Chief Technology Officer

ABOUT THE ROLE
We're looking for a hands-on Technical Co-Founder and CTO to lead the architecture, development, and scaling of our web and mobile products. You'll be a builder-executive: setting the technical vision and product roadmap while writing production code yourself. You'll build our native iOS app in Swift and SwiftUI, create scalable web platforms, and design the backend infrastructure behind them. Working directly with the founder, you'll turn product strategy into shipped software, lead technical preparation for fundraising, and build the engineering team as capital comes in.

WHAT YOU'LL DO
• Architect and build the flagship iOS app and web platform from scratch
• Own the technical roadmap, stack decisions, and engineering standards
• Establish lean development workflows and ship fast, iterative releases
• Prepare technical materials and support due diligence for investors
• Recruit, lead, and manage the engineering team as the company scales QUALIFICATIONS NATIVE APPLE DEVELOPMENT
• Expert in Swift, SwiftUI, and Xcode
• Deep knowledge of iOS frameworks (Core Data, SwiftData, Combine, async/await)
• Experience with App Store submission and release management FULL-STACK WEB & BACKEND
• Modern front-end frameworks (React, Next.js, or Vue)
• Server-side experience in Node.js, Python, or Go
• Database design with PostgreSQL and/or MongoDB
• RESTful and GraphQL API design CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE & DEVOPS
• Scalable infrastructure on AWS or GCP
• CI/CD pipelines and Docker containerization
• Security and compliance best practices CO-FOUNDER MINDSET
• Strong product intuition
• Comfort operating at early-stage speed
• Commitment to building for long-term equity upside ROADMAP & COMPENSATION STAGE 1: MVP BUILD (Pre-Funding)
• Focus: Architect and code the iOS app and web platform; ship rapid iterations
• Cash: None (100% sweat equity)
• Equity: 3% grant, vesting over 4 years with a 1-year cliff (no equity vests until the first anniversary, at which point 25% vests, with the remainder vesting monthly over the following 36 months). Subject to dilution as future funding rounds and equity pools are established. STAGE 2: FUNDED GROWTH (Trigger: $2M in total funding secured)
• Focus: Scaling, security hardening, analytics integration, and investor due diligence
• Cash: Approved monthly budget payout/stipend , effective upon closing the $2M
• Equity: 4-year vesting schedule continues uninterrupted on the diluted equity structure STAGE 3: ENTERPRISE SCALE Revenue Growth of 5 million or more
• Focus: Shift from lead developer to executive leader: hiring, long-term strategy, and operations
• Cash: Full executive base salary, health benefits, and performance bonuses
• Equity: Retained stake plus eligibility for option pool top-ups tied to engineering milestones

HOW TO APPLY
If you're a developer and product builder who wants to co-found a company from the ground up, please submit the materials and answers below. Answer directly and honestly. We value candor over polish. REQUIRED MATERIALS 1. GitHub profile URL 2. Portfolio and/or App Store links (live apps you built or led) 3. Resume or LinkedIn profile SCREENING QUESTIONS EXPERIENCE 1. Which iOS or web products have you personally architected and shipped? Describe your role and what you wrote yourself versus what others built. 2. How many years of professional experience do you have with Swift and SwiftUI? Have you submitted apps to the App Store, and what was the outcome? 3. Describe the most complex backend system you've designed. What stack did you use, and what would you change today? 4. Have you led or managed engineers before? If so, how many and in what capacity? TECHNICAL JUDGMENT 5. For an early-stage MVP, how do you decide between building and buying, and between speed and scalability? 6. How do you approach security, data privacy, and compliance in an early-stage product? 7. Tell us about a technical decision you got wrong. What happened, and what did you learn? CO-FOUNDER FIT 8. This role is 100% sweat equity until $2M in funding is secured. 9. Are you currently employed, freelancing, or involved in other ventures? How many hours per week can you commit, and when could you start? 10. Why do you want to be a technical co-founder rather than a senior engineer or CTO at an established company? 11. What does a successful first 6 months look like to you? HOW TO SUBMIT Send your materials and answers to your info with the subject line "CTO Application: WHAT HAPPENS NEXT 1. We review applications on a rolling basis. 2. Selected candidates are invited to an intro call with the founder. 3. Finalists complete a technical conversation and a review of past work. 4. We discuss equity, vesting, and terms openly before any commitment is made. We respond to every complete application. I filled in the 4-year/1-year-cliff terms everywhere vesting appears. The monthly vesting detail after the cliff is the standard structure, so change it if you plan something different. Still to fill in: company name, Stage 2 stipend, Stage 3 trigger, country, and the submission email or link.