Lead Software Engineer, Backend

🚀 Why Headout?

We’re a rocketship: 9-figure revenue, record growth, and profitable

With $130M in revenue, guests in 100+ cities, and 18 months of profitability, Headout is the fastest-growing marketplace in the travel industry, and we’re just getting started. We've raised $60M+ from top-tier investors and are building a durable company for the long term — because that's what our mission needs and deserves. We’re growing, profitable and nowhere near done.

What we do is important

In an increasingly digital world, there is a desperate need to augment our human experience by getting us to interact with the real world around us and the people in it. At Headout, our mission is to be the easiest, fastest, and most delightful way to head out to a real-life experience — from immersive tours to museums to live events and everything in between.

Why now?

The foundation is strong. The opportunity ahead is even bigger. We’ve hit profitability, built momentum, and proven the model — but there’s so much more to build. If you’re looking to join a company where the trajectory is steep and your impact is real, this is the moment.

Our culture

Reinventing the travel industry isn't easy, but that's the fun part.

We care deeply about ownership, craft, and impact, and we’re here to do the best work of our careers. We won’t pretend like it’s for everyone but if you’re a builder who loves solving tough problems, you’ll feel right at home. Read more about our unique values here: https://bit.ly/HeadoutPlaybook

👩 💻 The role

As the Lead Software Engineer, Backend at Headout, you'll be diving deep into the heart of our technical ecosystem. Your realm will encompass the design and construction of the core modules on both the application and infrastructure layers. With a team of young, dynamic, and driven professionals by your side, you'll tackle intricate architectural and design challenges. From clustering to replication, from databases to building systems, and infrastructure automation, you'll be hands-on. Your contributions won't just be internal; you'll have the chance to contribute to open-source libraries and components. Ultimately, you'll be the guardian of concurrent, efficient, and scalable services that form the backbone of the Headout ecosystem.

🤩 What Makes This Role Stand Out

• Ownership: Take the reins and mold a high-performing team. Your leadership will be key in recruiting, nurturing, and ensuring the success of a top-tier team that will be the backbone of our initiatives.
• Innovation: Don't just follow the norm. Here, you'll be encouraged to think outside the box, spearheading projects from concept to completion and infusing them with fresh, effective solutions that can redefine our approach.
• Explore the Tech Landscape: Embrace the opportunity to work in a rich technological environment. From varied services to distinct platforms and databases, you'll touch multiple facets of tech, ensuring a dynamic work experience. We believe in using the right tool for the job. Experience the versatility of multiple tech stacks, allowing you to pick and choose the best technologies that align with project needs.
• Growth and Influence: It's not just about scaling; it's about influence. Play a pivotal role in the company's ambitious 5x growth trajectory, directly impacting our direction and shaping architectural solutions that set the foundation for our future.

🎯 Essential skills & experience

• 6+ years of full time professional experience in software development, with hands-on experience in one or more software programming languages.
• Prior experience serving as a technical lead or leading engineering teams through complex initiatives.
• Experience leading system design and architecture efforts, including reliability, scalability, and design patterns for both new and existing systems.
• Experience working across the full software development lifecycle, encompassing coding standards, code reviews, source control, build and release processes, testing, and production operations.
• Strong ability to architect and design effective solutions for loosely defined or ambiguous problem statements.
• Proven capability to provide technical leadership and mentorship, guiding engineers toward high-quality design and implementation.

💫 Bonus

• Past experience working in travel, local experiences & hospitality.
• Past experience in starting or scaling a successful startup.