IT Team Leader

IT Team Leader 

Location: Remote (Global) | Travel Required: UK for senior strategy sessions + occasional global team events

About Us

My Digital Nomads are a truly global collective of people who can band together and power business, giving clients a global presence without the hassle. We position ourselves between clients who need teams and services and the world of digital nomads and remote workers in order to power the services our clients need and power the lives our nomads want. We work in an environment of growth, creativity, and collaboration, aiming to create a workplace where our team thrives, grows, and achieves their full potential.

Full Job Description

We are seeking a IT Team Leader to join our leadership team and drive the next phase of our AI-augmented development transformation.

In this position, you will step into a critical leadership role within our 8-person development team during a pivotal period of change. Following a recent strategic restructuring to embrace AI-driven development, we need a player-coach who can establish performance standards, drive delivery excellence, and provide our senior technical leadership with the insights needed to refine our technical strategy.

You will lead the technical delivery process in collaboration with senior technical management on architecture and strategy, work sideways with product and operations managers on alignment and priorities, and work directly with the development team on execution, performance, and growth. This is a hands-on leadership role—you will still code, review architecture, and solve complex technical problems while building the management infrastructure needed to assess individual and team performance effectively.

Your responsibilities will include establishing clear performance frameworks for developers working in an AI-augmented environment, conducting regular individual and team reviews with actionable feedback, and translating technical progress and challenges into executive insights for senior management. You will drive the adoption of AI development practices that accelerate delivery without compromising quality, architect solutions for complex technical challenges, and maintain active involvement in code reviews and critical development work.

We are looking for someone who can rebuild team cohesion and momentum following the recent restructuring, implement structured processes without creating bureaucracy, and balance the demands of upward technical leadership, sideways cross-functional collaboration, and downward team management.

You will identify when AI-driven approaches are working and when they're creating technical debt, provide honest assessments of team performance and project health, and create clarity and direction during a period of transformation.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Delivery

• Architect and oversee technical solutions across projects, maintaining hands-on involvement in complex problems
• Review code, establish quality standards, and ensure AI-augmented development enhances rather than undermines code quality
• Drive the effective adoption of AI development tools and practices across the team
• Make critical technical decisions in collaboration with senior technical management on platform architecture, technology choices, and technical debt management
• Jump into critical development work when needed—this is a player-coach role, not purely managerial

Performance Management & Team Development

• Establish and implement performance frameworks that work for AI-augmented workflows
• Conduct regular individual performance reviews with clear, actionable feedback
• Provide senior management with comprehensive team and individual performance assessments
• Identify underperformance early and address it decisively and constructively
• Coach developers on leveraging AI effectively while maintaining professional growth and skill development
• Rebuild team cohesion and momentum following recent restructuring

Strategic Collaboration & Communication

• Work upward with senior technical management: translate team performance and project health into technical insights; challenge and refine AI-driven development strategies with credible technical depth
• Work sideways with managers: align development capacity with product roadmaps and business priorities; act as the technical voice in cross-functional discussions on policy and delivery
• Work downward with the team: create clarity on priorities, expectations, and delivery commitments; maintain open communication channels and psychological safety
• Provide regular updates on delivery progress, blockers, and technical risks
• Travel to the UK for senior strategy sessions and participate in occasional global team events and training

Process & Operational Excellence

• Implement structured delivery processes that enhance productivity without creating bureaucracy
• Identify process inefficiencies and improve development workflows
• Balance velocity with quality—ensuring the team moves fast but doesn't accumulate unsustainable technical debt
• Establish metrics and reporting that give visibility into team health, delivery pace, and AI adoption effectiveness
• Navigate the transition period with pragmatism, adjusting approaches based on what's working

Experience and Skills

Essential Technical Experience

• Minimum10+ years as a software developer with proven experience in hands-on development roles
• Essential: Currently coding regularly and capable of reviewing complex code, architecting solutions, and contributing to critical development work
• Essential: Demonstrated experience with AI-driven development tools with a track record of successful implementation
• Working experience across modern development stacks, architectures, and deployment practices
• Deep understanding of software engineering principles, design patterns, and technical trade-offs
• Ability to quickly assess code quality, technical debt, and architectural risks

Essential Leadership Experience

• Minimum 5-10 years in a technical leadership or engineering management role
• Proven track record of managing development teams (ideally 5-10 developers) with measurable performance outcomes
• Experience implementing performance review processes and giving direct, constructive feedback
• Demonstrated ability to manage through organizational change or team restructuring
• Track record of building team cohesion and maintaining morale during challenging periods

Essential Strategic & Communication Skills

• Ability to communicate technical concepts and trade-offs to senior non-technical stakeholders
• Experience working across functions with product, operations, and business teams
• Strong analytical skills with ability to translate team metrics into actionable insights
• Comfortable providing honest assessments and challenging assumptions when needed
• Experience presenting technical strategy and performance updates to executive leadership

Cultural Fit & Working Style

• Believer in AI-driven development as the future, but pragmatic about its current limitations
• High standards for performance and quality—aligns with our 100% effort expectation
• Comfortable working in a high-accountability, high-autonomy environment
• Self-motivated with strong organizational skills and ability to manage priorities independently
• Thrives in remote-first environments with distributed teams across time zones
• Willing and able to travel to the UK for strategic sessions and occasional global team gatherings
• Decisive without being autocratic—can make tough calls while maintaining team trust

Preferred Experience

• Experience managing remote or distributed development teams
• Background in fast-paced startup or scale-up environments
• Experience with team productivity and performance metrics/tooling
• Previous experience in roles requiring both technical depth and people management