Chief Technology Officer

Chief Technology Officer / Technical Co-Founder | AI Startup | London

I'm working exclusively with an early-stage, venture-backed AI company to appoint a hands-on Chief Technology Officer / Technical Co-Founder
.

The business has a live product, paying customers, institutional backing and ambitious plans for the next stage of growth. It now needs an exceptional technology leader who can operate across engineering, product and company building
.

You'll remain close to the technology: writing and reviewing code, making architecture decisions and setting the engineering bar, while also taking genuine ownership of the product.

That means speaking to customers, understanding what they actually need, shaping the roadmap with the founders and being prepared to challenge what should (and shouldn't) be built.

We're particularly interested in people who can demonstrate:

• Excellent software engineering fundamentals and a track record of building and shipping products.
• Strong hands-on experience with Python, Node and React
  , alongside modern cloud infrastructure.
• Practical experience building with LLMs, agents and AI-assisted development tools
  .
• Genuine product judgement and willingness to spend time with customers.
• Experience operating in an early-stage/startup environment where speed and prioritisation matter.
• The ability to lead and develop a small, high-quality engineering team.
• First-hand exposure to technology compliance, ideally including ISO 27001 and/or SOC 2.
• The judgement and communication skills to operate alongside founders, customers and investors.

You might already be a CTO. Equally, you could be an exceptional Head of Engineering, Engineering Lead or Principal Engineer ready to take much broader ownership.

What matters is that you're still a builder
.

The package is around £100k base
, with flexibility for the right person
, plus meaningful equity
.

For an exceptional candidate capable of joining at genuine technical co-founder level, there is scope for a significant equity stake.

The company is London-based and has an office-led culture, so this won't suit someone looking for a predominantly remote role.