Backend Tech Lead

**About ThoughtFull**:
ThoughtFull is a Temasek-backed digital mental health company that provides seamless end-to-end mental healthcare for all through insurers and employee benefits. Through our app, _ThoughtFullChat (“TFC”), _individuals are empowered to proactively engage with their mental wellbeing to better themselves regardless of where their starting point is - from self-driven learning, to our proprietary one-on-one daily bite-sized coaching with mental health professionals on text, video, or in-person - we run the gamut and meet our users where they are most comfortable. After all, healthy employees make for more engaging and productive work environments.

Our vision is to make mental health a priority for everyone, every day. It’s an audacious dream, but with the right people who are courageous enough to _Dream Audaciously, Do ThoughtFully,_ we believe that this dream can be our future reality. If you are committed to doing the best work of your lives to be the change that you want to see in this world, join us

**Responsibilities**:
**Backend Architecture & Development**
- **Define and Implement Scalable Backend Architecture**
Lead the design, scalability, and optimization of ThoughtFull’s backend systems to ensure reliability, maintainability, and performance under growth.
- **Drive Best Practices in Backend Development**
Establish and enforce coding standards, database optimization techniques, security practices, and robust logging/monitoring across all backend services.
- **Enhance Integration & System Design**
Collaborate with Product and Frontend teams to design clean, versioned APIs, define service boundaries, and optimize system interactions for high responsiveness and reliability.
- **Lead Performance Optimization Efforts**
Continuously improve server-side performance, database queries, API latency, and scalability of ThoughtFull’s microservices or monolithic systems.
- **Advance Modular & Service-Based Development**
Structure reusable modules, services, and domain-driven components to streamline backend workflows and prepare for future extensibility.

**Technical Leadership & Mentorship**
- **Lead and Mentor the Backend Team**
Guide and support junior and mid-level backend engineers, conducting code reviews, architecture discussions, and pairing sessions to maintain high technical standards.
- **Drive Knowledge Sharing & Upskilling**
Host knowledge-sharing sessions, conduct internal workshops, and maintain documentation to ensure the team stays up-to-date with the latest backend trends and technologies.
- **Ensure Seamless Backend-Frontend Integration**
Collaborate with frontend teams to define consistent API contracts, manage authentication/authorization flows, and optimize data delivery.
- **Review and Optimize DevOps Workflows**
Improve CI/CD pipelines, container orchestration, test automation, and deployment strategies for faster and more reliable backend delivery.

**Product & Strategic Involvement**
- **Shape ThoughtFull’s Backend Roadmap**
Partner with Product, Engineering, and Leadership teams to shape the backend technology roadmap that supports current and future business needs.
- **Contribute to Technical Decision-Making**
Evaluate and recommend technology stacks, frameworks, architectural styles (e.g., microservices, event-driven), and tooling to ensure ThoughtFull’s backend remains modern and scalable.
- **Ensure System Reliability & Security**
Lead efforts around observability, fault-tolerance, security best practices, and incident response to maintain system trust and uptime.
- **Identify and Mitigate Backend Risks**
Proactively assess and address technical debt, system bottlenecks, security concerns, and scalability risks before they impact business continuity.

**Collaboration & Cross-Team Alignment**
- **Strengthen Engineering Collaboration**
Bridge gaps across frontend, QA, infra, and product teams to ensure successful feature releases and smooth cross-functional execution.
- **Drive Feature Delivery Efficiency**
Improve backend estimation, task breakdown, and collaboration across teams to reduce blockers and ensure timely releases.
- **Improve Testing & Release Processes**
Champion backend testing best practices (unit, integration, load testing) to improve the stability and reliability of backend systems in production.
- **Facilitate Agile Development & Sprint Execution**
Actively participate in sprint planning, backlog grooming, and retrospectives to ensure backend efforts align with broader sprint goals.

**Performance & Impact Measurement**
- **Monitor and Improve Backend KPIs**
Track and optimize metrics such as API response times, uptime, database performance, and error rates to deliver a smooth backend experience.
- **Ensure Scalability & Maintainability**
Lead refactoring efforts and backend architectural improvements to maintain clean codebases and scalable services as the platform evolves.
- **Contribute to ThoughtFull’s Engineering Excellence**
Continuousl