Lead Full Stack Engineer

Job Description This is a remote position. The opportunity Our client is looking for a Lead Full Stack Engineer to lead the end-user experience across its connected product ecosystem. You will translate hardware and firmware capabilities into simple, delightful, and reliable experiences for families while helping set technical direction, making product and UX decisions, and bringing discipline to how the app, device, cloud services, website, and storefront work together. About the organization Our client is a Canada-based startup building a screen-free way for children to learn Arabic. Children place a physical content disc on a connected learning player to hear stories, songs, and lessons, while parents use a companion app to manage content, Wi-Fi, and settings. The company is currently producing its hardware with a manufacturing partner and building the software, content, and commerce ecosystem around the device. The client name will be shared with shortlisted candidates before the client interview. What you will do • Partner closely with the CTO to align software and product decisions with hardware and firmware realities. • Lead the end-user experience across the company's ecosystem, including the companion app, BLE integration, cloud services, website, and e-commerce experience. • Champion UX quality across pairing, onboarding, playback reliability, parental controls, and other trust-critical family experiences. • Own the software side of the BLE interface between the connected learning device and mobile app, including pairing and bonding, secure Wi-Fi provisioning, playback control, and status reporting. • Work with the CTO on over-the-air update delivery and versioning as firmware evolves in the field. • Build and maintain server-side APIs for device authentication, content entitlement, content downloads, and OTA update endpoints. • Establish staging and production environments and infrastructure that can support a growing fleet of connected devices. • Connect the storefront and account system to the same entitlement and content infrastructure used by the device and app. • Set technical direction, make pragmatic product and UX trade-offs, and improve the reliability and coherence of the overall ecosystem. • Communicate priorities, architecture decisions, risks, and trade-offs clearly across software, hardware, firmware, product, and founder stakeholders. Requirements What you bring • Proven experience shipping IoT or connected-hardware products. • Strong hands-on experience with BLE protocols, including GATT, pairing and bonding, and provisioning. • Experience designing or operating OTA update systems for embedded or IoT devices, ideally using Cloudflare or AWS. • Solid API design and integration experience, including REST, authentication, and entitlement-style systems. • Comfort working across mobile, backend, and web technologies; React Native and Expo experience is an advantage. • Fluency in Arabic and English, supporting a bilingual product experience. • A strong collaborative approach and the ability to translate between hardware constraints and product/software decisions while partnering with an electrical-engineering CTO. • Comfort operating with ambiguity, broad ownership, and the pace of an early-stage startup. Helpful, but not essential • Experience with audio or video hosting and streaming infrastructure. • Experience with e-commerce platforms, such as Shopify, or custom storefronts. • Prior experience as a product or software lead at a hardware or Ed-tech startup. • A genuine interest in screen-free learning and Arabic-language education for children. Benefits How the engagement works This is a full-time contract role with a confidential client based in Toronto, Canada. The role is remote, with candidates in the MENA region preferred. Day to day, you will work closely with the client's CTO and co-founders, partnering across hardware, firmware, software, product, and user experience. The hiring process begins with a conversation with the co-founders to discuss fit, vision, and mutual expectations. Candidates then complete a short, scoped technical exercise designed to reflect practical work they would encounter in the role. The final stage is a technical interview with the CTO focused on architecture, product judgment, and hands-on experience. For a consultant/contractor engagement, your work will be based on the agreed scope and deliverables. You are expected to provide your own laptop and basic equipment, maintain reliable connectivity and a secure working environment, and follow required security controls, including two-factor authentication. About Apricot Apricot is a nonprofit sourcing firm connecting displaced and underserved professionals from Palestine and the wider MENA region with global employment opportunities. We combine a clear social-impact mission with fast, high-quality recruitment delivery for international clients.