Head of Software Engineering

Deligo is a leader in visual AI self-checkout for the convenience retail industry, trusted by global brands like Compass, Sodexo, Marks & Spencer, and Spar.

We build advanced visual AI - developed by a top-notch machine learning team - to recognize food and retail items instantly. No barcodes, no manual scanning. Just place your items and tap to pay: it’s that simple. The result: a magical experience that improves everyday lives by saving time standing in checkout lines.

But this isn’t just exceptional tech: We are a tight-knit team of curious, passionate and ambitious builders who take pride in our craft and value trust in everything we do. If you’re looking to join a rocket ship and help redefine the future of AI-powered checkout, we’d love to meet you! 🚀

Role at a glance

Deligo builds AI-powered self-checkout systems, with around 1,000 devices already deployed internationally. We’re preparing to support tens of thousands over the coming years, and we’re looking for a Head of Software Engineering to lead the software team through that growth.

You’ll take over day-to-day software leadership from our co-founder and work directly with him as part of the Management Team. You’ll lead a small, experienced engineering team and own how it grows, delivers and develops the software behind our checkouts.

The work spans cloud services, software running on our devices and integrations with customer systems. You’ll set technical direction with senior engineers and work closely with Product, Hardware and Core ML to bring those pieces together in a reliable product.

This role calls for someone who enjoys building teams and staying close to the technology. You should be comfortable working through architecture decisions, investigating production problems and helping engineers find a way forward when the answer isn’t obvious

How you’ll make a difference

• Take ownership of the software team’s day-to-day leadership, setting clear priorities and following through on delivery

• Shape software architecture and technical direction with senior engineers, deciding what needs to change as the number of devices, customers and integrations grows

• Help experienced engineers do their best work through clear expectations, useful feedback and room to make decisions

• Own software reliability across cloud services and deployed devices; improve monitoring, releases and incident response so we can expand with confidence

• Work with Product, Core ML and Hardware to agree priorities, resolve dependencies and deliver improvements that work in customers’ day-to-day operations

• Establish the planning, testing and delivery practices the team needs as it grows, keeping them useful and straightforward

• Hire engineers and develop the team’s leadership capacity as its responsibilities expand

• Help the team adopt AI-assisted development tools where they improve the work, checking their effect on quality as well as speed

What makes you a great fit

• You’ve led software teams through growth and can point to what you changed, why you changed it and how it helped

• You have a strong software engineering background and can work through architecture, production issues and technical trade-offs with experienced engineers; you’re willing to get into the details when needed.

• You’ve been responsible for software running in production and understand what it takes to release changes safely, spot problems early and recover when something goes wrong

• You’ve hired and developed engineers, given difficult feedback and helped people take on more responsibility

• You can guide technical disagreements towards a decision, explain the reasoning and make sure the team follows through

• You’re comfortable working directly with founders and colleagues across product and engineering, making decisions with incomplete information and balancing immediate customer needs with longer-term work

• You’ve explored AI-assisted software development enough to have a practical view of where it helps, where it needs oversight and how to scale it effectively

Why join us

• Join while there’s a lot to build: Around 1,000 Deligo checkouts are already deployed internationally. Our ambition is to reach tens of thousands over the coming years, and the engineering decisions you make now will help us get there

• Work on a product you can see people use all over the world: We build the complete checkout: computer vision, cloud services, software, hardware and payments come together to make an everyday task easier

• Lead engineers who know their craft: You’ll start with a small, experienced, autonomous team and have room to build on its strengths, hire new colleagues and develop future leaders

• See your decisions make a difference: Your decisions will directly influence what we build, how we deliver and where the company goes next

Details

• Start: As soon as you are ready

• Location: Budapest - we operate with an office-first approach, typically requiring 3-4 days per week in-office

• Contract: Permanent

• Compensation: Competitive package based on experience

If you’re ready to help build a truly seamless and magical checkout experience, we encourage you to connect and explore future opportunities with Deligo. We’re looking forward to receiving your application!