Escape is the pioneering AI-driven cybersecurity startup on a mission to redefine Application and API Security for Europe and North America, with recognition from France 2030, Y Combinator, Forbes 30 Under 30… As a deep tech company, innovation is in our DNA, and our team is united by a passion for technology.

👉 We’re hiring our Head of Engineering – someone who can lead our brilliant technical team, shape our engineering vision, and help scale our platform to serve some of the largest companies across two continents. This role lets you make a real impact on the future of AI-driven cybersecurity, working directly the company Founders, Tristan (CEO) and Antoine (CTO).

Context

• Location: Paris (75002), 2 days remote/week

• Company: Escape – Leading AI Cybersecurity Startup

• Cofounders: CEO (Tristan Kalos) and CTO (Antoine Carossio)

• Engineering Team: 2 Teams with 2 Technical Leads, for a total of 13 Engineers (including 5 Interns)

Key responsibilities

• Lead Our Engineering Strategy: Work directly with our CEO, CTO and customers to actively shape and execute our tech strategy, ensuring every engineering decision aligns with our business goals and keeps us on the cutting edge.

• Set Product Direction: Collaborate closely with the CTO (and future Product Leads), and engineering teams to shape a roadmap that’s both innovative and grounded in practical, hands-on technical insight.

• Scale Our Platform: Be hands-on in designing and building a scalable architecture for our cybersecurity platform, making technical decisions that support rapid growth for large European and American enterprise clients.

• Shape the Engineering Culture: Lead by example, demonstrating hands-on collaboration, ownership, and a commitment to continuous improvement. Foster a culture where engineers are inspired to go deeper technically and work together to push boundaries.

• Drive Innovation: Be actively involved in implementing and exploring advanced AI and cybersecurity solutions, including hands-on experimentation with Graph Theory, Applied Mathematics, and Large Language Models to keep us at the forefront of deep tech.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Act as the technical reference in discussions with Product, Design, and Customer Success teams, ensuring our solutions are technically sound and meet user needs effectively.

• Manage Team Growth: Engage regularly with Technical Leads and Engineers, providing hands-on coaching, actionable feedback, and personalized development paths to help them advance their skills and performance. Scale the team by hiring the future Engineers.

• Uphold Uncompromising Quality Standards: Lead by example in enforcing rigorous testing, code reviews, and best practices, ensuring hands-on oversight of each product release so that quality remains a core value at every stage of development.

Tech Stack

• Frontend: TypeScript, Svelte, GraphQL

• Backend: Node.js (TypeScript) with Yoga (GraphQL), Pothos, Prisma, PostgreSQL, OpenSearch

• Deep Tech: Python, Go, Kafka, Applied Mathematics, Graph Theory, NLP, LLM

• DevSecOps: AWS, Kubernetes, SOC-2 Compliance, GitLab CI, Grafana

• Code Quality: Industry-standard best practices, Codecov, and comprehensive testing

Perks

• 💸 Equity: Significant stock options via BSPCE

• 🐠 Open-Source: Guarateed free-time to contribute to open-source project during your working hours

• ❤️‍🩹 Health first: Comprehensive health insurance with Alan

• 🍕 Meal vouchers with a Swile Card

• 💪 Sport subscription to have preferential prices to go to the gym, with Gymlib

• 📚 A place to learn and grow: Unlimited access to books and online courses to help you excel in your role

• 💻 Tech perks: Get the latest tech gear, including Apple (or not) equipment and ultra-wide screen, to do your best work

• 🌎 Global exposure: Present groundbreaking research at top international conferences, like APIDays (Paris, London, New York), GraphQL Conference (San Francisco), bSides (Berlin, Milan, Oslo, Stockholm…), etc

• Leadership: You have 6+ years of experience in software engineering, including 1+ year in leadership roles where you’ve successfully built and scaled high-performing teams in fast-paced environments.

• Technical Authority: You bring deep expertise in both frontend (Svelte or Vue) and backend (GraphQL APIs, PostgreSQL, Kafka) technologies, with at least 5 years of hands-on experience and a comprehensive understanding of software development and DevSecOps practices.

• Bilingual Proficiency: Perfectly fluent in both French and English, enabling effective communication in a bilingual environment.

• Collaborative Leader: You are skilled at working with cross-functional teams and have a demonstrated ability to communicate complex technical concepts effectively to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• Problem Solver: You have a hands-on approach to leadership, tackling challenges head-on and driving continuous improvement across the engineering organization, with a history of solving complex problems at scale.

• Scalability: Proven experience in scaling products within with a track record in developing and evolving technical roadmaps while anticipating future requirements and infrastructure needs.

We respect your time and will make it quick and efficient. The entire process will be completed within 2 week.

☎️ 1 meeting with the Operations Manager – 15 minutes

💻 Technical test at home

😌 1 System Design meeting with the CTO - 1 hour

😎 Meeting the team at the office for the last touches - 2,5 h

• Technical deep dive with the Technical Lead – 1 hour

• Leadership & strategy interview the CEO – 1 hour

• Cultural fit & vision alignment meeting with the Team at Escape’s Office – 30 minutes

💌 Formal hiring proposal