Freelance/Contract - Technical Lead

Heady•New York, NY

33d

About The Position

Heady is a digital product consultancy that provides full-service strategy, design, full-stack development, and growth marketing services for retail and lifestyle brands. The team partners with Fortune 500 brands to deliver impactful technology and design solutions. This role seeks a Senior Technical Lead to oversee the backend infrastructure supporting a suite of high-visibility mobile applications for a leading U.S. retailer. 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 engineers, Product Managers, clients, and vendors. You will guide architectural decisions and ensure the secure, scalable, and maintainable delivery of mobile backend solutions.

Requirements

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
Deep knowledge of Nodejs
Deep knowledge of Salesforce OCAPI/API
Deep knowledge of Third-party integrations for mobile
Deep knowledge of 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.

Responsibilities

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