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Founding CTO
Location: San Francisco, California
Role Type: Founding Team / Full-Time
Compensation: Equity-Based
Experience: 5+ years preferred, but exceptional builders with strong 0→1 experience are encouraged to apply
About the Role
We are looking for a Founding CTO to join our early-stage startup and take complete ownership of our technology vision, architecture, and engineering execution.
This is a hands-on founding role for someone who wants to build from the ground up — not simply manage an existing engineering team.
You will work directly with the founders to define the technical direction, build the initial product, establish the engineering organization, and scale the technology as the company grows.
What You’ll Do
Own the company’s overall technical vision, architecture, and engineering roadmap
Build and ship the product from 0 → 1
Make key decisions around technology stack, architecture, infrastructure, APIs, databases, and cloud systems
Lead the development of a scalable, secure, and reliable technology platform
Build and manage the engineering team as we scale
Hire, mentor, and establish a high-performing engineering culture
Work closely with the founders on product strategy and translate business requirements into technical solutions
Identify opportunities to leverage AI, automation, and emerging technologies
Establish engineering best practices around testing, deployment, security, monitoring, and documentation
Take ownership of technical execution and ensure products move quickly from idea to production
Represent the company’s technical vision with investors, partners, and other stakeholders when required
What We’re Looking For
Strong software engineering and system architecture background
Experience building products from 0 → 1
Strong knowledge of modern software development, cloud infrastructure, APIs, databases, and distributed systems
Experience with AI/ML or AI-powered products is a strong plus
Strong product mindset you understand what to build, not just how to build it
Ability to make pragmatic technical decisions in an early-stage environment
Strong leadership and communication skills
Comfortable working hands-on while also building and leading an engineering team
High ownership and entrepreneurial mindset
Previous experience as a Founding Engineer, CTO, Engineering Lead, or early-stage technical leader is a strong plus
What You’ll GetSignificant Equity Ownership
This is an equity-based founding role. The selected candidate will receive meaningful equity in the company, with the exact structure discussed during the hiring process.
Build From Day One
You’ll have the opportunity to shape the company’s:
Technology
Product
Engineering culture
Technical architecture
Hiring strategy
Long-term technical vision
Direct Founder Collaboration
You’ll work directly with the founding team and have a significant voice in product and company-level decisions.
Who This Role Is For
We’re looking for someone who sees a blank canvas and thinks:
“Let’s build it.”
If you’re an engineer who wants to move beyond writing code and take ownership of technology, product, people, and the company’s technical future, we’d love to hear from you.
Location: San Francisco, CA
Compensation: Equity-Based
Role: Founding CTO
Work arrangement
No
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