Head of Software Engineering

Head of Engineering, Venture Build Studio

Location:
Hybrid / Remote, with occasional in-person meetings in Ann Arbor, Michigan

Employment Type:
Full-Time

Function:
Engineering, Product Development, Venture Building

Seniority:
Senior

We are seeking a
Head of Engineering
to help build, validate, and scale technology products within a venture build studio focused on physical infrastructure, utilities, construction, capital projects, and related asset-intensive industries.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role for someone who can operate across early-stage product discovery, prototype development, engineering architecture, AI-enabled applications, and scalable product delivery. The ideal candidate has strong experience in software engineering and product development, with specific exposure to
geospatial systems, computer vision / visual recognition, AI-enabled workflows, field data, maps, imagery, infrastructure assets, or physical-world applications
.

This role requires a versatile candidate who can operate in a mixed mode: hands-on and supervision others. requires someone who can help translate market problems into technical products, rapidly build proof-of-concepts, select appropriate technology stacks, manage internal and external developers, and support the creation of multiple venture-backed or venture-studio-built companies.

• Lead engineering strategy and technical execution across multiple venture build initiatives.
• Translate business concepts, customer pain points, and market opportunities into product architectures, technical roadmaps, prototypes, and scalable platforms.
• Support early-stage venture validation by building MVPs, demos, proof-of-concepts, and technical feasibility assessments.
• Help define product requirements, data requirements, system architecture, engineering scope, and build-versus-buy decisions.
• Partner with venture leads, product leaders, subject matter experts, customers, and external advisors to shape technically credible and commercially viable products.

• Support development of applications involving geospatial data, maps, satellite imagery, aerial imagery, LiDAR, utility networks, field assets, construction sites, infrastructure corridors, or other physical-world datasets.
• Lead or oversee technical approaches involving computer vision, image recognition, object detection, segmentation, change detection, condition assessment, and visual inspection workflows.
• Design systems that combine spatial data, visual data, enterprise data, user workflows, and AI-enabled analysis.
• Support products serving utilities, infrastructure owners, engineering firms, construction organizations, asset managers, or related physical infrastructure markets.

• Define technical architecture, development standards, cloud infrastructure, security practices, data pipelines, APIs, and integration approaches.
• Recruit, manage, and coordinate internal engineers, external development partners, contractors, and technical vendors.
• Establish practical engineering processes for a venture studio environment, balancing speed, quality, scalability, and cost.
• Review code, technical designs, system performance, vendor deliverables, and engineering plans.
• Ensure products are built with appropriate levels of reliability, security, data governance, maintainability, and scalability.

• Support the use of AI, machine learning, computer vision, generative AI, and automation where appropriate to improve product value.
• Help evaluate AI models, data strategies, model performance, training requirements, third-party tools, and deployment approaches.
• Ensure AI-enabled features are developed with practical guardrails, human-in-the-loop workflows, explainability where needed, and fit-for-purpose validation.

• Work across more than one venture or product initiative at a time.
• Help evaluate technical feasibility, development cost, delivery timelines, platform risks, vendor capabilities, and product scalability.
• Support investor, customer, and partner discussions by explaining technical…