Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Location: Mechelen, Belgium- Hybrid/Flexible

A European deep-tech company building autonomous maritime technology is looking for a CTO to lead the next stage of growth. The platform is already deployed in real-world environments and combines AI, embedded software, and robust hardware across commercial and defense applications. The focus now is scaling deployments and building the technical foundations for long-term growth.

This role will own the technical vision and lead the engineering organisation as the company transitions from early deployments to production scale.

Responsibilities

• Define the technical roadmap and architecture as the platform scales to larger deployments
• Build systems that can support multiple customer use cases without heavy customization
• Lead and grow engineering teams across embedded software, AI/perception, and systems integration
• Establish strong testing, deployment, and reliability processes for remote autonomous systems
• Work closely with leadership and commercial teams to translate technical capabilities into product direction
• Represent the company’s technology with customers, partners, and the wider autonomy ecosystem

Requirements

• Experience scaling complex systems from early deployments to production environments
• Strong technical background in software and distributed or edge systems (C++, Go, Python or similar)
• Experience in robotics, autonomy, industrial automation, or other integrated hardware/software platforms
• Proven leadership experience building and guiding high-performing engineering teams
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to operate across technical and commercial discussions