Director of Engineering

Harnham; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 250,000 - 270,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Direct executive access

Technical ownership

Career progression

Job summary

Harnham is seeking a Director of Engineering in Cambridge, MA with a hybrid work model (4 days onsite). The role will shape technical strategy and scale products at a HealthTech startup, including AI-assisted development and data-driven healthcare insights.

You will lead architecture, CI/CD, and engineering delivery while partnering with executives and product teams to drive growth, culture, and technical excellence.

Qualifications

• Proven track record leading software engineering teams and coaching managers.
• Hands-on software development with strong Python capabilities.
• Experience building scalable backend systems and distributed apps.
• Cloud exposure (AWS or GCP) and modern CI/CD practices.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a high‑performing engineering group.
• Oversee delivery, sprint planning, backlog prioritisation and execution.
• Partner with Product and leadership to deliver scalable solutions.
• Contribute to production code and advanced engineering initiatives.
• Architect and evolve backend, cloud infra, and platforms.

Skills

People management

Python development

Backend system design

Cloud platforms (AWS/GCP)

CI/CD & deployment

Distributed systems

Team leadership

Tools

AWS

GCP

CI/CD tooling

Job description

Director of Engineering

Location: Cambridge, MA (Hybrid, 4 days onsite)

Compensation: $250,000 to $270,000 base + 20% bonus + equity

This is an opportunity to join a well-funded HealthTech startup at a pivotal stage of growth. As Director of Engineering, you will play a key role in building the engineering organisation, shaping technical strategy, and scaling products that have the potential to improve healthcare outcomes through the application of machine learning and clinical data.

The Company

They are a venture-backed technology company operating at the intersection of healthcare, machine learning, and real-world data. Their mission is to improve how complex diseases are detected, monitored, and understood through innovative technology and data-driven insights.

Having secured significant early-stage funding, they are now scaling their platform, team, and engineering capabilities. This is a rare opportunity to join at a formative stage and directly influence the company's technical foundations, culture, and long-term success.

The Role

As Director of Engineering, you will combine hands‑on technical leadership with people management and delivery ownership. Working closely with senior leadership, Product, and Engineering teams, you will help create the processes, systems, and culture needed to support continued growth.

Key responsibilities include:

• Lead, mentor, and develop a high‑performing engineering team
• Manage engineering delivery, sprint planning, backlog prioritisation, and execution
• Partner with Product and technical stakeholders to deliver scalable solutions
• Contribute directly to production code and complex engineering initiatives
• Architect and evolve backend systems, cloud infrastructure, and application platforms
• Establish best practices across CI/CD, testing, observability, and engineering operations
• Drive engineering standards, technical quality, and continuous improvement
• Support hiring, team growth, and organisational scaling initiatives
• Champion pragmatic adoption of AI‑assisted development workflows
• Help build a collaborative and high‑performing engineering culture

Your Skills & Experience

• Strong commercial experience leading software engineering teams
• Proven people management and coaching experience within engineering environments
• Excellent hands‑on software development capabilities
• Strong Python development experience
• Experience building scalable backend systems and distributed applications
• Expertise with cloud platforms such as AWS or GCP
• Experience implementing and improving CI/CD pipelines and deployment practices
• Background working in startup or high‑growth technology environments
• Strong understanding of engineering execution, delivery management, and technical decision making
• Ability to collaborate effectively across Engineering, Product, and leadership teams

Desirable experience:

• Healthcare, HealthTech, biotech, or regulated industry experience
• Experience with HIPAA, SOC2, or similar compliance frameworks
• Exposure to clinical data platforms or healthcare data systems
• React or React Native development experience
• Experience with AI products, AI agents, or AI‑assisted software development
• Infrastructure or platform engineering expertise

What They Offer

• Opportunity to build and scale an engineering organisation from an early stage
• Direct access to executive leadership and strategic decision making
• Significant technical ownership and influence
• Clear progression opportunities as the company grows
• Hybrid working model based in Cambridge, MA