Head of Engineering | Kinetic Trials
Location: NYC
Compensation: Competitive salary + significant equity (founding team)
About Kinetic Trials
Kinetic Trials is building the agentic operating platform for clinical trial operations. We partner with site management organizations, academic medical centers, health systems and independent trial sites to drive revenue, automate administrative tasks and augment people-centric workflows. Our goal is to accelerate the drug development lifecycle and make a tangible impact on getting promising therapies into the hands of patients faster.
We're backed by top-tier early stage investors (previously backed Palantir, Lyft, Gitlab, Square) and working closely with design partners to build the product.
The Role
We're looking for a Head of Engineering to own our technical direction and accelerate product development alongside our design partners. This is a hands-on building role—you'll be writing code daily while shaping architecture and hiring decisions that will define the company for years to come. As we grow, this role has a clear path to CTO.
What You'll Do
Own the full technical stack end-to-end (frontend, backend, AI/LLM integration, infrastructure)
Work directly with the CEO and design partners to translate customer needs into product - shipping quickly and iteratively
Architect agentic AI systems that automate complex, people-centric workflows
Make foundational architecture decisions for scale
Eventually hire and lead the engineering team
What We're Looking For
3 to 5+ years of software engineering experience
Hands-on experience building with LLMs and agentic AI systems
Proficient with AI-assisted development tools (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.) to maximize velocity
Strong full-stack skills
Bias toward shipping over perfection; comfortable with ambiguity
Excited by healthcare/life sciences impact (domain experience not required)
Why Join
Ground-floor equity in a company targeting a $50B+ market with no dominant software solution
Founder has deep domain expertise from leading M&A deals in clinical research
Strong validation from industry leaders in the category (many of which are on Kinetic's Advisory Board)
Clear, defensible initial wedge with highly visible expansion path to broader clinical trial operations
Similar Jobs
What you need to know about the Colorado Tech Scene
Key Facts About Colorado Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 260,000; 8.5% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: Lockheed Martin, Century Link, Comcast, BAE Systems, Level 3
- Key Industries: Software, artificial intelligence, aerospace, e-commerce, fintech, healthtech
- Funding Landscape: $4.9 billion in VC funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
- Notable Investors: Access Venture Partners, Ridgeline Ventures, Techstars, Blackhorn Ventures
- Research Centers and Universities: Colorado School of Mines, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Denver, Colorado State University, Mesa Laboratory, Space Science Institute, National Center for Atmospheric Research, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Gottlieb Institute
