Offer summary

Qualifications:

Proven experience leading engineering teams and contributing technically., Strong skills in modern web technologies and software engineering., Pragmatic problem-solving and decision-making abilities., Experience working in agile, product-led or SaaS environments..

Key responsibilities:

Lead and mentor a team of product engineers to deliver high-quality features.

Make architecture decisions, conduct code reviews, and plan technically.

Collaborate with product managers and designers to develop user experiences.

Champion engineering best practices such as CI/CD, security, and performance.

Job description

About Optimal

Optimal is a comprehensive user insight platform empowering product teams and UX researchers to make confident, data-driven decisions.

We provide a powerful suite that transforms complex human behaviors into actionable insights. Our platform helps our customers understand how people interact with their digital experiences, revealing the "why" behind user behaviors so they can build products that truly connect with their audience.

We work with industry leaders like Lego, Nike, Netflix and Apple, to bridge the gap between user expectations and product reality.

About the role

We're looking for an experienced Engineering Team Lead to shape how we build and scale our products. This is a hands-on leadership role, where you’ll guide a team of talented Product Engineers while staying close to the code, championing best practices, and helping us ship reliable, secure, and scalable software.

You’ll collaborate closely with our CTPO, product managers, and designers to solve meaningful problems for our customers - and you’ll play a key role in shaping the technical direction of our platform.

What you’ll do:

Lead a team of engineers to deliver high-quality features and improvements alongside another Lead Engineer
Stay hands-on with architecture decisions, code reviews, and technical planning
Work closely with Product and Design to break down complex ideas and turn them into great experiences
Champion engineering best practices (CI/CD, observability, security, performance, etc.)
Help define and deliver on our technical roadmap
Mentor engineers and supporting their growth and development while managing team rituals
Build a culture of trust, accountability, and continuous learning

What we’re looking for:

Experience leading engineering teams while still contributing technically
Strong software engineering skills and a background in modern web technologies
A pragmatic approach to problem solving and technical decision making
Comfort working in agile, cross-functional teams
A passion for coaching others and building strong team culture
Experience working in product-led or SaaS environments

Our values and culture

We’re proud of our team culture - we’re collaborative, curious, and committed. Our values guide everything we do:

Live In Our Customers’ Shoes - We succeed when our customers do. We deeply understand their experiences - because we live them too.
Own It - We show up with curiosity and accountability and we do it at pace. We challenge with care, support each other, and commit fully - because we’re in this to win.
Bold & Brave - We are daring, adaptive and always learning. Change doesn’t shake us, it fuels us.
In It Together - We lead with kindness, empathy, and respect. We challenge each other with care and compassion. We work hard and celebrate our wins.

What’s in it for you:

A meaningful leadership role with real influence on the direction of our platform and engineering culture
A culture of curiosity, autonomy, and continuous improvement
Flexible working - we're remote-friendly and this role can be based anywhere within NZ or Australia (AEDT)
A wellness allowance, working from home budget, and genuinely great people to work with
The chance to build products that help teams around the world create better experiences

If this sounds like a role that excites you, apply today! We’ll be interviewing as applications come in.

Required profile