Chief Technology Officer (CTO) / Founding AI Engineer - Fully Remote

Our client is a rapidly scaling AI-native enterprise software company building a next-generation data and AI operating system. The platform automates and orchestrates complex data engineering, analytics, and machine learning workflows, enabling enterprises to deploy intelligent, autonomous systems that accelerate insight, prediction, and decision-making at scale.

The company operates globally with distributed engineering teams and serves enterprise customers across multiple data-intensive industries. Its technology sits at the intersection of data infrastructure, applied AI, and large-scale enterprise deployment.

Role Summary

We are seeking an exceptional CTO / Founding Engineer to define and execute the technical vision of the platform as it scales through its next phase of growth. This role requires a hands-on technology leader with deep experience building production-grade AI systems, scaling engineering teams, and translating cutting-edge research — including Large Language Models (LLMs) — into secure, reliable, enterprise-ready products.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end technical vision, architecture, and execution of the company’s AI-driven platform
• Lead the design and deployment of LLM-powered systems, including where applicable model selection, fine-tuning, evaluation, orchestration, and integration into production workflows
• Architect scalable data, ML, and LLM infrastructure, including retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), agent-based systems, and model lifecycle management
• Build, scale, and mentor high-performing remote engineering teams across multiple geographies
• Partner closely with executive leadership to align product, technology, and commercial strategy
• Oversee delivery of complex enterprise deployments, ensuring robustness, security, observability, and compliance
• Balance research-driven innovation with pragmatic, product-focused engineering execution
• Act as a senior technical voice with customers, partners, and strategic stakeholders

Qualifications & Requirements

• Proven experience as a CTO or Founding Engineer in a startup that scaled from 0-1 through Series A/B
• 10+ years of software engineering experience, with deep expertise in data systems, AI/ML platforms, or enterprise software
• Strong hands-on experience with Large Language Models, including:
• Applying and deploying foundation models (e.g. GPT-class, open-weight LLMs)
• Designing LLM-based applications, agents, and decision-support systems
• Experience with fine-tuning, prompt engineering, evaluation frameworks, and safety considerations
• Production experience integrating LLMs into enterprise environments
• Experience leading complex data or AI platform deployments into production
• Strong track record managing and scaling remote, distributed engineering teams
• Excellent communicator; fluent in English and comfortable engaging with executives, customers, and investors
• Background at high-caliber technology companies or research environments (e.g. leading AI labs, hyperscalers, elite data platforms)
• Demonstrated ability to attract top-tier talent, ideally able to bring at least two senior engineers
• A hybrid mindset — able to bridge research, infrastructure, and customer-driven product delivery

Ideal Candidate Profile

You are a technically deep, commercially aware CTO who understands how to turn LLMs and advanced AI systems into real, scalable enterprise products. You have scaled teams before, thrive in ambiguity, and are excited by building category-defining AI infrastructure from the ground up.