Head of Engineering

About Us Do you think Artificial Intelligence is changing the world? So do we.

At Gemmo, we don’t just build models: we help Fortune 200 companies like Novartis and Broadridge harness the power of AI to generate real, measurable impact. We are a Machine Learning and Computer Vision startup founded in 2020, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, with an AI Lab in Milan, Italy.

Our expertise spans Machine Learning and Generative AI for financial services and Computer Vision for life sciences. We build custom AI solutions that combine automation with human insight — first exploring the highest-impact opportunities, then designing and deploying tailored solutions, and finally helping improve and maintain them over time. We believe in responsible, pragmatic AI: systems that integrate into real workflows, provide measurable value, and remain under your control.

Our Team

Machine Learning & Engineering: 14 people, including 2 Ph.D.s

Business & Strategy: 3 people

Leadership: 2 people

A lean, technical-first team — and we’re growing. We’re looking to add 5 new tech roles before the end of the year.

The Role The Head of Engineering is the de facto technical team lead for Gemmo’s software development function. It is a hands‑on leadership position for someone who loves building great software and helping talented people do the same.

You will be the primary technical point of reference for the engineering team, own software delivery quality, liaise directly with clients on technical matters, and work closely with the Chief AI Officer to ensure that AI‑driven products are architected and executed correctly.

What You Will Do At Gemmo, the Head of Engineering is not a figurehead. You will make real technical decisions, review real code, and have real conversations with clients about architecture. Here’s what that looks like day to day:

Lead and coach a cross‑functional team of researchers, backend developers, and data scientists – acting as the team’s technical conscience

Own end‑to‑end software delivery: system design, code quality, testing discipline, PR reviews, and deployment practices

Design and document cloud architecture for client projects (primarily Azure), taking responsibility for service selection, cost optimisation, and scalability

Manage direct relationships with technical stakeholders at client organisations, translating business requirements into clear engineering plans

Liaise with the Chief AI Officer on AI system design, evaluation frameworks (train/validation/test governance), and product direction

Establish and enforce engineering best practices across the team: coding standards, branch strategy, CI/CD, monitoring

Identify and unblock technical risks in ongoing projects, particularly multi‑agent pipelines and LLM‑integrated products

Hire, onboard, and mentor software developers; maintain a culture of technical excellence and intellectual curiosity

Contribute to technical proposals and scoping documents for new client engagements

Tech Stack We use a mix of modern tools and languages. As Head of Engineering, you will govern architecture decisions across our full stack:

Languages: Python, TypeScript, SQL

Frameworks: PyTorch, XGBoost, ONNXML

LLM APIs: OpenAI, Anthropic (Claude), Google Gemini

Frameworks: FastAPIAPI

Snowflake, Postgres, Azure‑managed storage (blob, NoSQL, relational)

Cloud: Azure

Engineering Practices: Git workflows, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, PR review discipline, branch strategy

How We Work We’re a small team, which means no bureaucracy, no silos, and no waiting three weeks for a decision. Everyone is expected to communicate clearly, move fast, and take ownership.

Communication We run two short standups every day — a 15‑minute morning sync to align on daily priorities. Everything else lives in writing: project documentation on Linear and GitHub, async conversations on Slack with dedicated channels per team and project.

Rhythm & Organisation We work in weekly sprints, so priorities are always clear and nothing drags. Every Friday morning we run a CEO retrospective — an open conversation about what’s working and what isn’t. Once a month, the whole company comes together for a Townhall to share progress, celebrate wins, and discuss where we’re heading.

Career Path Head of Engineering at a fast‑growing AI company is not a ceiling — it’s a launchpad. As we scale, you will have the opportunity to grow into a broader leadership mandate, shape the technical strategy of the company, and build the team that defines how we deliver AI at enterprise scale.

We’re a fast‑growing company. If you perform, you’ll be rewarded quickly and visibly — not in three years after your annual review cycle.

Working in Our Milan Office This role is based in our Milan AI Lab. In‑office presence 3 days a week is a firm requirement — we believe the best engineering leadership happens when you’re in the room with your team.

Office & Hours

Via Zuretti 34, Milan, Italy Location:

Monday–Friday

Working days: 08:30 – 17:30 CET Working hours:

13:00 – 14:00 (flexible)Lunch break:

If you are travelling or occasionally working from a client site, that’s naturally fine. But Milan is home base.

Selection Process We keep it fast, respectful, and transparent. No trick questions, no whiteboard theatre.

Company and role presentation, alignment on expectations and seniority.Interview with CTO or Senior Engineer (15 min):

System design discussion, architecture reasoning, and engineering leadership scenarios. No whiteboard coding or Leetcode‑style questions.Technical Interview (60 min):

Final Q&A round, alignment on vision, culture, and team direction.Interview with CEO (30 min):

Total timeline: 3 to 4 weeks. You’ll receive feedback at every stage — no ghosting, no ambiguity.

Required

4+ years of professional software engineering experience, with at least 2 years in a team‑lead or engineering‑management role

Demonstrable track record of leading and coaching teams of 5 or more software developers

Strong backend development background — Python and/or TypeScript; solid understanding of APIs, microservices, and data pipelines

Cloud architecture expertise — Azure preferred; experience with managed services, storage patterns (blob, NoSQL, relational), authentication, and cost modelling

System design mindset: comfortable designing distributed systems, reasoning about trade‑offs, and communicating architecture decisions to both technical and non‑technical audiences

Fluent in modern engineering practices: Git workflows, code review, automated testing, CI/CD

Excellent communication skills — able to hold technical conversations with PhD researchers and client stakeholders alike

Italian native or fluent; professional English required

Nice to Have

Experience in consulting, professional services, or product companies where requirements change rapidly

Familiarity with LLM APIs, RAG architectures, or multi‑agent systems

Scientific rigour in data validation and output quality (understanding of train/validation/test methodology)

Experience with financial services or regulated industries

Ability to read and understand ML pipeline outputs — enough to govern quality without being a machine learning researcher

What We Are NOT Looking For We need someone who is smart and adaptable — not a rigid, process‑heavy manager who imposes rules from a previous era of software development. The right candidate understands that our clients have opinions, that AI is reshaping development velocity, and that flexibility is a feature. If your first instinct when handed a constraint is to architect a 15‑service solution, this is not the role for you.

This is a senior leadership role, and we compensate accordingly.

Compensation

Competitive base salary aligned with a senior leadership position

+10% salary progression at each career level

Annual salary review

Project bonuses: awarded on delivery and client impact

Year‑end bonus: awarded for outstanding team performance

Benefits

A brand new MacBook Pro M4 14” — yours to use from day oneEquipment:

Once a year, the whole team flies to Dublin for a 3-day offsite at our HQ — a mix of strategy, team building, and genuinely good craicTravel:

20 days of paid holiday per year, 8 public holidays, and 104 hours of additional permitted leave per yearTime Off:

Full-time, permanent (CCNL) Contract

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