R&D Lead

R&D Lead The Lead of R&D will spearhead technology discovery, applied research, and technical innovation across backend, APIs, web, mobile, cloud, and emerging platforms. This role focuses on identifying, validating, and de-risking new technologies and enabling their transition into product engineering teams.This position does not own day-to-day product engineering or feature delivery but works closely with Product Engineering to influence future platforms and architectures.Experience Level: 12+ yrsSkillset Required: Docker, Kubernetes, DevSecOps, CI/CD pipeline, Expertise in one or more of: Java, Node.js, Go (Golang), C / C++, JavaScript / TypeScriptKey Responsibilities• Lead technology research and discovery initiatives across backend systems, APIs, web, mobile, cloud, and emerging domains.• Identify, evaluate, and prototype emerging technologies, tools, frameworks, and architectural patterns relevant to the company’s strategic roadmap.• Drive proof-of-concept (PoC), spike solutions, and experimental platforms to validate feasibility, scalability, security, and performance.• Establish structured research → validation → handoff model to transition successful innovations to Product Engineering teams.• Act as a technical thought leader, influencing long-term architecture, platform evolution, and build-vs-buy decisions.• Partner with Product Management, Product Engineering, Security, and QA teams to ensure research outcomes align with business and compliance needs.• Ensure research outcomes adhere to security, quality, regulatory, and compliance standards from inception.• Track industry trends, academic research, open-source ecosystems, and startup innovations to maintain a competitive technology edge.• Define success metrics for R&D initiatives and regularly communicate outcomes to executive stakeholders.RequirementsRequired Skills and Experience • 12+ years of experience in R&D, applied research, platform engineering, or innovation leadership.• Proven experience leading cross-functional technical research teams and exploratory initiatives.• Strong background in distributed systems, cloud-native architectures, and modern application stacks.• Demonstrated ability to translate research and experimentation into production-adoptable solutions.• Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.• Experience managing multiple concurrent research tracks with varying levels of maturity.• Deep understanding of multi-cloud and hybrid cloud strategies (AWS, Azure, GCP).• Ability to review, guide, and influence production-level code without being the primary implementer.• Strong architectural judgment with a security-first mindset. Good-to-Have Qualifications • Experience establishing R&D best practices, including experimentation frameworks and technical evaluation criteria.• Familiarity with DevSecOps principles, CI/CD pipelines, and secure software supply chains.• Hands-on expertise in one or more of:• Java• Node.js• Go (Golang)• C / C++• JavaScript / TypeScript• Experience with containers and orchestration: Docker, Kubernetes.• Exposure to identity, security, cryptography, or authentication technologies (strong plus).

R&D Lead

The Lead of R&D will spearhead technology discovery, applied research, and technical innovation across backend, APIs,

web, mobile, cloud, and emerging platforms. This role focuses on identifying, validating, and de-risking new technologies

and enabling their transition into product engineering teams.

This position does not own day-to-day product engineering or feature delivery but works closely with Product Engineering

to influence future platforms and architectures.

Experience Level: 12+ yrs

Skillset Required: Docker, Kubernetes, DevSecOps, CI/CD pipeline, Expertise in one or more of: Java, Node.js, Go

(Golang), C / C++, JavaScript / TypeScript

Key Responsibilities

• Lead technology research and discovery initiatives across backend systems, APIs, web, mobile, cloud, and emerging

domains.

• Identify, evaluate, and prototype emerging technologies, tools, frameworks, and architectural patterns relevant to

the company’s strategic roadmap.

• Drive proof-of-concept (PoC), spike solutions, and experimental platforms to validate feasibility, scalability, security,

and performance.

• Establish structured research → validation → handoff model to transition successful innovations to Product

Engineering teams.

• Act as a technical thought leader, influencing long-term architecture, platform evolution, and build-vs-buy decisions.

• Partner with Product Management, Product Engineering, Security, and QA teams to ensure research outcomes align

with business and compliance needs.

• Ensure research outcomes adhere to security, quality, regulatory, and compliance standards from inception.

• Track industry trends, academic research, open-source ecosystems, and startup innovations to maintain a

competitive technology edge.

• Define success metrics for R&D initiatives and regularly communicate outcomes to executive stakeholders.

Requirements

Required Skills and Experience

• 12+ years of experience in R&D, applied research, platform engineering, or innovation leadership.

• Proven experience leading cross-functional technical research teams and exploratory initiatives.

• Strong background in distributed systems, cloud-native architectures, and modern application stacks.

• Demonstrated ability to translate research and experimentation into production-adoptable solutions.

• Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.

• Experience managing multiple concurrent research tracks with varying levels of maturity.

• Deep understanding of multi-cloud and hybrid cloud strategies (AWS, Azure, GCP).

• Ability to review, guide, and influence production-level code without being the primary implementer.

• Strong architectural judgment with a security-first mindset.

Good-to-Have Qualifications

• Experience establishing R&D best practices, including experimentation frameworks and technical evaluation

criteria.

• Familiarity with DevSecOps principles, CI/CD pipelines, and secure software supply chains.

• Hands-on expertise in one or more of:

• Java

• Node.js

• Go (Golang)

• C / C++

• JavaScript / TypeScript

• Experience with containers and orchestration: Docker, Kubernetes.

• Exposure to identity, security, cryptography, or authentication technologies (strong plus).

Our mission is to provide individuals with a secure digital identity that provides control of their credentials and enables service providers to use it with consent to fight identity fraud, securing online services from password-based attacks with a next generation approach to multi-factor authentication that delivers a frictionless user experience.

Our mission is to provide individuals with a secure digital identity that provides control of their credentials and enables service providers to use it with consent to fight identity fraud, securing online services from password-based attacks with a next generation approach to multi-factor authentication that delivers a frictionless user experience.