CTO / Senior Software Architect

CTO / Senior Software Architect Stealth-stage neurotechnology startup Location: DC metro preferred (Maryland / Northern Virginia / DC) · Remote considered for exceptional candidates The opportunityA stealth-stage startup is building open-source infrastructure at the intersection of neurotechnology and healthcare, specifically focused on giving individuals with neurological conditions full ownership and access to their own brain data. This is a hands-on role at the intersection of senior architecture and leadership. The CEO is a technical founder who wants a peer, someone who can write production-quality code, make clean-sheet architecture decisions, and also present credibly to investors and external stakeholders.The roleOwn the technical architecture and day-to-day engineering executionWork directly alongside the CEO as the most senior technical voice in the companyDesign and build production systems from the ground up - not just review or delegatePresent technical strategy to investors, partners, and hospital-facing customersDefine the engineering hiring roadmap and have significant input into subsequent hiresAct as a bridge between technical execution and business visionTechnical requirementsFull-stack capability - comfortable across the whole system, not siloed to one layerHeavy AWS focus; cloud infrastructure considered table stakes for this roleStrong DevOps background and comfort owning CI/CD, infrastructure, and deploymentProven experience leading clean-sheet architecture builds, not just inheriting legacy systemsActive, working knowledge of modern AI tooling: Claude / Anthropic APIs, OpenAI / Codex, agentic frameworks — this is non-negotiable and the single most important technical criterion3–5 years of hands-on AI/ML engineering experience, or demonstrably equivalent depthSenior-level software engineering overall — significant production experience requiredWhat they're looking for in a personCommunicative, open, and execution-focused - a builder who gets things shippedComfortable operating at leadership level with investors and external stakeholdersNaturally fluent with new tooling - not weighed down by legacy ways of workingGenuinely believes in the vision; equity is a meaningful part of the package and needs to matter to youCapable of growing into a full CTO title over a 2–3 year horizonCompensationCompetitive base salary plus meaningful equity - the equity component reflects genuine upside, and candidates need to be motivated by the vision as much as the immediate package.LocationThe leadership team is in the Maryland / Washington DC area. Strong preference for candidates in the DC metro (Maryland, Northern Virginia, DC). Baltimore is possible. Fully remote will be considered for an exceptional candidate. Non-US candidates would need to clear a high bar given logistics and cost at this stage.