Founding Tech / Engineer Lead

Milan-based Healthtech Scale-up • Founding Team Role • Significant Equity Access 

Holifya & Our Vision

We are building Europe’s top-of-mind digital clinic for metabolic health. Our ambition doesn’t stop at becoming a successful Italian startup – it’s to build a category-defining European healthcare company in an exploding segment.

We are backed by exceptional VCs and investors who share our ambition: Exor, CDP Venture Capital, Growth Engine, and 20Fund, among others. 

THE ROLE

You are not an employee but a founding team partner. You will own everything related to product development and technology – end to end, no hand-holding. This is not a ‘senior engineer’ role where you inherit a codebase and execute tickets. You will architect the future.

What you’ll own: In a nutshell, you are the owner of Technology & Tech Products . You are in charge of Whatever it Takes to build and scale our platform – with a strong bias for shipping and iterating.

• Own the full technical stack. Backend architecture (Supabase/PostgreSQL), frontend (React/TypeScript), mobile (React Native), and infrastructure (Vercel, AWS legacy). You decide when to build, when to buy, when to migrate.
• Build AI into the core product. We want to buildi an AI health concierge, AI-powered protocol assistants for our medical team, and personalized algorithms that optimize therapy based on 3,000+ health datapoints per user. This is not AI for marketing – it’s AI for clinical impact and operational scale.
• Ship fast, iterate faster. We move in weeks, not quarters. You’ll work directly with founders, turn product requirements into production code, and deploy without bureaucracy.
• Scale integrations. Connect with external services – payment gateways (Stripe), booking systems (Cal.com), lab networks, pharma partners, insurance APIs. Know when to build custom and when to leverage existing solutions.
• Build the engineering team. As we scale, you’ll hire and lead the technical team, establishing engineering culture, code standards, and development practices.
• Own security and compliance. Healthcare data is sensitive. You’ll ensure GDPR compliance, secure data handling, and build trust with enterprise clients and insurers. 

WHAT WE LOOK FOR

Non-negotiables:

• Milan-based , in person an average of at least 2 days/week
• 5-15 years of experience (less than 5 only if truly exceptional)
• Founder / ex-founder mindset – or a tech leader who left because the bar was too low
• Full-stack capability with backend strength: you architected and shipped complete products
• Deep experience with modern stack: TypeScript, React/React Native, PostgreSQL, Supabase or similar BaaS
• AI-native: you use AI tools daily to multiply your output, and you can architect AI-powered features
• Business-minded: you understand that you’re building the engine for the company’s growth and
• look out to make sure the tech and product are aligned with the business goals and user needs
• High proficiency in both English and Italian
• Excellence ‘badges’ (e.g., top-tier CS degree, own project / enterprise leadership, competitive programming, notable open source, successful exits)

Strong plus / nice to have (not mandatory):

• Experience / exposure in healthtech, telemedicine, health insurance , or regulated markets (GDPR, medical or sensitive data with specifics of data security and data privacy)
• High-intensity background: ex-Founder, Bending Spoons, Amazon, early-stage startup leadership
• Experience building ML/AI features in production (not just prototypes)
• Built and led engineering teams (3+ people) 

WHAT WE OFFER

• Significant Equity compensation – access to a significant stake reflecting a true partner role
• €50-60k base salary + variable comp. – we have limited resources now but you will be in control of Holifya’s technical foundation and therefore in control of your own growth.
• Real decision-making authority – impact from day one on the most critical asset: the product
• The opportunity to build something that matters – to architect a pan-European healthcare platform from scratch and join pre-Series A. 

A Message to You from the Founder

I’m not looking for someone to fill a role. I’m looking for a technical partner who will co-own the entire tech product and technology stack – someone who builds with the same obsession for quality and speed that I bring to the business side. Read further if you want to build something that matters.

My bar for excellence is extremely high, and I have no tolerance for mediocrity. I expect the same from anyone who joins as a partner.

This person is obsessive about craft, ships fast without sacrificing quality, and is physically uncomfortable with technical debt that slows down the team. They’ve either founded or been a technical leader in an intense-growth environment, ideally with some exposure to healthtech. They know how to turn product vision into scalable, maintainable systems. Humble, yet an overachiever.

Holifya’s culture is built on a few non-negotiables:

• Excellence & Obsession. Whatever it takes to reach the goal. Be obsessed. Never settle.
• Ownership. We own problems end-to-end. If you raise a problem, you implement a solution.
• Only results matter. Results matter more than effort. We never make excuses.

If you read this and feel energized rather than intimidated , we should talk.