Chief AI & Platform Architect

Portcast is a venture-backed, Singapore-based logistics technology startup helping freight forwarders turn data into better decisions and measurable business impact.

Portcast uses AI to surface shipment exceptions, cost risks, and the right actions, helping teams focus on the shipments that need their attention, keep freight costs under control, and make procurement decisions with confidence. Our vision is to be the AI data and intelligence layer that powers exception management and margin improvement on every shipment.

Founded in 2018 and backed by leading technology investors, we are building for an industry at a critical inflection point of digital transformation. Our team of software engineers, data scientists, and logistics experts is on a mission to build the technology that helps freight forwarders protect margin, improve operational efficiency, and differentiate their offering.

ABOUT THE ROLE:

We're looking for our Head of Tech (Engineering, AI, Data) to lead, own, and shape our technical direction. This role will own and lead our 15-person Tech team, which is made up of 3 functions:
Engineering, ML/DS, and DA. You'll be responsible for how we build, how we use data and AI, and how our systems scale as the company grows.

We're looking for a strategic technical leader who thinks from first principles, makes strong decisions, and stays close to the technology. Someone who has shipped enterprise-grade software: products with real SLAs, multi-tenant boundaries, security reviews, and the procurement-and-pilots dance that comes with Fortune-500-class customers. Someone with a strong, defensible point of view on where AI belongs in production vs. where it's still a science project.

And critically: someone who came from the code, still writes it when it matters, and would rather review an RFC than sit through another roadmap slide.

You'll work closely with the CEO, Product, Sales, and CS teams to translate real customer problems into systems, tools, and AI capabilities that drive outcomes, value to our customers and company revenue, not just features. This is not a pure management role. It requires strong technical judgment, comfort operating across engineering and data, and the ability to lead through both direction and execution.

You'll set the technical bar, strengthen how teams work together, and ensure engineering, ML, and analytics move as one cohesive capability supporting the business.

• Software Engineering, ML, and Analytics operate as a clear, structured, and high-performing unit with defined ownership and strong delivery predictability.
• Technical decisions are grounded in first-principles thinking, scalable architecture, and long-term product clarity.
• AI and data capabilities are consistently deployed into production and directly tied to measurable business impact.

Engineering Leadership & Architecture

• Own technical direction across platform, infrastructure, and product systems
• Define scalable architecture and ensure reliability, performance, and security
• Improve engineering velocity, code quality, and delivery discipline
• Strengthen documentation, ownership, and system clarity
• Mentor tech team:
  Engineering, ML, Analytics

AI, Data Science & Analytics Strategy

• Define how AI and data drive competitive advantage in our product
• Ensure ML models move from experimentation into production environments
• Strengthen MLOps, data pipelines, and real-time data systems
• Align analytics insights with product and customer decision-making
• Ensure AI investments translate into real outcomes, not just experiments

Product & Business Alignment

• Partner closely with Product to shape technical roadmap
• Work with Sales and Customer teams to understand enterprise…