Director - Engineering - IT

Role: Director of EngineeringEmployment Type: Full-timeRole Type: In-officeLocation: MumbaiCompany DescriptionHoopr is Indias leading music licensing platform, enabling creators, brands, agencies, and businesses to legally access and use music for their content and campaigns. Our mission is to make copyright-safe music simple, scalable, and impactful empowering both sides of the ecosystem: musicians and rights-holders on the supply side, and creators and businesses on the demand side.With offerings such as Hoopr Smash, which brings commercial and Bollywood music to the short-form content economy, and Hoopr.ai, which powers discovery and personalization, we are building products at the intersection of music, technology, and the creator economy. Backed by deep industry partnerships and a rapidly growing user base, Hoopr is setting the standard for music licensing in India and expanding into global markets.At Hoopr, youll be part of a fast-paced, entrepreneurial team passionate about solving real problems in the music and content ecosystem. If youre excited by the prospect of building category-defining products in a dynamic industry, wed love to work with you.Role OverviewWe are seeking an Engineering Manager / Director of Engineering to lead the technology function across our two platforms:- Hoopr.ai (WordPress/PHP, legacy stack with analytics integrations)- Hoopr Smash (React, Cloudflare-based, modern frontend)This leader will be responsible for technical oversight, team leadership, hiring, delivery discipline, and modernization of our platforms. This role is both strategic and hands-on: you will lead the engineering function, but also code, debug, and directly contribute to our codebase where needed.You will initially manage a team of ~6 engineers (frontend, backend, AI, intern) and grow this team over the next 1218 months.Key ResponsibilitiesTeam Leadership & Development- Manage, mentor, and grow a team of frontend, backend, and AI engineers- Identify skill gaps, improve team performance, and create career development paths- Motivate the team and build a positive, delivery-focused culture- Write and review code regularly across PHP/WordPress and React codebases- Debug production issues and guide the team in root cause analysis- Set coding standards by example, not just policyTechnology Management- Own both legacy systems (WordPress/PHP, jQuery, AngularJS) and modern systems (React, APIs, Cloudflare, AWS)- Oversee migrations: PHP7 8, AngularJS/jQuery modern frameworks, plugin cleanup- Ensure strong security practices (SSL, DMARC, reCAPTCHA, PCI compliance)Infrastructure & Operations- Manage hosting across AWS, Cloudflare, and Fastly- Oversee CI/CD, deployment processes, monitoring, and cost optimization- Establish robust QA/testing practices (E2E, regression, automation)Product Delivery- Partner with Product, Marketing, and Business teams to deliver features on time- Translate business requirements into engineering plans and clear technical roadmaps- Balance short-term bug fixes with long-term modernizationHiring & Vendor Management- Recruit backend, DevOps, QA, and data/analytics engineers as required- Manage external vendors (AWS, Cloudflare, Razorpay, plugin 8+ years of overall engineering experience with 3+ years in a leadership/management role- Strong backend experience in PHP/WordPress and frontend expertise in React/modern JS- Solid understanding of cloud infrastructure (AWS, Cloudflare, Fastly)- Experience with analytics tools (GA4, Mixpanel, Amplitude, CleverTap) and event-tracking design- Proven ability to write production-quality code in both backend (PHP/WordPress) and frontend (React/modern JavaScript)- Hands-on experience with infrastructure (AWS, Cloudflare) and CI/CD pipelines- Proven track record of leading cross-functional engineering teams, setting standards, and delivering projects- Familiarity with AI/ML productization is a plus (mentoring junior AI engineers)- Excellent communication skills and ability to work closely with non-technical stakeholdersSuccess in this Role Means- Both platforms run smoothly, securely, and reliably- Bugs are resolved quickly, and new features ship predictably- Engineering team is motivated, clear on goals, and growing in skill- Legacy systems are steadily modernized without business disruption- You are respected by the team not only as a leader but also as a capable engineer who can dive in, fix things, and guide by example- Business teams trust the engineering team as a dependable (ref:iimjobs.com)