VP of Software Engineering

Company & Role Overview

High blood pressure is the world's most common disease and causes 18M deaths/year. At Hilo by Aktiia, we believe the key to improving cardiovascular health is to provide patients and physicians with a deeper understanding of the blood pressure pattern. Before Hilo, it was not possible to monitor cardiovascular health at scale.

We are a venture-backed start-up that has raised over $96M from top-tier investors in Europe and the United States. We have developed and brought to market the world's first continuous blood pressure monitor. Our technology is based on 18 years of research by our founders at the prestigious Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM). Hilo by Aktiia's solution has been validated through extensive clinical trials and received a CE Mark as a Class IIa medical device under MDR leading to commercial access of approximately 43 countries worldwide.

The VP of Software Engineering is responsible for all software, data, and infrastructure components across Hilo — everything that connects and powers our ecosystem beyond the device itself. This includes the mobile app, data backbone, website and e-commerce stack, CRM, and all supporting systems.

The role's purpose is to build and maintain a world-class, scalable, and secure software platform that enables Hilo to grow across markets efficiently — driven by automation, intelligent systems, and operational excellence. This person will define the long-term software vision, shape the data architecture, and lead a lean, high-performance engineering organization.

It is one of the most critical leadership roles in the company, reporting directly to the CEO and acting as the strategic and operational owner of our software infrastructure.

Technical Vision & Strategy

• Define and own the software and data strategy, ensuring it enables business growth and supports multi-market operations.
• Translate company goals into a clear technical roadmap with measurable milestones and KPIs (uptime, latency, deployment frequency, technical debt reduction, etc.) ensuring our architecture supports data-driven, personalised user experiences.
• Build a future-proof architecture integrating mobile, e-commerce, CRM, and analytics environments in a unified system.
• Champion AI-driven operations and ensure scalable, cost-efficient technology development.

Software Development & Infrastructure

• Oversee all software technology (except firmware), including app development, backend, data infrastructure, website (WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify), and CRM integrations.
• Build and maintain a resilient, multilingual, multi-market infrastructure ensuring consistent performance across regions.
• Establish best practices in CI/CD, testing, versioning, and documentation.
• Ensure compliance, data protection, and information security across all systems.
• Work closely with Quality & Regulatory team to ensure compliance and alignment with applicable standards

Data Architecture & Operations

• Design and implement a centralized data infrastructure that unifies data flows from app, CRM, marketing, and e-commerce systems.
• Build scalable data pipelines and analytics foundations that enable real-time decision-making.
• Oversee data governance and quality assurance, ensuring accuracy, integrity, and usability.

Leadership & Execution

• Lead and develop the engineering team in Serbia through building trust, clarity and motivation – and manage external partners and freelancers across disciplines.
• Create a performance-driven culture based on clarity, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Ensure delivery against key milestones, system uptime, and quality KPIs.
• A true partner to product, design and growth helping translate business goals collaboratively into technical reality

AI, Automation & Efficiency

• Embed automation into all workflows — from deployment to monitoring to customer data processes.
• Use AI tools to enhance scalability, predictive capabilities, and operational speed.
• Build an infrastructure that is AI forward using new emerging tech to improve user experience and decision-making
• Ensure growth through intelligence, not headcount — scaling smartly through systems and technology.

• Proven leadership experience in software engineering for subscription-based, data-heavy, or app-first businesses.
• Track record of building or scaling strong, reliable software and data platforms in high-growth or multi-market environments.
• Experience with multilingual, multi-region infrastructures and managing diverse tech stacks.
• We are operating in a regulated market, previous experience in those kind of environments would be highly valued
• Deep expertise in cloud architectures, data systems, mobile platforms, and system integrations.
• Strategic and KPI-driven mindset, translating business goals into technical outcomes.
• Strong understanding of AI applications, data operations, and automation frameworks.
• Operationally disciplined, pragmatic, and able to balance strategic vision with hands-on execution.
• Collaborative, structured, and inspiring leader who sets clear goals and holds teams accountable.

After the first year in this role:

• A robust, unified, and scalable software backbone supports all digital operations across markets.
• System uptime exceeds 99,9 %, with full visibility on performance, cost, and delivery KPIs.
• A data infrastructure is in place that enables real-time insight generation and seamless cross-platform integration.
• Engineering runs as a high-performance, accountable, and metric-driven organization.
• AI and automation have streamlined development, reduced cost, and accelerated innovation.
• Hilo's software and data platforms are recognized internally as a strategic enabler of growth, not just a support function.
• A soild collab is built between product and engineering making the two entities operate as one team

• The opportunity to contribute to working with a cutting edge technology that has the power to influence people's lives

• Competitive salary and equity program.