Chief Technology Officer

Chief Technology Officer (CTO) – Brainial

Location: Utrecht (Hybrid)

Employment: Full-time

Salary Indication: €130,000 to €165,000 gross per year + substantial SAR package

About Brainial

Are you a people-first tech leader ready to guide one of Europe’s most promising AI-native SaaS scale-ups to the absolute top? Welcome to Brainial!

From our vibrant office in Utrecht, our dedicated team of 45 FTE builds groundbreaking, AI-driven SaaS solutions. We are currently experiencing an incredible growth phase, consistently achieving triple-digit growth year-over-year. Our ambitions for the next three years are clear and bold: we are expanding our team to over 100 employees and pushing hard on international expansion. Because AI is woven into both our core product and our internal workflows, we are AI-native through and through. Want to bridge the gap to the future with us?

The Role: Your Impact as CTO

As our Chief Technology Officer (CTO), you will be the driving force behind our technology and product organization during this hypergrowth phase. The core focus of this role lies in organizational scaling, cultural leadership, and flawless product delivery. You ensure the tech team grows effectively and organically alongside our rapidly expanding business.

You will report directly to the CEO &Co-founder and act as the strategic sparring partner for our Chief Research Officer & Co-founder. Together with the leadership team, you will shape our international ambitions. Initially, you will lead the Development and Product teams, with the Research track falling under your responsibility in the longer term. At Brainial, strategic AI and technical architecture aren't built in an ivory tower—you will shape them collaboratively and dynamically alongside the team.

Key Responsibilities

• Scaling the Team: Strategically transform and expand the development and product teams to over 60 FTE, attracting and retaining top-tier international talent.
• Product &Development Alignment: Manage teams hands-on to execute our innovative product roadmap with ultimate precision.
• Tech Transformation: Guide and structure the architectural evolution of our AI-native SaaS product.
• People-First Culture: Motivate, inspire, and unite the team through rapid scaling and evolution. You are a strategic thinker who is equally comfortable rolling up your sleeves when needed.

Candidate Profile.

You are an empathetic, decisive leader who thrives in a fast-paced scale-up environment. You know how to cultivate a high-performance culture without losing the human touch.

Your Background:

• Track Record in Scaling: Proven experience successfully leading an engineering and/or product team of around50 FTE, with the ambition and skill to scale a team to 60+ FTE within a high-growth environment.
• SaaS & Scale-up Experience: A deep understanding of what triple-digit growth and internationalization demand from processes, architecture, and delivery.
• People Leadership: Strong communication skills with the ability to create alignment, energize teams, and empower individual talent.
• Language: Fluent in English (our primary workplace language). Professional proficiency in Dutch is a nice-to-have, but absolutely not a requirement.

Nice-to-haves:

• Architectural Knowledge: You don't need to be the primary hands-on architect, as this deep expertise is already well-established within the technical team and technical co-founder. However, you can discuss architecture at a high level, ask the right questions, and provide strategic direction.
• Tech Stack Affinity: A solid foundation in modern cloud-native architectures (We use GCP, Python, Microservices) and conceptual knowledge of AI/LLM integrations. The exact programming languages you have worked with previously are secondary.

What Brainial Offers You:

• A pivotal leadership role with a high degree of autonomy within a rapidly growing AI scale-up.
• An inspiring, informal, and collaborative work environment in Utrecht with full support for hybrid and flexible working.
• A competitive base salary between €130,000 and €165,000 gross per year (including holiday allowance), matching your experience.
• A substantial SAR package(Stock Appreciation Rights),ensuring you benefit directly from the future success and value creation of Brainial.

Interested?

Are you ready to help us build the ultimate Agentic AI platform for tendering? We would love to hear from you! Send over your CV or LinkedIn profile, and we will get in touch soon for an initial introduction.