Ferto Health GmbH

Founding Principal Engineer (m/f/d)

Berlin, Germany full-time Mid Salary not listed
full-time Mid level Technology & IT Curated
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About the role

About us
Most labs still count cells under a microscope by hand. It's slow, repetitive, and error-prone. We're replacing that manual work with software. By combining a standard microscope with a smartphone, we run computer vision models that locate, track, and measure cells automatically in real time. We're starting with semen analysis and expanding to other routine microscopic samples. We're a small, well-funded team in Berlin, founded in 2026. Our goal is to make automated, reliable diagnostic analysis accessible on any phone connected to a microscope.
The role
We're looking for an engineer who wants to own the whole platform behind a medical product: services, data, infrastructure, security and identity. A first version runs today. The hard part is making it trustworthy enough for clinical use: patient data that stays safe, an audit trail that holds up for years, and a system that recovers when something breaks. You'll own all of it, working closely with the founders and our CTO.
What you'll do
Own the platform end to end: backend, data, infrastructure and security.

Get it ready for clinical use, and keep it reliable as we grow.

Build identity, access and data handling that clinics and auditors can trust.

Make the architecture calls: what to build now, what to defer, what to cut.

Set the engineering standard and help hire the team that follows.

What you bring
Platforms you've built and run. You've built backend platforms from scratch and run them in production, through outages, data incidents, migrations and growth.

Database depth. You know what happens under the query: indexing, locking, transactions, replication, zero-downtime schema changes, and backups you've actually restored.

Security by default. Authentication and authorisation, tenant isolation, secrets, audit logging. You think about how a system gets attacked before it ships.

Identity done properly. Identity providers, sessions and tokens, roles and permissions, onboarding and offboarding.

Infrastructure. Infrastructure as code, containers, Linux, networking and cloud are everyday tools for you.

Beyond the backend. The backend is your home, but when the product needs it, you read and change the app yourself.

Systematic troubleshooting. You reproduce first and fix root causes. You work from evidence like logs, traces, metrics and query plans, and you stay calm when production breaks.

AI-native engineering. Coding agents are part of your daily work. You give them good context, split work into reviewable steps, and stand behind every line you ship.

Ownership. You help shape the roadmap, push back on weak ideas, set your own priorities and raise problems early. Nobody has to chase you. Strong opinions, held with evidence and open to revision.

Range. You've worked across several companies, stacks or environments. How you work counts far more than how many years you've done it.

Nice to have
Regulated environments with audits: medical devices, health, finance.

Serving ML models in production.

What we offer
Ownership from day one. As a founding engineer, you're part of the company through our virtual share option plan (VSOP).

You grow with us. As the company grows, your role grows with it.

Real influence. You decide how we build software, and you shape the engineering team we build.

A competitive salary.

A product that matters: a medical device for real clinics, built together with clinicians and lab staff.

Flexible hours and office days. We work from Berlin and meet in person regularly, up to several days a week. This isn't a fully remote role.

English is our working language. German isn't required.

We sponsor the EU Blue Card if you're moving to Berlin.

Find more English Speaking Jobs in Germany on Arbeitnow

Interview prep

Walk in with sharper answers.

Use this as a quick practice sheet before you speak with the employer.

Mid
Technology & IT MySQL Remote Collaboration Founding Principal Engineer Mid level

Likely questions

  1. Tell us about work you have done that is close to the Founding Principal Engineer (m/f/d) role.
  2. How would you approach your first 30 days at Ferto Health GmbH?
  3. Which of MySQL, Remote Collaboration and Founding have you used recently, and what did it help you achieve?
  4. Describe a time you solved a problem without waiting to be told exactly what to do.
  5. How do you handle busy days, changing priorities, or pressure at work?

Prepare before the call

  • A recent example that proves your experience with MySQL, Remote Collaboration and Founding.
  • One short story with a problem, your action, and the result.
  • Two examples that show the strengths listed on your CV.
  • A clear reason why this role and company interest you.
  • Your availability, preferred work style, and salary expectations.

Ask them

  • What would success look like in the first 90 days?
  • What are the main problems this hire should help solve?
  • How does the team give feedback and measure good work?
  • What does a normal working week look like for this role?
Practice line

I am interested in the Founding Principal Engineer (m/f/d) role because I can bring practical experience in MySQL, Remote Collaboration and Founding, learn the team quickly, and contribute to the outcomes Ferto Health GmbH needs from this hire.

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