Founding CTO: Lead Cloud-Native Security Platform

NeedTech Labs; United Kingdom; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity compensation

Founding impact on product direction

Opportunity to build something meaningful

Job summary

A stealth cybersecurity startup is seeking a Founding CTO / Head of Engineering to lead the technical roadmap and build a secure, cloud-native platform. This hands-on role demands extensive software engineering experience with security-focused systems and exceptional leadership skills. The selected candidate will have a high bar for engineering quality and strong communication skills to bridge product, security, and engineering teams. This position offers an equity-only compensation until funding, tailored for real ownership.

Qualifications

• 8–12+ years of software engineering experience, including security-focused systems.
• Proven zero-to-one leadership experience in startups or internal products.
• Strong cloud experience with AWS/Azure/GCP.

Responsibilities

• Define the technical roadmap from MVP to pilot-ready product.
• Architect a secure, scalable cloud-native platform.
• Build core security capabilities including detection and response.

Skills

Software engineering experience

Security-focused systems

Cloud experience (AWS/Azure/GCP)

Zero-to-one leadership

Clear communication

Tools

Kubernetes

SIEM/SOAR

Job description

A stealth cybersecurity startup is seeking a Founding CTO / Head of Engineering to lead the technical roadmap and build a secure, cloud-native platform. This hands-on role demands extensive software engineering experience with security-focused systems and exceptional leadership skills. The selected candidate will have a high bar for engineering quality and strong communication skills to bridge product, security, and engineering teams. This position offers an equity-only compensation until funding, tailored for real ownership.