Chief Technology Officer

Overview

We are a Bay Area–based media company preparing to launch our pilot product. We are looking for a hands‑on Chief Technology Officer who can guide our technology strategy while wearing multiple hats. This is an early‑stage opportunity for someone passionate about building and scaling technology solutions, working closely with founders, and shaping the future of our platform.

Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree (or higher) in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field.
• Technical Skills: Demonstrated proficiency in cloud infrastructure (AWS), relational and non‑relational databases (SQL and MongoDB), and programming languages such as Java.
• Versatility: Ability to wear multiple hats—beyond technical leadership, the role involves contributing to sales and business development activities.
• Leadership & Communication: Experience building and managing small engineering teams, excellent written and verbal communication skills, and the ability to translate technical issues for non‑technical stakeholders.
• Location: Candidates must be located in or willing to relocate to the San Francisco Bay Area to collaborate closely with the founding team.

Responsibilities

• Architect and implement our technology stack: Learn and understand the programming languages and technologies that power our platform. Optimize and scale the infrastructure to support our pilot and future growth.
• Fix bugs and ensure stability: As we launch, you’ll monitor system performance, address bugs, and ensure that our platform runs smoothly.
• Collaborate with development partners: Lead code reviews, facilitate meetings with other developers, and relay critical information back to the founder. Coordinate with both in‑house and external teams to ensure alignment and timely delivery.
• Cross‑functional engagement: Support sales and customer‑facing initiatives by explaining technical capabilities to potential clients and advising on product strategy.
• Opportunity & growth mindset: Understand that this role evolves as the company scales. Be ready to adapt, take on new responsibilities, and mentor future hires as our team expands.

Compensation & Benefits

• Equity‑based compensation: This role is equity only; there is no base salary at this stage. We offer quity ownership with a four‑year vesting schedule and a one‑year cliff, consistent with typical startup plans. This structure ensures you share in the value you help build and can benefit from the company’s long‑term growth.
• Growth potential: As an early technical leader you will have significant influence over the product and business roadmap. As the company scales, your impact and equity stake may increase, providing meaningful upside for long‑term contributors.

Other Key Notes:

• Our initial full-stack platform has already been developed. You will not be starting from scratch or immediately building an entire product from the ground up.
• The initial phase of this role will function more as a technical manager and strategic leader—learning the existing platform, understanding the architecture, reviewing the current codebase, working with our development partners, and preparing the technology for pilot launch.
• A major early responsibility will be becoming the internal technical point person between the founder, external developers, vendors, and future engineering hires.
• You will help evaluate the existing infrastructure, identify technical risks, prioritize bugs and improvements, and determine what should be optimized before and after launch.
• While the position begins with a heavier focus on technology management and oversight, the CTO should still be comfortable becoming hands-on with development, troubleshooting, integrations, architecture, and technical implementation when necessary.
• As the company grows, the CTO will have the opportunity to build and manage an internal engineering team and gradually transition development away from external partners where appropriate.
• We are approaching the pilot and deployment stage, so the immediate priority is stability, technical organization, platform readiness, infrastructure management, and creating a scalable technology roadmap.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $5.00 - $10.00 per year

Education:

• Bachelor's (Required)

Experience:

• Computer Science : 2 years (Required)

Location:

• San Francisco Bay Area, CA (Required)

Work Location: Hybrid remote in San Francisco Bay Area, CA