Lead Full Stack Engineer

Title: Lead Full Stack Engineer Company: ZobeLab, Inc. Location: Remote (United States) Opportunity Type: Equity-only (until investor funding secured for startup) | Fractional or Part-Time with opportunity to transition into full-time salary role upon funding secured for startup | 4 year vesting & 1 year cliff vesting schedule for equity Industry: MusicTech | EdTech | FinTech | AI | Metaverse (AR/VR) About ZobeLab, Inc. ZobeLab is an innovative music technology startup revolutionizing the independent music industry. Through our flagship EdTech platform within ZobeLab, Zobe Academy , we empower artists, producers, labels, and music professionals with AI-driven tools, education, artist development, community, and opportunities to grow their careers. Right now, our mobile app is available for download in both Google Play and Apple App stores for you to check out as our Beta version has been soft-launched, gaining us over 75+ music professional expert partners under contract thus far, and over 57,000+ downloads. However, our vision is to expand beyond Zobe Academy to develop and incorporate the other divisions of our platform as Zobe Academy represents just the first phase of ZobeLab’s broader technology ecosystem, which will expand to include Zobe Marketplace (AI-enhanced career and commerce platform incorporating FinTech), Zobe Studio (AI-assisted digital audio workstation incorporating MusicTech), and ZobeVerse (immersive experience for virtual music collaboration, learning, events, and community incorporating the Metaverse). Together, these interconnected divisions will form a comprehensive one-stop solution for the independent music community. ZobeLab is an innovative startup revolutionizing the independent music industry by providing a comprehensive platform for artists, managers, and professionals to connect, learn, and thrive. As a one-stop-shop for the music community, we empower independent talent with tools and resources for success. We’re now seeking someone who is capable of handling the hands-on work of a Lead Full Stack Engineer to assist leading our tech strategy and drive innovation. We are now entering a critical growth phase that requires enhanced execution, faster iteration, and bulletproof technical delivery. We’re looking for a hands-on technology leader to join our team and take charge of our next stage of development — one who’s not afraid to get in the trenches, bring bold ideas to the table, perform heavy coding, and help us build a platform that scales. About the Role Are you comfortable working in a fast-pace startup environment? This position is designed for a motivated and experienced person with an enhanced knowledge of technology and the music entertainment industry. We are looking for someone who has the time to commit to a startup, have a wealth of technical knowledge and experience in full stack development, Ai, API integrations, and more to help us enhance our platform and move the product to being fully developed. This is a new music technology startup and our product is currently an app. This position is contracted as a Lead Full Stack Engineer for a startup as an executive member with equity-only until we obtain investors to fund a full-time role/position. All candidates should have reliable internet, system hardware, video-call, and telephone services for communication as this is a fully remote opportunity (virtual/telework). We recently launched our app to the public and we are gathering feedback and reviews to enhance the development for our music tech app and we are also now focused on getting people to download our app, and establishing partnerships with music companies & professionals. We are looking for a team member to work on a virtual / remote basis to support the company within this pivotal role in shaping and executing our technological vision. We are now entering a critical growth phase that requires enhanced execution, faster iteration, and bulletproof technical delivery. We’re looking for a hands-on technology leader to join our team and take charge of our next stage of development — one who’s not afraid to get in the trenches, bring bold ideas to the table, and help us build a platform that scales. If you're not interested in coding and putting in the hard work to build out and enhance our current tech stack to provide additional functionality, features, and technologies to our platform, then this may not be the opportunity for you... but if that sounds like what you're looking for and you want to get in early on the next big platform to help shape and mold how it will impact the industry, then you're in the right place. This is the start of building an in-house development team and moving from an off-shore development team so we are starting with this position. You must be capable of handling end-to-end execution to delivery. Position Overview: ZobeLab is seeking an exceptionally capable and pragmatic Lead Full Stack Engineer to spearhead the architecture, development, and scaling of our core applications and cross-platform mobile ecosystem. In this pivotal role, you will own technical delivery from the database layer through high-performance React web clients and React Native mobile experiences. Beyond technical mastery, you will act as a force multiplier by guiding, mentoring, and overseeing 1–2 junior engineering interns, establishing rigorous code quality standards, and fostering a culture of technical excellence. Key Responsibilities: Full-Stack Architecture & Execution: Design, build, and maintain scalable micro-services and backend APIs using NestJS and TypeScript, backed by robust data stores. Frontend Mastery & Optimization: Architect responsive web interfaces in React and cross-platform mobile applications in React Native. Relentlessly profile and optimize bundle sizes, render performance, memory footprints, and network payloads. Technical Mentorship & Internship Oversight: Directly mentor, manage, and unblock 1–2 engineering interns. Design structured learning paths, conduct code reviews, and transform high-potential early-career talent into productive contributors. Engineering Governance: Enforce automated testing, continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, and high standards of architectural documentation. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with Product, Design, and executive stakeholders to translate complex business requirements into elegant, maintainable technical roadmaps. Required Qualifications & Technical Stack: 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, with at least 3 years in a senior or lead capacity. Deep, production-grade expertise in JavaScript / TypeScript (ES6+, asynchronous patterns, memory management). Advanced backend proficiency with NestJS (dependency injection, modules, guards, interceptors, microservices architecture), Extensive frontend experience building complex state-driven applications using React and React Native (iOS/Android). Demonstrated track record in frontend optimization (profiling re-renders, virtualization of long lists, image caching, offline-first synchronization, and bridging native modules). Proven experience in mentoring junior engineers or interns, establishing code review culture, and delegating scoped technical tasks effectively. Solid grounding in containerization (Docker), cloud deployments, and modern CI/CD workflows. Hands on experience building a direct to consumer AI product. Nice to have hands on experience with python/FastAPI. Experience in software integration and API development. Demonstrated expertise in pushing applications to app stores (iOS and Android). Have experience or be willing to learn as much about MusicTech, AI, FinTech, Metaverse, EdTech, NFTs, Crypto, and stay updated on future technology or development of new technologies Comfort with startup environments and flexible, evolving roadmaps Availability and willingness to commit time and energy as a core part of a growing startup team Strong sense of accountability and ownership What You’ll Be Doing: • Own the full development lifecycle as we move from MVP to scalable platform • Lead hands-on engineering tasks, coding, code reviews, and architecture decisions • Translate product requirements into reliable and optimized builds • Build and refine infrastructure for EdTech, FinTech, and MusicTech integrations • Lead, enhance, develop, and train AI while also collaborating if necessary with AI consultants and product teams on AI-driven features • Spearhead integration of Metaverse, Web3, VR/AR/XR or immersive features where appropriate • Help recruit, lead, and grow the dev team as the platform expands • Proactively solve technical challenges and propose innovative solutions • Move fast, iterate faster — and elevate our execution standards with urgency Bonus If You Have: • Experience with platforms serving independent artists or creatives • Familiarity with music distribution APIs, learning management systems, or token-based ecosystems • Interest in building for global communities & creator economies • Past role in a startup from MVP to launch & growth phase • Strong AI/ML understanding or experience with integrating AI into platforms • Past experience building or contributing to platforms in MusicTech, EdTech, FinTech, or Metaverse spaces Mindset We’re Looking For: This role is about where we’re going, not where we’ve been. We need someone ambitious, hungry to build, willing to lead by doing, and ready to contribute creatively as much as technically. You must be execution-focused and comfortable with ambiguity, rapid iteration, & bringing clarity to chaos. You’ll work alongside passionate executives & product leaders who are building something that will disrupt the music industry for the better — empowering artists through access, education, & innovation.