8+ years of experience in building production software
Previous experience in leading or mentoring engineers
Proven track record of delivering large technical projects hands-on
Strong background in distributed systems and cloud-native architecture
Excellent software design and architectural instincts
Comfortable across the entire software development lifecycle
Strong communicator with collaborative skills across teams
Responsibilities
Design and build production software as a primary focus
Own complex technical initiatives from architecture to production
Define engineering standards and architectural direction
Provide technical guidance, coaching, and mentorship to engineers
Foster a culture of ownership, curiosity, and continuous improvement
Break down large product initiatives into executable engineering plans
Collaborate with Product and Design to develop customer-facing features
Benefits
Opportunity to build foundational product features for an AI-first enterprise platform
Ownership of critical systems that scale to millions of users
Culture that values craftsmanship, autonomy, and user experience
Competitive compensation, equity, and benefits package
On-site work in Midtown, Manhattan, alongside the founding team in a collaborative environment
Full Job Description
Team Lead, Software Engineer
About the Role
We're looking for a Team Lead who loves building software just as much as leading engineers. This isn't a traditional management role where your calendar is filled with meetings. You'll remain deeply hands-on-designing systems, writing production code, reviewing architecture, and shipping product every week-while leading a small team of exceptional engineers.
You'll help set technical direction, unblock your team, raise the engineering bar, and ensure we continue moving quickly without sacrificing quality. If you enjoy solving hard distributed systems problems, mentoring engineers, and building products that customers love, we'd love to meet you. What You'll Do
Lead by Building
Spend the majority of your time designing and building production software.
Own complex technical initiatives from architecture through production.
Help define engineering standards and architectural direction.
Grow an Exceptional Team
Lead a small team of engineers through technical guidance, coaching, and mentorship.
Help engineers grow technically and professionally.
Foster a culture of ownership, curiosity, and continuous improvement.
Drive Technical Execution
Break large product initiatives into executable engineering plans.
Partner closely with Product and Design to turn ambitious ideas into customer-facing features.
Balance shipping velocity with long-term maintainability.
Remove technical blockers and help the team make smart engineering tradeoffs.
What We're Looking For
8+ years building production software.
Previous experience leading or mentoring engineers.
Proven ability to deliver large technical projects while remaining hands-on.
Strong background in distributed systems and cloud-native architecture.
Excellent software design and architectural instincts.
Comfortable working across the entire software development lifecycle.
Strong communicator who enjoys collaborating across engineering, product, and design.
What We Offer
Build foundational product features for an AI-first enterprise platform
The opportunity to take ownership of critical systems that scale to millions of users.
A culture that values craftsmanship, autonomy, and user experience.
Competitive compensation, equity, and benefits package.
Work from our Midtown, Manhattan office, where you'll be side-by-side with the founding team in a supportive, collaborative setting. Our team works on-site five days a week. The location is easy to reach with plenty of public transportation options.
The reasonably estimated yearly salary for this role at is: 160,000-230,000 USD.
About Runway
Runway is a fashion brand that specializes in women's clothing and accessories. The company offers a range of products, including dresses, tops, skirts, and handbags, that are designed to be both stylish and affordable. Runway's products are sold online and in select retail stores across the United States. The company was founded in 2015 and is based in New York, New York.
