Software Engineering Lead

About Dokainish & Company 

Since 2011, Dokainish & Company has been delivering world-class project management and project controls consultancy services. We specialize in working diligently and collaboratively with our clients to achieve long-lasting, impactful results across numerous business functions. 

Our areas of expertise include Project Controls, Project Management, Quantitative Risk Analysis, Organizational Change Management, Enterprise Reporting, Estimating, Asset Management, and System Implementation for Capital Projects. We draw upon decades of project experience to deliver customized solutions to our clients’ most complex challenges. 

We are currently seeking an experienced Software Engineering Lead to join our high-performing, diverse, and innovative consulting team. 
 

The Opportunity 

The Engineering Lead is the senior engineering authority within the Product & Technology team, responsible for software architecture, engineering quality, technical delivery, production readiness, and technical go-to-market readiness across organization-owned products, internal tools, and client technology solutions.

This is a hands-on engineering leadership role. The Engineering Lead will design solutions, write and review code, establish engineering standards, guide developers, support technical discovery and estimation, and ensure that software solutions are secure, scalable, maintainable, supportable, and ready for enterprise deployment and commercialization.

This is a full-time non-remote, in-office role based in downtown Toronto. Eligible candidates must be able to commute to Toronto or willing to relocate independently to accommodate this requirement.

The role will support:

• Organization-owned software products
• Internal digital tools and automation solutions
• Client technology discovery, MVPs, and custom software builds
• Product hardening, enterprise readiness, deployment, and go-to-market enablement

For larger client engagements, the Engineering Lead will define the technical approach and provide architectural oversight while additional delivery resources are staffed against the signed SOW.

Key Responsibilities
Software Architecture & Engineering Leadership

• Own solution architecture and major engineering design decisions across software products and client builds.
• Translate business and product requirements into practical technical solutions.
• Define application architecture, data models, integrations, APIs, authentication patterns, and deployment approaches.
• Evaluate technology options and recommend appropriate frameworks, platforms, and services.
• Ensure solutions are designed for scalability, reliability, maintainability, security, and performance.
• Maintain appropriate technical documentation and architecture standards.

Product & Go-to-Market Readiness

• Lead the technical hardening required to move products from prototype or MVP stage into production and commercial use.
• Assess and close gaps related to scalability, reliability, performance, security, monitoring, supportability, and deployment.
• Establish production deployment and release processes appropriate for client-facing software.
• Ensure products are technically prepared for enterprise client onboarding and broader user adoption.
• Support implementation readiness, configuration approaches, client environments, and integration requirements.
• Establish appropriate telemetry, logging, monitoring, error handling, backup, and recovery capabilities.
• Support technical due diligence, security reviews, penetration testing, and enterprise client questionnaires.
• Identify technical risks that could affect commercialization, implementation, client adoption, or service reliability.
• Partner with Product to ensure roadmap decisions account for technical readiness and commercialization requirements.

Hands-On Software Development

• Remain actively involved in software development, particularly for complex, high-risk, or foundational components.
• Build and maintain full-stack applications, APIs, integrations, and cloud-based services.
• Develop proofs of concept and technical prototypes where required.
• Troubleshoot complex production and application issues.
• Support deployment, release, and production stabilization activities.

Engineering Standards & Quality

• Establish and enforce coding standards, branching strategies, code review practices, testing expectations, and development workflows.
• Review pull requests and provide engineering guidance to developers.
• Implement appropriate automated testing and quality controls.
• Reduce technical debt and identify opportunities to improve existing applications.
• Establish reusable components, patterns, and accelerators that improve delivery speed and margins across future projects.

DevOps & Cloud Engineering

• Own the technical design of application environments within Azure.
• Establish CI/CD pipelines and deployment practices.
• Implement appropriate logging, monitoring, backup, and recovery capabilities.
• Work with the IT & Security Manager to ensure application environments comply with corporate security and governance requirements.
• Support cost-efficient use of Azure and other development infrastructure.

Technical Discovery & Client Delivery

• Participate in client discovery workshops alongside Product and Business Analysis.
• Assess technical feasibility, complexity, dependencies, integrations, and delivery risks.
• Develop technical solution options and recommendations.
• Produce engineering estimates and resource requirements for SOW development.
• Support build-versus-buy assessments and technology evaluations.
• Identify when a client engagement requires a dedicated engineering pod beyond the core team.
• Provide technical leadership and architectural governance for client builds.

Product Development

• Partner with the Director, Product & Technology, Technology Business Analyst, and UI/UX Designer to convert product roadmaps into executable engineering plans.
• Advise on technical implications of roadmap decisions and feature prioritization.
• Support the progression of products from concept and MVP through production, enterprise readiness, launch, and scale.
• Enable reuse of technology developed across products and client engagements where appropriate.
• Help establish a common technology foundation across organization-owned applications.

Team Leadership

• Provide day-to-day engineering leadership to software engineers and developers.
• Assign and review technical work based on priorities established with the Director, Product & Technology.
• Mentor junior and intermediate developers.
• Participate in technical interviews and engineering hiring decisions.
• Identify capability or capacity gaps and recommend additional resources when required.
• Support external developers or project-based engineering resources as engagements scale.

Security & Compliance

• Incorporate secure software development practices throughout the SDLC.
• Implement appropriate authentication, authorization, encryption, secrets management, and application security controls.
• Partner with the IT & Security Manager on cybersecurity, privacy, SOC 2, penetration testing, vulnerability remediation, and technology audits.
• Ensure engineering teams remediate identified technical security issues.
• Support client security and technical due-diligence requirements as needed.

Decision Authority
The Engineering Lead serves as the organization’s engineering authority for software development and application architecture.
The Engineering Lead owns or provides the final technical recommendation on:

• Software architecture
• Development frameworks and engineering patterns
• Application-level Azure architecture
• Development and deployment practices
• Engineering standards
• Technical feasibility
• Technical estimates
• Code quality
• Production readiness
• Go-to-market technical readiness
• Engineering-related technical risks

The Director, Product & Technology retains accountability for product priorities, commercial decisions, portfolio investment, budgets, client commitments, and overall team performance.
Qualifications
Required

• 7+ years of professional software engineering experience, including significant full-stack development experience.
• Demonstrated experience leading technical design and architecture for production applications.
• Experience taking software from prototype or MVP through production deployment and commercial use.
• Strong experience with modern front-end and back-end development frameworks.
• Strong experience designing and consuming REST APIs and integrating third-party systems.
• Experience with relational databases, data modelling, and application data architecture.
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Azure or comparable enterprise cloud platforms.
• Experience implementing CI/CD and modern software development practices.
• Strong understanding of authentication, authorization, application security, and secure development principles.
• Experience reviewing code and providing technical direction to other developers.
• Ability to estimate technical work and identify engineering risks and dependencies.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to communicate technical concepts clearly to product leaders, consultants, clients, and non-technical stakeholders.
• Must be legally eligible to work in Canada without sponsorship.
• This is a full-time non-remote, in-office role based in downtown Toronto. Eligible candidates must be able to commute to Toronto or willing to relocate independently to accommodate this requirement.

Preferred

• Experience building and scaling enterprise SaaS products.
• Experience supporting software commercialization and enterprise client onboarding.
• Experience delivering custom software or digital solutions in a consulting environment.
• Experience with Microsoft Entra ID, Azure App Service, Azure Functions, Azure SQL, Azure Storage, Application Insights, and related Azure services.
• Experience with AI-enabled applications, LLM APIs, workflow automation, or agentic systems.
• Experience with enterprise integrations and APIs.
• Experience supporting SOC 2, penetration testing, security assessments, or enterprise client security reviews.
• Experience building reusable platforms, accelerators, or component libraries across multiple solutions.
• Experience working with distributed or offshore development teams.

What Success Looks Like
Within the first year, the Engineering Lead will have:

• Established consistent engineering and architecture standards across technology builds.
• Advanced organization-owned products from MVP or prototype stages toward reliable, enterprise-ready commercial solutions.
• Closed material technical gaps affecting launch, scalability, security, performance, supportability, and client adoption.
• Established reliable development, testing, code review, deployment, monitoring, and production support practices.
• Developed reusable technical components and patterns that reduce the cost and delivery time of future builds.
• Built an effective engineering team capable of supporting internal products, MVPs, and client engagements.
• Improved the quality and reliability of technical estimates used in proposals and SOWs.
• Enabled larger signed client builds to scale through dedicated delivery pods without destabilizing the core team.
• Established a strong working model between Product, Engineering, IT/Security, Business Analysis, and Design.

 

We take immense pride in our high-performing, collaborative team. We recognize and value the uniqueness of every individual, and you’ll be part of a growing consulting firm where your expertise will directly shape project outcomes and client success. This is an opportunity to make a meaningful impact, mentor others, and grow your career in a dynamic, results-driven environment.  
 

If you believe your skillset, drive, qualifications, and experience are a match, we welcome your application and look forward to hearing from you.  

We thank all applicants for their interest in Dokainish & Company. Please note that only candidates selected for an initial interview will be contacted.  

Notes:  
VACANCY STATUS: This posting is for a new position.  
AI USAGE: This organization does not use artificial intelligence to screen, assess, or select applicants for this particular open position. All applications are personally reviewed by our Talent Acquisition Team.  
 
 

Dokainish & Company is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, gender, race, colour, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age and veteran status, or any other protected status required by applicable law.    

In accordance with the Ontario Human Rights Code, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, and Dokainish & Company AODA Policy, accommodation will be provided in all parts of the hiring process. Applicants need to make their needs known in advance.