Chief Technology Officer “CTO” – Founding Engineering Leader

Founding CTO / Engineering Leader
San Francisco (Hybrid / In Office)

About the Company
We’re an early-stage AI-driven startup operating at the intersection of media, creativity, and advanced tech. In just a few months, we’ve hit significant revenue milestones and are positioned for hypergrowth. Our goal is to scale from early traction to breakout success—fast.

The team is small, senior, and intensely focused. Everyone here is a builder who thrives in ambiguity, values product craftsmanship, and moves quickly with clear ownership. We’re backed by a strong syndicate of angel investors and are actively shaping our next stage of funding.

We’re now looking for a seasoned technical leader who can match our pace and help us scale both product and team.

What You’ll Do

• Be the technical foundation: drive engineering strategy, architecture, and infrastructure decisions from the ground up

• Lead by doing: write production-level code in your strongest area (backend, AI systems, or frontend) while building and mentoring a high-performing engineering team

• Shape product alongside founders, designers, and users—fast iteration and direct feedback loops are key

• Architect robust systems capable of handling real-time collaboration and compute-intensive AI workloads

• Work cross-functionally to turn ambitious product ideas into reliable, beautiful, and fast experiences

• Build toward internal AI/ML capabilities including model deployment, scaling inference, and experimentation infrastructure

Who You Are

• A hands-on engineering leader who thrives in a zero-to-one environment and enjoys scaling systems and teams

• Someone who’s seen multiple stages of growth, ideally as a founder, early technical leader, or startup CTO

• Product-minded and user-obsessed—you care deeply about what gets built, not just how

• Comfortable with rapid cycles, incomplete data, and hard technical tradeoffs

• Able to navigate both individual contribution and executive-level leadership, switching as the business demands

• Drawn to high-upside opportunities and willing to go all-in on a mission that excites you

Experience We’re Looking For

• 8+ years in software engineering with 2+ years in a leadership or founder-level role

• End-to-end product development—from first commit to customer adoption at scale

• Experience with high-performance backend systems, modern frontend stacks, or AI/ML pipelines

• Familiarity with GPU infrastructure, model inference workflows, and scaling cloud-based systems

• Strong system design and a track record of architectural ownership

• Bonus: experience in generative media, creator tools, or real-time rendering pipelines

The Tech Stack (Not Set in Stone)

• Frontend: React, TypeScript, Next.js, animation frameworks, component-driven design

• Backend: Python, Node.js, Golang, REST/GraphQL, WebSockets

• Infrastructure: Cloud-native, edge compute, Docker, GPU orchestration, CDNs

• AI/ML: Inference streaming, integration of video/image generation models, real-time model-serving

• Tooling: Testing automation, performance monitoring, internal tooling for fast iteration

Why This Role is Unique

• Executive-level scope: Be a foundational leader with major influence on company direction

• Uncapped potential: Equity and upside reflect the timing of the opportunity

• Product velocity: Join a team that ships fast and frequently, without red tape

• Impact: Help build a product from the ground up that could reshape how millions create and engage with content

• Culture: Transparent, direct, ownership-driven, and highly collaborative

Compensation

• Competitive salary range (flexible based on experience and needs)

• Equity package reflecting early leadership impact

• Benefits and relocation support if needed