VP of Engineering

VP of Engineering (M6)

Reporting to: Dr Dom Pimenta (CEO)

Location: London

Type: Full-time

The One Thing That Matters (The SPIKE)

You build and scale the engineering organisation — setting the technical vision, engineering culture, and organisational structure that enables TORTUS to become the AI-first healthcare operating system of the future.

You are the strategic engineering leader who ensures we have the right people, architecture, and processes to scale from 60 NHS trusts to hundreds, and from the UK to international markets. You think in years, not sprints.

The Role

We're looking for a VP of Engineering to own the strategic direction and organisational health of our engineering function as we scale our AI-powered medical platform. This is a true VP-level role — you're not in the weeds of day-to-day delivery; you're building the engine that delivers.

TORTUS operates using Goal-Directed Squads — cross-functional teams organised around specific outcomes. Engineering capability is distributed across these squads. You ensure we have the right engineering leaders, organisational design, and technical strategy to support this model as we scale.

Engineering Organisation & Leadership

You own the engineering organisation. This means:

• Building and developing the engineering leadership team (Engineering Managers, Tech Leads, Staff Engineers)

• Designing the org structure that scales with growth — hiring plans, team topology, reporting lines

• Setting the engineering culture — quality bar, ways of working, values in action

• Owning engineering hiring strategy and senior recruitment

Technical Vision & Strategy

You own the long-term technical vision:

• Architectural strategy that positions us for international scale and new care modalities

• Build vs buy decisions, platform bets, and technology partnerships

• Ensuring our technical foundations can support agentic AI, real-time clinical systems, and millions of interactions

• Partnering with the Chief AI Officer on the intersection of AI research and production systems

Engineering Excellence & Governance

You set the bar for how we build:

• Engineering standards, quality practices, and architectural governance across all squads

• Ensuring engineering processes meet Class II medical device requirements while enabling velocity

• Security and compliance posture at an organisational level

• Technical risk management and escalation paths

Executive Partnership

You operate as part of the executive team:

• Partner with CEO on engineering strategy, resourcing, and organisational priorities

• Work with Product leadership to ensure eng capacity aligns with company bets

• Report to the Board on engineering health, technical risks, and strategic progress

• Represent engineering externally — candidates, partners, investors

Key Responsibilities

Build the Engineering Leadership Team

• Hire and develop Engineering Managers and senior technical leaders

• Coach and grow the next generation of engineering leadership

• Create clear career paths and growth frameworks for all engineers

• Ensure engineering leaders across squads are set up for success

Own Organisational Design

• Design the engineering org structure that scales with company growth

• Make resourcing decisions across squads in partnership with Squad Leads

• Drive engineering hiring strategy — headcount planning, talent pipelines, senior recruitment

• Build a high-performance, inclusive engineering culture

Set Technical Direction

• Own the long-term engineering roadmap and architectural vision

• Make strategic technical decisions — platforms, infrastructure, build vs buy

• Ensure our architecture scales across NHS, international markets, and new modalities

• Balance innovation with platform stability and regulatory compliance

Drive Engineering Excellence

• Set engineering standards, practices, and quality expectations

• Ensure engineering processes support Class II medical device requirements

• Own engineering metrics — delivery health, quality, team health

• Champion continuous improvement in how we build

Operate as an Executive

• Partner with CEO on strategic priorities and organisational decisions

• Collaborate with Product, AI, and Commercial leadership on company bets

• Present to the Board on engineering strategy, health, and risks

• Build relationships with external stakeholders — investors, partners, candidates

What Does Wild Success Look Like?

• The engineering organisation scales smoothly from 20 to 50+ engineers

• Engineering leaders across all squads are thriving and delivering with clarity

• We have a clear, compelling technical vision that attracts exceptional talent

• Architectural decisions position us to scale to millions of clinical interactions internationally

• Engineering processes comfortably meet medical device requirements while enabling speed

• The VP Eng is a trusted executive partner, shaping company strategy alongside the CEO

• TORTUS is known in the market as an exceptional place for engineers to build their careers

What We're Looking For

• Proven VP Engineering or Director of Engineering experience in a scaling technology company (Series B+ or equivalent)

• Track record building and scaling engineering organisations — not just managing teams, but designing orgs

• Experience hiring and developing engineering leadership (EMs, Staff+, Principals)

• Strong strategic thinking — you operate in years, not just quarters

• Healthcare or regulated industry experience is strongly preferred — you understand the trust, safety, and compliance requirements

• Experience with medical device software development (Class I/II, ISO 13485) is a plus

• Excellent executive communication — Board-ready, investor-ready

• Calm, strategic leadership style with high organisational awareness

• You know when to be hands-on and when to delegate — and you bias toward building leaders

How This Role Fits Our Operating Model

TORTUS operates using Goal-Directed Squads — cross-functional teams aligned to specific outcomes:

Hospitals Owns eng standards; develops squad's eng leaders

Partnerships Owns eng standards; develops squad's eng leaders

Foundation Platform reliability & scale - Owns eng standards; develops squad's eng leaders

Frontier AI research & innovation Partners with CAIO; ensures production readiness

The VP of Engineering owns the engineering organisation — leadership development, org design, technical strategy, and engineering culture — while Squad Leads own delivery within their squads.

About TORTUS

Tortus was founded to address one of the most fundamental and persistent problems in healthcare: human error driven by cognitive overload and administrative burden. Modern clinicians are overwhelmed by documentation, compliance, and fragmented digital systems, leaving less time and attention for patient care.

Our mission is to eliminate avoidable human error in medicine by augmenting clinicians with real-time, agentic AI. An AI co-pilot for every clinician.

The core product is a real-time AI system that operates inside live patient consultations. It transcribes and structures conversations, surfaces relevant clinical context and guidelines, and executes downstream actions such as documentation, prescribing workflows, and follow-ups. Doctors and AI collaborate in real time, with the clinician always in control.

Traction

• 500,000+ paid consultations processed

• 10x year-on-year growth

• 60 NHS hospitals deployed

• 60–80% daily adoption when rolled out

• 25% time savings per clinician

• Regulated medical device (Class I today, progressing to Class IIa)

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Healthcare serves everyone, so our team should too.

We're committed to building a diverse, inclusive organisation where different perspectives are valued and heard. If our mission resonates with you but your experience doesn't look "typical," we still want you to consider applying.