Head of Engineering

About the role

Head of Engineering

Sydney | Full-time | CTO Track
$160,000–$200,000 + super + ESOP

NRN is building the infrastructure layer for the future of distributed energy.

We install and operate solar and battery systems in residential homes, retain ownership of those assets, and monetise them through retailer partnerships and participation in live electricity markets. As the platform scales, so does the opportunity: NRN is evolving from an energy infrastructure operator into a data-driven, software-enabled energy platform.

We are now hiring a Head of Engineering to lead that next chapter.

This is not a traditional management role. It is a high-impact builder role for someone who wants to own architecture, lead engineering, shape product direction, and help define the technical future of the business. For the right person, there is a clear pathway to CTO as the company grows.

About the role

You will take ownership of NRN’s technical direction, engineering execution, and platform evolution.

Today, the business has around 600 deployed assets, with a tender in progress for approximately 8,000 more. The engineering environment is still early-stage: there is meaningful technical debt, fragmented systems, Salesforce is acting as a makeshift ERP, and there is no formal product function in place yet.

You will be the person who helps turn that reality into a scalable, robust platform.

This role combines elements of:

Head of Engineering
CTO
Product and platform leadership

You will be hands-on where needed, while also building the foundations for scale.

What you’ll be doing
Define and own the technical direction of the platform
Lead architecture and infrastructure decisions across software, data, and integrations
Improve engineering practices, delivery processes, and technical standards
Support and develop a small engineering team
Partner closely with leadership to prioritise the roadmap in the absence of a dedicated product function
Help unify hardware, software, data pipelines, and real-time market integrations into a coherent platform
Build the technical foundations for future SaaS and data platform monetisation
Play a key role in future hiring and team design
What you’ll be walking into
A post-Series A business of approximately 18 people
2 full-stack engineers
2 data scientists
No formal product function
A complex environment spanning physical assets, software systems, and energy markets
An outgoing CTO available for transition support until 9 May

This is a genuine opportunity to shape the engineering function from the ground up.

What we’re looking for

We’re looking for a builder-operator engineer — someone who is highly technical, commercially aware, and comfortable leading in ambiguity.

You are likely to have experience in early-stage or scaling environments where you have had to do more than just manage teams. You’ve built systems, made architecture decisions, improved ways of working, and taken ownership of outcomes.

Must-haves
Experience in engineering leadership within an early-stage or scaling company
Strong systems design and architecture capability
Hands-on software engineering background with the ability to still go deep technically
Experience building or maturing engineering practices rather than simply inheriting them
Strong backend, API, and data pipeline experience
Cloud infrastructure experience, ideally GCP
Ability to operate with high ownership in an ambiguous environment
Strong product thinking and commercial judgment
Nice to have
Experience with real-time systems, distributed systems, or IoT-style platforms
Experience in hardware and software integrated environments
Exposure to energy, climate tech, robotics, mobility, or similar complex operational domains
AI/ML deployment into production
Experience working in businesses transitioning from services or infrastructure into software/platform models
Why this role stands out
Clear path to CTO
High ownership from day one
Opportunity to shape a real-world distributed energy platform at a critical stage of growth
Broad remit across architecture, engineering, product direction, and team building
Exposure to energy markets, IoT-like asset orchestration, data platforms, and machine learning
The chance to build something meaningful in the energy transition
Salary and benefits
Base salary: $160,000–$200,000 + super
ESOP: $50,000–$60,000
Flexibility for exceptional CTO-calibre candidates
Sydney-based, primarily office-based, with practical flexibility where needed