Head of Tech (Engineering & AI)

Portcast is a venture-backed, Singapore-based logistics technology startup helping freight forwarders turn data into better decisions and measurable business impact.

Portcast uses AI to surface shipment exceptions, cost risks, and the right actions, helping teams focus on the shipments that need their attention, keep freight costs under control, and make procurement decisions with confidence. Our vision is to be the AI data and intelligence layer that powers exception management and margin improvement on every shipment.

Founded in 2018 and backed by leading technology investors, we are building for an industry at a critical inflection point of digital transformation. Our team of software engineers, data scientists, and logistics experts is on a mission to build the technology that helps freight forwarders protect margin, improve operational efficiency, and differentiate their offering.

ABOUT THE ROLE:

We're looking for our Head of Tech (Engineering, AI, Data) to lead, own, and shape our technical direction. This role will own and lead our 15-person Tech team, which is made up of 3 functions: Engineering, ML/DS, and DA. You'll be responsible for how we build, how we use data and AI, and how our systems scale as the company grows.

We're looking for a strategic technical leader who thinks from first principles, makes strong decisions, and stays close to the technology. Someone who has shipped enterprise-grade software: products with real SLAs, multi-tenant boundaries, security reviews, and the procurement-and-pilots dance that comes with Fortune-500-class customers. Someone with a strong, defensible point of view on where AI belongs in production vs. where it's still a science project. And critically: someone who came from the code, still writes it when it matters, and would rather review an RFC than sit through another roadmap slide.

You'll work closely with the CEO, Product, Sales, and CS teams to translate real customer problems into systems, tools, and AI capabilities that drive outcomes, value to our customers and company revenue, not just features. This is not a pure management role. It requires strong technical judgment, comfort operating across engineering and data, and the ability to lead through both direction and execution. You'll set the technical bar, strengthen how teams work together, and ensure engineering, ML, and analytics move as one cohesive capability supporting the business.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE IN THIS ROLE:

Software Engineering, ML, and Analytics operate as a clear, structured, and high-performing unit with defined ownership and strong delivery predictability.

Technical decisions are grounded in first-principles thinking, scalable architecture, and long-term product clarity.

AI and data capabilities are consistently deployed into production and directly tied to measurable business impact.

WHAT YOU’LL OWN:

Engineering Leadership & Architecture

Own technical direction across platform, infrastructure, and product systems

Define scalable architecture and ensure reliability, performance, and security

Improve engineering velocity, code quality, and delivery discipline

Strengthen documentation, ownership, and system clarity

Mentor tech team: Engineering, ML, Analytics

AI, Data Science & Analytics Strategy

Define how AI and data drive competitive advantage in our product

Ensure ML models move from experimentation into production environments

Strengthen MLOps, data pipelines, and real-time data systems

Align analytics insights with product and customer decision-making

Ensure AI investments translate into real outcomes, not just experiments

Product & Business Alignment

Partner closely with Product to shape technical roadmap

Work with Sales and Customer teams to understand enterprise requirements

Guide solution design for complex customer use casesEnsure engineering effort maps directly to business impact

Team, Culture  & Organizational Development

Lead and develop Engineering, ML/Data Science, and Analytics teams

Hire strong senior talent and raise the technical bar

Create clarity in roles, responsibilities, and technical ownership

Reduce single-point dependency across critical systems

Build a culture of accountability, curiosity, and effectiveness

Hands-On Technical Leadership

Stay close to architecture and key system decisions

Review critical designs and technical proposals

Step into complex technical problems when needed

Prototype or validate high-impact ideas

Lead by example in technical depth and problem solving

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR:

10+ years in software engineering, data, or ML environments

Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field

Software heavy background who understands data, AI, system design and infrastructure

Experience leading technical teams in a startup or product-driven B2B SaaS company

Track record building and scaling production AI/ML systems

Experience with distributed systems, real-time data, and cloud infrastructure

Background in logistics or supply chain industry, or data-heavy SaaS is a strong plus

Previous experience working in enterprises/fortune 500 is a plus

Technical Depth

Curious by Default: You dig deeper instead of following instructions to the letter. When something in the system surprises you, you chase the why, not just the fix. You treat every layer of the stack as something worth understanding, and you ask the good questions early

Strong backend and system architecture expertise

Experience deploying ML/AI systems into production, not just research

Deep understanding of MLOps, data platforms, and model lifecycle management

Comfortable operating across engineering, data science, and analytics domains

Leadership & Culture

First-principles thinker who breaks down complex problems clearly

High ownership and accountability

Builder mindset with strong technical judgment

Clear communicator across technical and business teams

Focused on effectiveness and real outcomes

WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU:

Globally distributed, remote-first flexibility: Work with a fully distributed team across Asia and Europe, built on trust, accountability, and collaboration. Our diversity of perspectives fuels innovation and keeps us curious.

Tech-first team: You’ll work with like-minded individuals who share a passion for solving difficult problems using technology.

Accelerated growth: Compress the learning curve in a couple of years by owning the web app from day one as your own baby. We are building our company to be the next B2B market leader in predictive global supply chains and you’ll be a major part of our story. 

Impact you can see: With a lean structure, your work is effective from the start. You’ll see the results of your ideas and decisions directly moving the business forward.

Our CORE Values Guide Everything We Do:

Curiosity: We read the code before we trust it. We dig into why a system behaves the way it does, not just how to make the error go away.

Ownership: We act like founders. We don't wait for a ticket to fix what's broken, and we stay on a problem until it's actually solved in production.

Raising the bar: We do not settle for code that only works locally or solves the immediate request. We aim for backend systems that are reliable, scalable, maintainable, and easy for the team to reason about.

Effectiveness: We focus on engineering work that creates real product and customer impact. We prioritize the right problems, make practical trade-offs, and ship solutions that improve outcomes, not just output.