Software Engineering Team Lead

The 4M story is likely one you haven't heard before: We are on a mission to unlock access to the world below us - to do for the world underground what Google Maps did for the world above. Using cutting-edge technology, we map subsurface utilities to provide real-time, reliable data to the construction industry, transforming a traditional field into a data-driven world.
We're a fast-growing startup of ~100 employees, based in Tel Aviv and Austin, building products at the core of the company's mission. Our Data Core team owns the foundational data architecture of 4M and drives some of the company's most complex technical systems.
The Opportunity
We are seeking an experienced, people-centric
Software Engineering Team Leader
to join our Data Core group - a team responsible for building and scaling the technological backbone that powers everything at 4M.

As we grow our leadership structure, this role offers the opportunity to assume significant ownership in defining technical domains and refining our operating model.

This is not a role that steps into an existing framework, you will play a central part in creating it.

This role is designed for someone who excels in fast-paced environments, thrives in ambiguity, and can quickly bring clarity, leadership, and momentum.

Your impact will span people development, technical strategy, infrastructure leadership, and driving engineering excellence across the company.

Responsibilities

• Lead, develop, and mentor 4–6 software engineers; drive talent management, including hiring, growth, feedback, and performance.
• Take ownership of team prioritization, decision-making, and handling of shifting priorities across multiple pods, initiatives, and stakeholders.
• Drive engineering excellence - elevate standards, methodologies, and best practices within the team and across the R&D organisation.
• Provide hands-on technical leadership (up to ~50% of the role):
• Debugging and supporting production systems
• Code and design reviews
• Guiding architectural decisions
• Contributing to fire-fighting and operational workflows
• Partnering with the existing team leads to shaping the team's future structure (e.g., division between Collection/Base and On-Demand domains).
• Own areas of technical infrastructure end-to-end and push forward improvements, standardization, and long-term scalability.
• Serve as a key decision-maker in cross-company architecture forums and collaborative initiatives.
• Drive clarity and prioritization for engineers, helping them focus, make thoughtful decisions, and grow their ownership.
• Participate in on-call rotations to support critical systems (with full team support and documentation).

Diverse Perspectives
We believe that innovation thrives when diverse perspectives come together to solve challenging problems. We actively seek individuals who bring unique life experiences, educational backgrounds, cultures, and professional paths.

We encourage you to share how your perspective will add something meaningful and valuable to our team culture and technical journey.

Requirements:

• 2+ years of proven experience as a Software Engineering Team Lead in a startup or fast-paced environment (not only corporate).
• Experience managing medium-to-large engineering groups.
• Hands-on software engineering background with strong Python experience (not necessarily in the most recent role, but up-to-date).
• Previous hands-on work in scalable backend architectures, distributed systems, or data-oriented infrastructures.
• Strong technical leadership abilities: architecture, design, reviews, best practices, and engineering process ownership.
• Comfort working in high-change environments with frequent context switching and multiple parallel priorities.
• A people-first mindset: empathy, strong communication skills, and a leadership style rooted in trust, transparency, and collaboration.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science / Engineering – an advantage (equivalent military experience accepted).
• Experience in Data Infrastructure, orchestration tools, cloud environments (AWS/GCP), or distributed systems – an advantage.