Shepherd is an early-stage startup building the future of legal tech.
M&A and corporate transactions are still slow, expensive, and opaque. We are changing that. Our AI platform automates due diligence and turns risk into insight so deals close faster, smarter, and with greater certainty.
We are a team of dealmakers, technologists, and builders reimagining how business transactions happen. By combining deep domain expertise with cutting‑edge AI, we are eliminating the pain points that have plagued the industry for decades, making deals more transparent, efficient, and equitable.
Why Work With Us
Our founders bring together over 45 years of corporate M&A legal experience, deep AI research, and startup expertise.
One co‑founder is Founder and Partner of a leading Irish corporate law firm. The other founded Artomatix, one of the world's first generative AI companies, acquired by Unity Technologies in 2019. Together, they are automating the very process that brought them together: corporate law.
You will also work alongside Mark Lynch, co‑founder and former CTO of Learnosity, who built one of education technology's most scalable API platforms (billions of questions served, millions of users) and brings that same high‑availability discipline to Shepherd.
Our MVP is live and already being used in real transactions. As we enter our commercial phase, we are building the engineering team that will take us to market.
We value curiosity, integrity, and direct communication. Great ideas rise quickly here, and every engineer helps shape the future of dealmaking.
The Role
We are looking for a strong, hands‑on Lead Engineer to own the delivery engine of our platform, with a clear path to Head of Engineering as we scale.
This is a player‑coach role. You will write production code, set technical direction, and make real architectural calls in close partnership with the founders. You are as comfortable reviewing a PR and shaping a system design as you are shipping a feature yourself.
What You Will Do
Write production‑quality code and lead architectural decisions
Set technical direction: how we build, to what standard, and at what cadence
Bring structure and process that keeps a small, high‑output team moving with clarity and purpose
Lead engineering execution and shape technical tradeoffs with real input into roadmap decisions
Work closely with the founders to translate product goals into clearly scoped engineering work
Challenge assumptions and improve on what you are handed
You will work alongside our co‑founder CTO leading AI architecture, Mark Lynch as technical advisor, a senior cloud and infrastructure engineer with financial services experience, and two developers.
Who You Are
Required
6+ years of software development experience across multiple languages (Python and TypeScript preferred)
Hands‑on experience with major cloud providers (Azure preferred; AWS or others welcome)
Experience building or maintaining SPAs using frameworks such as React
Experience debugging and maintaining complex systems
Experience with multiple datastores (Postgres, Redis, etc.)
Proven track record of leading engineering teams or workstreams in fast‑moving, resource‑constrained environments
Experience providing technical direction or mentoring to junior engineers
Strong delivery instincts: you know how to scope, prioritise, and ship without sacrificing quality
Comfortable making technical decisions with limited information, without committee approval
Excellent communication skills and a passion for learning
BS degree or higher in Computer Science, or equivalent experience
Nice to Have
Familiarity with observability frameworks (Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, etc.)
Experience with Infrastructure‑as‑Code tools (Terraform, Pulumi, etc.)
Experience with Docker and Kubernetes
Familiarity with CI/CD tools (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, etc.)
Exposure to security certifications such as SOC 2 or ISO 27001
Growth Path
This role is designed to grow. As the team scales, the right person in this seat becomes Head of Engineering, owning the full function, hiring into it, and setting its technical culture. We are not looking for someone to manage the current state; we are looking for someone who will actively build what comes next.
Meaningful early‑stage equity
A culture built on trust, autonomy, and shared ambition
How to Apply
Send a short note about yourself and a link to your GitHub, LinkedIn, or CV to:
jobs@shepherdtransactions.com
We are more interested in how you think and what you have built than in formalities. We would love to meet you.
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