without heavy project management support

* Ability to work independently and proactively in a fast-moving startup, full-stack development environment

Preferred:

* Experience in an early-stage tech startup (0-50 people) where roles were fluid

* Production use of Langchain, Pydantic AI, or similar frameworks

* Open-source contributions

* Experience growing a team beyond 3-4 people

Benefits

Why Join Us?

* Be part of the founding team of a new AI developer platform backed by an established, profitable parent company.

* Shape the architecture, product, and culture of a company from day zero.

* Collaborate with a team that has worked at OpenAI and shipped award-winning products.

* Access the resources, backing, and reach of the HyperionDev ecosystem while building something new.

* Work on the cutting edge of AI and developer tooling, with the freedom to experiment and innovate.

If you're excited to help build a category-defining product from the ground up and want the ownership and impact that comes with being a founding engineer, we'd love to talk.

Applications go to the hiring team directly