CTO - Digital health

Haystack People
Rotterdam, Netherlands
6 days ago

Role details

Contract type
Permanent contract
Employment type
Full-time (> 32 hours)
Working hours
Regular working hours
Languages
Dutch, English

Job location

Rotterdam, Netherlands

Tech stack

Artificial Intelligence
EHealth
Python
TypeScript
React
Backend
FastAPI

Job description

This is a founding CTO position - combined technical and product leadership. You join as the most senior person in engineering, reporting directly to the founders. A squad structure is already being assembled (App, Web, Backend, Subscription & Payment, Patient Experience), so you're not starting from zero, but you are the one who shapes how it all comes together.

The founders want someone who walks in with a point of view. Not someone who asks what the org chart should look like - someone who tells them.

What you'll do

  • Own the technical roadmap and architecture decisions for a Python/FastAPI + React/TypeScript stack on GCP
  • Lead and grow a cross-functional engineering team across multiple squads
  • Take full ownership of GDPR, ISO 27001, security posture, and regulatory compliance
  • Drive the transition from agency-built code to an in-house, documented, scalable platform
  • Work closely with the founders on product strategy and prioritisation
  • Hire and develop the engineers who will build the platform's next chapter
  • Stay hands-on - prototype, review, guide, and stay close enough to the code to make real calls

Requirements

Do you have experience in TypeScript?, * Proven track record as a CTO, VP Engineering, or Head of Engineering at a scale-up or high-growth environment

  • Hands-on builder DNA - you've coded in production and you're still comfortable opening a repo
  • Experience designing and shipping scalable backend architecture
  • Strong track record hiring and leading engineering teams
  • Compliance and security mindset - GDPR, ISO 27001, or regulated environments are familiar territory
  • AI-native working style - you use AI tooling actively and know how to embed it in engineering teams
  • Comfortable with ambiguity, fast pace, and making decisions without complete information
  • Nice to have
  • Experience with Python/FastAPI, React/TypeScript, GCP
  • Background in e-commerce, logistics, fintech, or digital health
  • Experience insourcing or replacing an agency-built codebase
  • Dutch or strong English; Dutch market familiarity a plus

Benefits & conditions

  • base salary
  • Equity participation
  • Full ownership of technology and product - a genuine seat at the table
  • A profitable, bootstrapped company with real European ambition
  • Hybrid setup - Rotterdam office

Interested?

About the company

This profitable, bootstrapped healthtech scale-up operates an online pharmacy and telehealth platform across the Netherlands and Belgium, with active expansion into Germany and France. The platform serves thousands of patients and runs on a subscription-plus-delivery model - think logistics-grade operational complexity, with medical and regulatory requirements on top. The company is around 100 people, the founding team is entrepreneurial and fast-moving, and the tech team is in the early stages of being built out. The previous CTO has stepped aside. The mandate is clear: take the platform in-house, build the team, and scale.

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