Lead Software Engineer

Lead Software Engineer – Systems, Compilers & Embedded Platforms Zürich (Hybrid) | Deep Tech | AI Hardware | Full-Stack Ownership We are partnering with an innovative Zürich-based tech company who are seeking a motivated Lead Software Engineer to take ownership of their software direction and execution. This is a role for someone who enjoys operating at the intersection of silicon, compilers, and real-world developer tooling — and who wants to lead both technically and organisationally. You will be responsible for turning advanced hardware capabilities into a clean, usable, production-grade software environment. The Opportunity Youll shape and drive the software strategy behind a new compute platform — from runtime and drivers to compiler integration and SDK delivery. You wont just contribute to features. Youll define priorities, structure execution, and raise the technical bar across the team. This role sits at the centre of hardware/software co-design, working directly with architecture teams while guiding engineers toward predictable, high-quality delivery. Your Impact Lead and structure development across low-level drivers, runtime components, and compiler paths Define and prioritise workstreams spanning code generation, kernels, integration tooling, and SDK packaging Collaborate closely with hardware teams to simplify interfaces and improve system-level performance Translate customer and product requirements into a clear, executable software roadmap Establish quality standards, review processes, and engineering ownership boundaries Mentor and grow a small but highly technical software team What Were Looking For 7+ years in low-level systems software or compiler engineering Strong C++ and solid Python skills Experience working at the hardware/software boundary Practical knowledge of compiler internals (LLVM/MLIR passes, backend lowering, graph compilers, or similar) Strong understanding of memory systems, concurrency, and performance optimisation Experience planning and delivering complex technical projects with clear milestones Confidence reading hardware specifications and defining clean abstractions Strong Advantage If You Have Embedded or MCU-focused experience Accelerator or heterogeneous compute exposure Experience packaging SDKs for external developers Familiarity with edge AI workflows, quantisation, or performance profiling on constrained systems