Lead Software Engineer Reports to: Director of Engineering Department: Engineering 💼

About The Role

PQShield is looking for a Lead Software Engineer to help lead a cryptographic software IP team. As a Lead Software Engineer, you will be responsible for overseeing the entire software development lifecycle, from design to testing, and ensuring the delivery of high-quality software solutions. This includes planning, organizing, and managing the software development, including setting timelines, allocating resources, and tracking progress.

You will work across a variety of environments, solving complex problems and developing other engineers, while maintaining a strong focus on quality and best practices. You will support the hiring, training, and managing of a team of software engineers, fostering collaboration, and resolving conflicts. Candidates should hold a degree in Electronic Engineering/Computer Science or equivalent experience, backed by at least 10 years in software design and/or verification.

We are looking for a technical lead—or a senior engineer ready to step up into leadership—to guide our team. Knowledge of cryptographic engineering and side-channel attack resistance is a major bonus. You should be ready to contribute to cross-team strategy, lead architectural reviews, and drive planning for your team.

Founded in 2018, we are a well-funded deep tech startup with proven technology and a clear path to market. Joining us now offers a unique opportunity to work directly with our founders and inventors, fast-track your career progression, and shape a rapidly expanding segment of the semiconductor industry (Post-Quantum Cryptography and RISC-V). This is a great opportunity for career progression and to get a head start in a rapidly expanding segment of the semiconductor industry (Post-Quantum Cryptography and RISC-V).

⚒️ What you’ll be doing Working with other engineering leaders and project managers to plan and allocate work, ensuring we are delivering on our product roadmap. You’ll be expected to take on a technical leadership role, and be responsible for coordinating and delivering application and embedded software IP design projects from conception to customer delivery. Line Management of a software engineering team: Identifying hiring needs, conducting interviews, and selecting suitable candidates for open positions.

Orienting new colleagues, providing necessary training, and ensuring they have the tools and knowledge to succeed. Setting clear expectations, providing regular feedback, conducting performance reviews, and recognising and rewarding achievements. Identifying training and development opportunities to help colleagues grow their skills and advance their careers.

Addressing under-performance, providing coaching and support, and taking disciplinary action when necessary. Fostering positive relationships with team members, resolving conflicts, and promoting a positive work environment Ensuring the software engineering team has all of the tooling and infrastructure it needs to function well. Mentoring other colleagues, and being a point of contact for software design expertise within the company.

Working with verification engineers to review verification and test plans. Define architectural definitions for complex algorithmic and/or system level solutions. Providing feedback to colleagues on feasibility of implementation and specification quality.

Working closely with other teams and project stakeholders, and acting as an enabler for their development work. g. coordinating with hardware engineers or our product vulnerability team.

Engaging with customers, including helping with integration questions, or answering questions during technical sales calls. Ensuring clean lint and implementation reports for IP blocks and subsystems.

Qualifications

Excellent written and verbal communication skills.