Head of Engineering Lisboa

Overview

Our client is an early stage start up building an AI platform that interprets blood test results in their full clinical context - helping doctors make faster, safer, and more informed decisions. They combine LLMs, RAG pipelines, and medical best practices to transform raw lab data into structured, actionable insights. Our solution is already being used by clinics and hospitals, and we're preparing for our first regulatory certifications and CE marking as a Class IIa medical device.

Role Summary

As Head of Engineering, you'll work directly with the CEO to shape and execute our client's technical vision. This is a
- level,
- on role ideal for someone who thrives in
- stage environments, loves building from scratch, and is ready to own architecture, infrastructure, and team development. You'll lead the development of our Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipeline, build the product team, and ensure our infrastructure is robust, secure, and
- ready.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of the RAG pipeline and backend systems.
• Build the product and engineering teams; mentor and hire as needed.
• Own architecture, infrastructure, security, and regulatory readiness.

What We're Looking For

• Must-Have
  • 5+ years building and deploying backend systems, APIs, or cloud infrastructure in production
  • Strong experience with LLMs and frameworks like Lang
    Chain, Llama
    Index, or similar
  • Hands-on experience with RAG systems, vector databases, and model orchestration
  • Experience deploying secure, containerized services (Docker, Kubernetes) in
    - native environments (GCP, AWS, or Azure)
  • Understanding of security and compliance in regulated environments (GDPR, HIPAA, etc. )
  • A bias toward building fast, validating early, and iterating with users

Nice-to-Have

• Experience as CTO, VP Eng, or early lead engineer at a startup
• Familiarity with medical device standards (ISO 13485), risk management (ISO 14971), or CE/FDA pathways
• Background in digital health, biotech, or clinical informatics
• Experience integrating with EHR systems, FHIR/HL7, or hospital IT infrastructure
• Familiarity with document parsing, structured reasoning, and clinical logic modeling