CTO, Hands-on, Rust, Startup Experience

Job Description: Define and lead the long-term technical architecture of the platform Lead backend architecture and infrastructure strategy using Rust-based systems Help build scalable systems supporting feeds, messaging, live updates, video, and data infrastructure Oversee engineering direction across backend, frontend, infrastructure, and product systems Partner closely with leadership on product and company strategy Establish engineering culture, hiring standards, and technical execution processes Work directly with engineers on architecture reviews, tradeoffs, and implementation decisions Help design future financial infrastructure including rewards, wallets, payments, and crypto-related systems Support AI-powered systems including translation, recommendation, search, and football history infrastructure Ensure scalability, reliability, performance, and security across all systems Requirements: 7–15+ years of software engineering and technical leadership experience, ideally within startups or high-growth consumer technology platforms Strong hands-on engineering background with active involvement in architecture, systems design, and production codebases Significant experience building and scaling modern consumer platforms involving real-time systems, high concurrency, and large-scale user engagement Strong production Rust experience building asynchronous backend systems and distributed infrastructure Deep understanding of backend architecture, APIs, event-driven systems, databases, caching, and scalable infrastructure design Experience building or operating one or more of the following: Social feeds and microblogging systems Messaging or real-time communication platforms TikTok-style video or media infrastructure Financial, wallet, fintech, or gambling infrastructure AI-powered consumer products Large-scale SEO or content infrastructure Ability to make pragmatic technical tradeoffs balancing scalability, performance, speed, maintainability, and operational simplicity Experience leading and mentoring engineering teams while remaining deeply technical and hands-on Comfortable operating in fast-moving startup environments with ambiguity, evolving priorities, and limited process Strong communication skills with the ability to explain architectural decisions clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders Strong entrepreneurial judgment, ownership mentality, and execution focus Benefits: Significant equity ownership Long-term token participation Founding-level influence over the company and platform