Chief Technology Officer “CTO” – Founding Engineering Leader
Direct Hire
Salary Range : $200,000 - $300,000
Benefits : Startup level benefits
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
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)
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
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