Freelance/Contract - Technical Lead

About Heady:
Heady is a digital product consultancy that provides full-service strategy, design, full-stack development, and growth marketing services for retail and lifestyle brands — and we do it all with heart.

Our team partners with Fortune 500 brands to deliver impactful technology and design solutions. We seek a Senior Technical Lead to oversee the backend infrastructure supporting a suite of high-visibility mobile applications for one of our biggest clients - a leading U.S. retailer.

About the role:
As a Lead Engineer, you will provide end-to-end technical direction for backend services powering a multi-app mobile ecosystem. You’ll collaborate with both engineers, Product Managers, clients, and vendors. You will guide architectural decisions and ensure the secure, scalable, and maintainable delivery of mobile backend solutions.

Key Responsibilities:

Technical Leadership & Execution
Define and document backend technical requirements for mobile features.
Lead architectural decisions and implementation for Consumer-facing and Store associate-facing apps
Ensure high-quality, performant, and maintainable code through technical oversight and hands-on development.
Maintain and evolve technical documentation to reflect current systems and processes.
Strategize and address backend security concerns, including real-time mitigation of malicious activity and compliance with data deletion protocols.

Client & Vendor Collaboration

Serve as a key technical liaison for client and vendor teams (e.g., website platform, payment providers)
Provide responses to non-emergency technical issues during ET business hours (9am–3pm).
Lead emergency support during designated off-hours (weekday evenings and weekends).
Represent engineering in cross-functional calls.

Team Leadership & Mentorship

Provide project leadership and operational oversight for backend developers in collaboration with product managers.
Set and enforce backend coding standards, review code, and maintain the CI/CD pipeline.
Mentor engineers, foster a collaborative culture, and drive continuous improvement across the engineering team.

Security & Compliance

Enforce secure coding and architectural best practices across backend systems.
Oversee client-driven data deletion workflows and protect against vulnerabilities.

Required Skills & Experience
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science with minimum 6 years in backend engineering roles, (incl. 2+ years in technical leadership.)
Proven experience with mobile backend systems and API development.

Deep knowledge of:
AWS
Nodejs
Salesforce OCAPI/API
Third-party integrations for mobile
CMS-backed content systems

Demonstrated experience with backend deployment processes and CI/CD management.
Exceptional ability to analyze and resolve technical issues with scalable solutions.
Strong client-facing communication and cross-functional team collaboration skills.
Experience working in Agile product teams.
Strong business proficiency in English and adept at delivering both confidence and humility in communication.
Exposure to high-scale consumer-facing mobile apps.
Familiarity with e-commerce security standards and architecture patterns.
Availability across US Eastern Time business hours and emergency support windows.