Head of Special Projects

Function Health•Austin, TX

About The Position

Function Health is seeking a Head of Special Projects, a 'build' role for someone who wants real ownership, moves fast, and finds energy in problems that have never been solved before. This individual will own the most critical external-facing projects that currently have no clear owner, such as product launches and new business lines that must function in the real world. Each project starts from scratch, requiring the individual to figure out the right question, learn quickly, and drive it to completion. The role operates in an AI-first environment, where individuals are expected to constantly test new tools, automate processes, and build with AI. The ideal candidate has a proven track record of building tangible things that have survived contact with customers, partners, and markets, and prefers to build the map rather than wait for one. This role is not suitable for individuals whose strongest work has been advising others, producing strategy for others to execute, or improving internal processes.

Requirements

Built real things: shipped product, written code, founded a company, and/or stood up a new business/product line.
Technical foundation, expanded: started in engineering, product, analytics, research, data, or any technical role and moved into product, founded a VC-backed company, or operating roles where they still own the build.
AI-native: use modern AI tools fluently to build and ship.
Doer first: do not delegate the hard parts, go deep, get 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 communication, able to turn complex situations into actionable items.
Mission-driven: genuinely believes preventive healthcare is one of the most important problems to get right.
7+ 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.
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: can show their work and it holds up.

Responsibilities

Own external and market-facing projects end to end, from scoping the actual problem to delivering a finished outcome.
Research new domains from scratch, structure the problem, and produce real outputs like working products, plans, or frameworks to execute.
Write clearly and drive alignment, turning ambiguous situations into actionable points of view for leadership.
Make decisions and move forward, even without perfect information, and adjust as needed.
Work across functions including operations, product, clinical, engineering, legal, and finance, going where the project needs you.
Drive multi-million dollar initiatives from concept through execution, being accountable for outcomes at every stage.