Founding Engineering Lead
TL;DR
Ahead Health is building an AI-powered preventative health platform for Europe
You’re a product-obsessed engineering leader who likes 70%+ coding in Y1, 30% in Y2+
Joining a team of experienced founders & builders out of Google, Coolblue, and Oxford
Initial cash reflects our early stage, the equity is optimized to make you a true owner
We are Ahead Health
Healthcare is broken. It's reactive, fragmented, and increasingly expensive. While we have more health data than ever before, we're not using it effectively to prevent disease and optimize wellbeing.
That's why we started Ahead Health. We're building an AI-powered platform that transforms how people understand and manage their health, shifting from reactive treatment to proactive prevention. By combining cutting-edge technology with medical expertise, we help people take control of their health journey before problems arise.
The product vision: personal concierge medical care, for everyone. Three key components: (1) A data vault with the most up-to-date picture of your health, (2) a trusted single-point-of-care, and (3) the most extensive, helpful dashboard. More info in our pitch deck.
We're excited to build Europe's leading preventative health platform, starting in Switzerland. You’ll join:
Nick - scaled an ecommerce unicorn as first employee and CTO, later led Google Flights
Sven - PhD at Oxford, built medical devices before, including a portable MRI
Prof. Dr. Olivio - professor at University of Zurich, prostate and AI-focused radiologist
Prof. Dr. Michael - professor at University of Zurich, specialized in MSK
We’re backed by founders and execs from Hugging Face, Cradle, Google, DeepMind, Oviva, Stanford Medicine, GE, Philips, and Coda.
YOUR ROLE
Technology strategy
Define and implement our technical roadmap, making key architectural decisions that will scale with us
Hands-on coding
Lead by example, writing high-quality code and building core features of our platform
AI/ML integration
Helped by advisors, design and implement our AI architecture, focusing on practical applications of LLMs and computer vision for medical images.
Security & compliance
Establish robust security practices and ensure compliance with healthcare regulations from day one
Team
Help recruit and develop a world-class engineering team as we scale
Product development
Work closely with product and healthcare teams to translate complex requirements into elegant solutions
Your role
As our Founding Engineering Lead, you'll architect and build our technical foundation from (almost) the ground up. You're not just a technical leader – you're a builder at heart who's excited to write code and create something meaningful. In the first year, expect to spend 70%+ of your time coding, gradually transitioning to a more strategic role as we scale.
You'll be joining at the perfect moment to shape not just our technical direction, but the company itself. We have our first basic MVP in place, and have had our first paid users go through it. Now that we raised some money, it’s time to build a high-quality, privacy-first consumer experience that can deliver a 70+ NPS every time.
Your first priority will be establishing our technical infrastructure and building our core product. This includes architecting our cloud infrastructure, implementing our data pipeline and AI systems, and ensuring we maintain the highest standards of security and privacy. You'll make crucial decisions about our tech stack and set the engineering culture that will attract exceptional talent as we grow.
We believe this is an ideal role for an entrepreneurial engineering leader who wants to build something impactful from scratch, alongside an experienced team.
Need to have
12+ years of software engineering experience
5+ years of people management experience
Strong trajectory at a high-growth technology start-up or top-tier technology company
Hands-on experience in back-end, cloud, and security
Experience setting technical strategy and crafting architecture for 0-to-1 products
GenAI and LLM-curious; we’re not building a foundation model, but you love the application-layer
Mission-driven, and with the grit for the ups and downs of an early-stage adventure
Product-obsessed, with an appreciation of consumer-grade UX (“good taste”)
You deeply believe in technical excellence, but put pragmatic delivery first
Something unique in your career that demonstrates exceptional capability
Nice to have
Experience in healthtech or other regulated industries
Prior startup experience, ideally in an early-stage environment
Direct experience implementing LLM-based solutions
Track record of building and leading engineering teams
Based in Zürich or Munich
What we offer
One of the first hires with a significant equity upside opportunity
Build a high-quality product in a fast-paced culture that doesn’t take itself too seriously
No bureaucracy, no egos, no overcomplicated launch processes: ship fast, learn fast
Real impact on real humans by improving the accessibility and outcomes of healthcare
Autonomy to shape our technical direction and company culture
Work with experienced founders and advisors
Remote-friendly environment with flexibility in how you work
Regular team gatherings in the Swiss mountains
In the first ±2 years, less cash than you’re worth, but definitely enough equity to compensate for it
Did we pique your interest? We'd love to hear from you.
70% in-person in Zürich or Munich
Backed by AI & healthtech experts
Funded and supported by amazing founders & execs from Hugging Face, Cradle, DeepMind,
GE, Stanford Medicine, Coda, and more.
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