Director of Engineering (Backend & Platform)

About Univest

Univestis a fast-growing WealthTech platform building research-first, goal-linked investment solutions for Indian investors. We are scaling our engineering organization to support rapid growth, complex financial workflows, and high-availability systems.

Role Summary

We are looking for aDirector of Engineeringwho will report directly to theCTOand own theend-to-end backend and platform engineering function. This role requires arare mix of deep hands-on coding expertise and strong people leadership, managing2030 engineersacross multiple squads.

You will drivearchitecture, scalability, engineering excellence, and delivery, while remainingdeeply involved in complex technical problem-solving.

Key Responsibilities

Technology & Architecture

• Own thebackend and platform architecturebuilt primarily onJava, Spring Boot, and GCP
• Design and scalehigh-performance, low-latency, highly available systems
• Lead decisions aroundsystem design, microservices, data flows, security, and reliability
• Solvehard technical problemsrelated to scale, performance, fault tolerance, and cost optimization
• Be ahands-on coderwhen required (design reviews, critical fixes, POCs)

Engineering Leadership

• Lead and manage2030 engineers(Backend, Platform, Infra)
• MentorEngineering Managers, Tech Leads, and Senior Engineers
• Set engineering standards forcode quality, reviews, testing, documentation, and deployment
• Build a culture ofownership, accountability, and engineering excellence

Delivery & Execution

• Drive execution across multiple teams withpredictable delivery
• Partner closely withProduct, Data, DevOps, and Security
• Balancespeed vs stabilityin a fast-scaling startup environment
• Ownroadmap execution, tech debt prioritization, and platform evolution

Org & Process

• Help scale the engineering org structure, hiring bar, and performance management
• Establish and improveengineering processes(Agile/Scrum, OKRs, metrics)
• Act as athought partner to the CTOon long-term technology strategy

Must Have

• 8+ years of software engineering experience, includingpeople leadership
• Strong expertise inJava & Spring Boot(deep backend fundamentals)
• Hands-on experience withGoogle Cloud Platform (GCP)
• Proven experience building and scalingproduction systems at scale
• Experience managinglarge teams (20+ engineers)or multiple squads
• Strong system design skills (distributed systems, microservices, APIs)
• Ability todive deep into codewhen needed, not just delegate