Own our core AI platform and grow into CTO as we scale an AIfirst deal engine across private markets. 

About Layer Finance 

Layer Finance is building an AI-enabled Deal Closing Engine that radically improves how professional investors source, underwrite, and close private market transactions in real estate. Our engineering team develops scalable AI systems that empower deal teams to make better decisions at scale. 

We are an international team of 10 located in both Austria and Switzerland that combines many years of transaction expertise with latest AI, product, and engineering practices. We care about shaping the future of our industry by applying technology to real-world problems. 

Founded in 2020 as a digital brokerage business, we have kept transactions and deal sourcing at the core of what we do. Since 2024, we have expanded into a SaaS platform serving professional investors such as family offices, asset managers, and funds. Our contribution to innovation in private markets has been recognized, including recent funding from the Austrian FFG (Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft). 

The Role 

We are seeking an entrepreneurial Head of Engineering and AI to lead our technical vision and drive the next chapter of our platform’s evolution. You will own the technical strategy end to end – from architecting our AI-powered infrastructure to building and scaling the engineering team.  

Today, you will lead a small core engineering group of 4 people with the objective to roughly double the team over the next 3–6 months. You will start hands-on (coding, architecture, hiring) and progressively move into a predominantly leadership and architecture role as the team grows.  

This is a unique opportunity for someone with deep technical expertise, entrepreneurial drive, and the ambition to grow into a Chief Technology Officer role as Layer Finance scales. 

Your Track Record 

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, including several years in senior or lead roles in SaaS or data intensive products. Proven track record building and leading small, high caliber engineering teams in a startup or scale up context, ideally in B2B or vertical SaaS. 
• Deep full stack expertise in modern backend frameworks and the TypeScript/Node.js ecosystem. Experience with modern headless CMS or application frameworks; advanced knowledge of Payload CMS is a strong plus. 
• Strong experience with relational databases and cloud infrastructure: designing complex schemas, optimizing queries, working with multi-tenant patterns, and operating production systems with automated deployments. 
• Applied AI/LLM experience: integrating LLMs into real products, designing prompts and workflows, handling structured outputs, and managing quality, performance, and cost in production environments. 
• Solid system design skills: architecting scalable systems with complex workflows, background job processing, and multi-tenant access control, plus familiarity with event driven patterns, caching, and performance optimization. Understanding of security, compliance, and privacy considerations in regulated or data sensitive domains. 
• Fluency in English; German is a plus given our DACH focused customer base. 
• Legal right to work in Austria and willingness to be regularly present in Vienna or other European locations for on site collaboration. 

What You Will Do 

• Define and evolve our technical roadmap, ensuring the platform scales with product ambition while maintaining engineering excellence. Make clear, pragmatic technology decisions that balance innovation, reliability, and risk. 
• Own the architecture and evolution of our core application and platform based on a modern TypeScript/Node.js stack, including multi tenant application design, data models, security, and compliance ready operation. 
• Lead our applied AI/LLM strategy: select and orchestrate providers, design and refine AI powered workflows, and ensure that AI driven features are robust, measurable, and cost efficient in production. 
• Build and mentor a high performing engineering team: hire talented engineers, set standards for code quality and testing, shape deployment and observability practices, and foster a culture of ownership and continuous improvement. 
• Work closely with Product, Sales, and Operations to translate business strategy and customer needs into technical plans, acting as the voice of technical feasibility, scalability, and long term sustainability in strategic discussions. 
• Operate with a startup mindset: move fast while building for scale, make conscious trade offs, iterate based on market feedback, and take accountability for outcomes rather than activities. 

What We Offer 

• A key role with a clear path toward Chief Technology Officer CTO and formal leadership team membership over the next 6-9 months.  
• Competitive fixed compensation of EUR 90,000–105,000 gross per year, depending on experience and equity level, plus a meaningful equity / ESOP stake designed to reflect a future CTO’s contribution.  
• The opportunity to build and scale an AI-first product in private markets together with an ambitious and experienced team.  
• A pragmatic, no-nonsense, and collaborative culture with short decision paths, and a culture that favors ownership over process. 
• A hybrid setup with work from home as default, regular inperson collaboration in Vienna, Austria, and Zug, Switzerland, and international travel for team offsites and customerrelated meetings. 

How to Apply 

Please send your application to [email protected] with the following: 

• Your resume/CV (focus on technical leadership and team scaling experience) 
• A cover letter explaining your interest in this role and Layer Finance's mission 
• Your GitHub profile or portfolio showcasing your technical work 
• References from colleagues who can speak to your technical depth and leadership 

Our interview process consists of: 

1. An initial technical screening discussing your architecture thinking and AI experience 
2. A system design discussion on building scalable, AI-driven platforms 
3. A leadership conversation exploring your team-building philosophy and growth vision 
4. A final round with founding leadership to discuss strategic fit and culture alignment 

Layer Finance is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.