Lead Software Engineer (Player-Coach) - Node.js/React.js - AI-Native Teams

Location: Brussels, Belgium; hybrid workplace with up to three remote days per week

Company

hirify.global is a fast-growing European insurtech building embedded insurance experiences for global brands.

What you will do

• Lead a product engineering team as a people leader and hands-on player-coach.
• Own delivery, technical quality, production operations, and team growth from discovery through continuous improvement.
• Partner with Product and Design on scope, sequencing, technical feasibility, and delivery trade-offs.
• Guide architecture, implementation, code reviews, incident resolution, testing, security, observability, and maintainability.
• Champion pragmatic AI-assisted engineering by defining coding-agent workflows, guardrails, and success metrics.
• Reduce operational toil, recurring defects, unnecessary hand-offs, and technical debt while improving team autonomy.

Requirements

• 7+ years of experience building and operating production systems.
• Strong engineering fundamentals and hands-on experience with TypeScript, Node.js, React, MongoDB, or a comparable ecosystem such as Java, C#, Go, or Python.
• Experience with distributed systems, API design, RESTful APIs, third-party integrations, data consistency, Git workflows, CI/CD, and automated deployments.
• Experience with cloud environments; GCP is preferred. Docker and Kubernetes familiarity is beneficial.
• Experience managing, coaching, and developing engineers, with the ability to provide clarity and direct feedback.
• Hands-on experience using coding agents or AI tools responsibly to improve engineering throughput and quality.

Nice to have

• Experience in insurance, fintech, or another regulated domain.
• Experience with Docker and Kubernetes.

Culture & Benefits

• Flexible hybrid work with up to three remote days per week and the option to work from anywhere for one month per year.
• 28 days off, including 8 additional days beyond the 20 legal days.
• Dedicated hirify.global workspace at WeWork on Rue du Commerce 31 in Brussels, including a large terrace.
• Collaborative, inclusive culture focused on teamwork, initiative, psychological safety, and knowledge sharing.
• Regular social events and the opportunity to work in an entrepreneurial environment with meaningful product impact.