Gem

Head of Special Projects - Technical

Gem$180K — $220K *
Technical Services
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • STEM degree required, with a strong background in a technical field like computer science or engineering.
  • Experience building real products or launching business lines from scratch.
  • Technical foundation demonstrated through hands-on roles and progression into product or operational positions.
  • Proficiency with modern AI tools for building and shipping projects.
  • Comfortable operating under uncertainty and making decisions with incomplete information.
  • Strong written communication skills to clarify complex situations for stakeholders.
  • Genuine commitment to improving preventive healthcare as a mission.

Responsibilities

  • Own and drive the execution of undefined external-facing projects from start to finish.
  • Conduct deep research to structure ambiguous problems and produce tangible outputs.
  • Take a lead role in building projects, contributing technically as required.
  • Write clearly to provide actionable insights and direction to leadership.
  • Make informed decisions swiftly and adjust as necessary.
  • Collaborate across departments to ensure project alignment and success.
  • Manage high-stakes initiatives with multi-million dollar impact, accountable for all outcomes.

Benefits

  • Access to stock options as part of compensation.
  • Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance for employee and family.
  • Wellness and commuter benefits provided.
  • Generous vacation policy to support work-life balance.
  • A culture committed to continuous learning and professional development.
  • Dedicated budget for ongoing education and skills enhancement.
  • Opportunities to make a meaningful impact in cancer detection and prevention.
Full Job Description


Role

This is not a strategy role. It is not a coordination role. It is not an advisory role. It is a build role for someone with a technical mind who wants real ownership, moves fast, and finds energy in problems that have never been solved before.

You will own the most critical external-facing projects that currently have no clear owner. Product launches and new business lines that have to work in the real world. Each project starts from scratch: new domain, new constraints, no template. You will figure out what the right question is, get smart fast, and drive it all the way to done.

We operate AI-first. The people who thrive here have fundamentally changed how they work and keep changing it. They're always testing what's new, replacing yesterday's workflow with something faster, and building things with AI that would have taken a full team six months ago. They pick up new tools before anyone asks them to, they automate what others still do by hand, and the bar they hold themselves to isn't what's possible today - it's what should be possible tomorrow.

The best version of this person has built real things with their own hands. They started technical and grew beyond it. They know what it feels like when the work has to survive contact with customers, partners, and markets, not just internal stakeholders. They would rather build the map than wait for one. They do the research, write the recommendations, make the call, and keep moving.

If your strongest work has been advising others, producing strategy for someone else to execute, or improving internal process, this won't be a fit.

Key Responsibilities

  • Own external and market-facing projects end to end. From scoping the actual problem to delivering a finished outcome. These initiatives are high-priority and undefined by design.
  • Do the work. Research new domains from scratch, structure the problem, produce real outputs: working products, plans, frameworks you then execute. Not summaries of what others should do.
  • Build, not just decide. You go deep technically when the project demands it and you ship.
  • Write clearly and drive alignment. Turn ambiguous situations into a point of view leadership can act on.
  • Make decisions and move. You will not have perfect information. You make the call anyway and adjust.
  • Work across functions. Operations, product, clinical, engineering, legal, finance. You go where the project needs you, not where the org chart points.
  • Drive multi-million dollar initiatives from concept through execution, accountable for outcomes at every stage.


Qualifications

  • STEM background, required. A degree in computer science, engineering, math, physics, biology, chemistry, or a comparable technical field and has actually worked in STEM.
  • You have built real things. Shipped product, written code, founded a company, stood up a new business line. You can point to things that exist in the world because you made them.
  • Technical foundation, expanded. Started in engineering, analytics or a hard technical role and moved into product, founded a vc backed company, or operating roles where they still own the build. A career centered on strategy, advisory, or internal optimization is not at fit for this role.
  • AI-native. You use modern AI tools fluently to build and ship.
  • Doer first. You do not delegate the hard parts. You go deep, get your hands dirty, and produce work product others can act on.
  • Moves fast under uncertainty. Comfortable without a playbook. Makes good calls with incomplete information and adjusts quickly.
  • Writes well. Clear, structured, direct. You can take a complex situation and turn it into something people can act on.
  • Mission-driven. Genuinely believes preventive healthcare is one of the most important problems to get right.


Core Experience Requirements

  • STEM degree from a strong program.
  • 7-10 years with a track record of owning hard, ambiguous problems and driving them to completion.
  • Has built something real from scratch. A product, a company, a business line, a technical system. Understands what zero-to-one actually requires.
  • Has managed complex, multi-stakeholder projects where they held the thread together.
  • Can point to specific things they built and shipped, with real outcomes and real numbers.
  • Strong written communication. You can show your work and it holds up.


Your dedication to these responsibilities will directly contribute to the success of our team and the satisfaction of our membership. We are looking for a proactive, skilled, and forward-thinking individual to join our team and help shape the future of our services.

To be a strong fit, you embody our Core Values:

  • Ruthless Prioritization:
    • We don't let perfect get in the way of progress.
    • We move quickly to drive value, not perfection.
    • We prioritize what drives impact.
    • We never compromise on standards of excellence.
  • Member-First, Always:
    • We design and deliver like we're caring for someone we love.
    • We create clear, actionable, human experiences.
    • We prioritize responsiveness, peace of mind, and outcomes.
    • We empower members with truth, clarity, and care.
  • One Team, Moving Fast:
    • We are aligned in purpose, prioritization, and speed.
    • We gather diverse perspectives to make informed decisions.
    • We clear paths for each other and move fast together.
    • We communicate clearly and respectfully, rallying around shared goals.
  • Radical Ownership, Relentless Execution:
    • We don't just ship-we own outcomes and drive results.
    • We act with urgency and precision.
    • We anticipate, initiate, and follow through.
    • We meet challenges with grit and pragmatism.
    • We embrace new tech to deliver better outcomes.
  • Mission Over Ego:
    • We are ruthlessly aligned to our mission-and leave ego at the door.
    • We disagree and commit.
    • We don't tolerate politics or withholding information.
    • We operate with honesty, transparency, and respect.
  • Sustained Integrity in Every Detail:
    • We earn trust by obsessing over accuracy, quality, and clarity in everything we do.
    • We prioritize clinical precision-data must be right.
    • We sweat the details because outcomes depend on them.


Why You'll Love Working With Us:

As the Head of Special Projects, you have the opportunity to be an employee at Function Health and work with an all-star team focused on detecting cancer early for everyone in the world. You're also going to have access to benefits such as:

  • Base Salary: $180,000 - $220,000
  • Stock options
  • Comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans for you and your family
  • Wellness and commuter benefits
  • Competitive vacation policy
  • A culture that emphasizes learning
  • Professional development budget for continued learning
  • Opportunity to directly impact our mission of saving lives through early cancer detection


We value our team at Function and offer a competitive salary and benefits package, flexible working hours, and a dynamic work environment where creativity and innovation are encouraged. If you are a highly motivated and experienced individual who is passionate about using technology to improve people's lives, we would love to hear from you.



Compensation

The base pay range for this role is $180,000 - $220,000 per year.

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