Head of Technology

About Coopah

Coopah is a run coaching app combining real human coaches with responsive, proactive technology. We are a fast-growing UK startup on a mission to raise the standard of training in endurance sport.

• Official training partner of the TCS London Marathon
• Co-founded by Olympic distance runner and British record holder Eilish McColgan
• A global, ambitious team building AI-driven tools used by runners worldwide

We are entering our next phase of growth and are looking for a fractional Head of Technology to lead engineering as we scale.

​

The Role

We are hiring a UK-based fractional Head of Technology (2–3 days per week, depending on structure and compensation).

This is a leadership-first role. You will not be responsible for day-to-day feature coding, but you will be deeply involved in technical direction, code quality, infrastructure, and engineering performance.

A core mandate of this role is to dramatically increase development velocity by transitioning Coopah toward a fully AI-assisted, specification-driven engineering model.

We believe the future of engineering is:

• Clear written technical specifications
• Small, tightly defined scopes
• AI-assisted implementation
• Rigorous human review and architectural oversight

We are looking for someone who can design and lead that transformation.

You must be technically strong enough to:

• Read and review production code in detail
• Dive into specific issues when required
• Diagnose production problems quickly
• Log into AWS and make infrastructure-level changes
• Act as the escalation point for urgent technical questions

This role requires someone comfortable being accountable for engineering standards, speed, and system reliability — even on a part-time basis.

​

Responsibilities

Engineering Leadership

• Day-to-day management and accountability of the development team
• Set clear expectations around speed, quality, and scope definition
• Build a high-performance, outcome-driven engineering culture
• Coach engineers to operate effectively in AI-assisted workflows

AI-First, Spec-Driven Development

• Lead the transition to a fully AI-assisted, spec-driven development model
• Ensure all work is defined through clear, structured technical specifications
• Design workflows that maximise AI output while maintaining architectural integrity
• Reduce ambiguity in feature development
• Significantly increase engineering velocity without sacrificing quality

Architecture & Technical Direction

• Own system architecture across Flutter (mobile), Node.js (backend), and supporting services
• Ensure backend and frontend architecture support rapid iteration
• Make and evolve architectural decisions as the platform scales
• Prevent technical drift and long-term degradation

Code Quality & Delivery Governance

• Define and enforce strong PR review standards
• Own merge discipline and release readiness processes
• Ensure high quality across AI-generated and human-written code
• Be accountable for delivery standards and timelines

Platform Stability & Infrastructure

• Oversee maintenance, monitoring, and technical debt management
• Own structured bug triage and Sentry oversight
• Be comfortable managing AWS infrastructure where required
• Act as escalation point during production incidents

​

What We’re Looking For

Experience

• 15+ years of professional software engineering experience
• Strong hands-on background in Node.js and Flutter, with working knowledge of React
• Proven experience leading engineering teams building and scaling mobile applications
• Experience operating at senior technical leadership level (Head of Engineering / CTO / Technical Director or similar)
• Experience working closely with product in fast-moving environments

AI & Engineering Systems Thinking

• Direct experience using AI coding tools in production environments
• Experience designing workflows around specification-driven or scope-driven development
• Strong understanding of how to structure problems for AI-assisted execution
• Clear thinking around quality control in AI-augmented teams
• A belief that AI should increase speed and clarity — not introduce chaos

Technical Depth

• Deep architectural understanding across backend and mobile systems
• Comfortable reviewing and debugging production code
• Experience managing AWS infrastructure
• Strong understanding of CI/CD, monitoring, and testing strategy

Leadership & Mindset

• Comfortable being accountable for the engineering function on a fractional basis
• Calm, decisive, and structured under pressure
• High standards for quality and delivery
• Clear communicator across technical and non-technical stakeholders

Running & Fitness Alignment

• A genuine interest in running, endurance sport, or performance-focused fitness
• Ideally experience in health, fitness, or consumer subscription products

​

How to Apply

Note: This is a syndicated job post. Fractional Jobs found it on the web, but we are not working with the client directly, so we don't have control over or knowledge of the application process. To apply, click on the "View Application" button and follow the application's instructions. Let us know how it goes!