Technical Lead (PhD only, Jan-Apr 27')

PawtholoGene Lab; Hong Kong; On-site; HKD 558,000 - 670,000; Full time

Job summary

Pathologene Lab in Hong Kong is seeking a Platform Architect to own the platform architecture and core engineering, guiding the team from planning to delivery. About 60-70% of your time will be hands-on architecture, coding and technical review.

You will work with Google Cloud, PostgreSQL, Python and FastAPI, and shape long-term technical direction of the platform, including RAG workflows and AI agent integrations.

Qualifications

• PhD in a STEM discipline; right to work in Hong Kong.
• 3-7 years in AI or software development with end-to-end ownership and team guidance.
• Entrepreneurial, 0-to-1 experience: founded, co-founded or led a product to launch.
• Strong Python and FastAPI skills; production backend services and APIs.

Responsibilities

• Define technical roadmap and architecture for the full stack over 2–3 years.
• Develop and review Python/FastAPI services including APIs and authentication.
• Deliver RAG and AI agent workflows with traceability and error handling.
• Keep AI current by tracking models and market shifts to strengthen the product.
• Own PostgreSQL design, performance, backup/recovery, and cloud deployment.

Skills

Python

FastAPI

Team leadership

End-to-end ownership

AI/ML development

PostgreSQL

Google Cloud

Education

PhD in STEM

Tools

LangChain

LangGraph

Vector retrieval

LLM evaluation

Job description

About Us

Pathologene Lab is a Hong Kong startup building an AI agent platform that turns questionnaire responses into personalised health supplement recommendations, linked to our e-commerce platform. Our MVP is being prepared for launch.

About the Role

You will own the platform architecture and core engineering, guide the team from planning to delivery, and help shape the long-term technical direction of the whole platform. About 60-70% of your time is hands-on architecture, coding and technical review.

Our technology stack: Google Cloud, CloudSQL for PostgreSQL, Python and FastAPI, with retrieval augmented generation (RAG) and AI agent workflows.

Key Responsibilities

• Technical roadmap and architecture. Plan how the full stack evolves over the next two to three years; review the MVP and define an incremental architecture across questionnaires, user profiles, recommendations, product data and commerce.
• Core services. Develop and review Python/FastAPI services: APIs, authentication, background tasks and external integrations.
• AI workflows. Deliver RAG and agent workflows with traceability, tool calling, state, failure recovery and human review; evaluate quality, latency and model cost.
• Keep our AI current. Track new models, AI agents and market shifts; adopt what strengthens the product or makes our own work more efficient.
• Data and platform. Own PostgreSQL design, performance and backup/recovery, plus Google Cloud deployment, CI/CD, testing and monitoring.
• Lead the team and delivery. Plan milestones, set coding standards, review code and mentor engineers.

Required Experience and Skills

• PhD in a STEM discipline and the right to work in Hong Kong.
• 3-7 years in AI or software development, including at least 3 years with a single organisation, with demonstrated end-to-end ownership and experience guiding a team.
• Entrepreneurial, 0-to-1 experience: has taken a product or service from idea to commercial launch, e.g. as founder, co-founder or early technical owner.
• Strong Python and FastAPI skills, building and operating production backend services and APIs.
• Proven software architecture skills: clear on system boundaries, data flows and trade-offs; able to evolve an MVP into maintainable software.
• Practical experience delivering RAG and AI agent applications, including retrieval, tool use, evaluation and failure handling.
• Hands-on PostgreSQL (or comparable database) and cloud deployment experience, ideally Google Cloud.
• Big-picture technical judgement, with a strong grasp of developments in AI (such as AI agents) and how they change the market.

Preferred Qualifications

• LangChain/LangGraph, vector or hybrid retrieval, and LLM evaluation or tracing.
• Experience in e-commerce, health technology or recommendation systems.

Role Details

Employment: Full-time|Hong Kong Science Park / Cyberport

Start date: January-April 2027 (negotiable)

Salary: HK$50,000-60,000 per month (commensurate with experience)