Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Second Talent; Kuala Lumpur; On-site; MYR 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

A growing tech company in Kuala Lumpur is seeking a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to shape the technical vision and lead a high-performing engineering team. This hands-on role requires deep AI experience and a strong leadership background in tech startups. The candidate will drive architectural decisions and ensure alignment across product, business, and design functions. This is a unique opportunity to build a company's tech foundation and have a real impact from Day One.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in a high-growth tech company or startup.
• Hands-on expertise in coding, architecture, and debugging.
• Strong leadership skills and ability to build a team.

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve the technical vision and architecture.
• Build and lead a high-performing engineering team.
• Ensure engineering decisions align with business goals.

Skills

AI experience

Engineering leadership

Backend systems

Cloud infrastructure

Communication skills

Tools

AWS

GCP

Azure

Job description

About the job Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Location: Malaysia

Engagement: Full-Time

About the Role

We are a fast-growing tech company in the early stages of building our technical foundation. Were looking for a hands-on, high-impact Chief Technology Officer (CTO) who will own the technical vision and drive execution. This is not a figurehead role its for a builder and a strategic leader who thrives in startup environments.

You'll have the opportunity to make foundational architectural decisions, lead and scale a high-performing engineering team, and implement technology that drives real business value. You'll work closely with the CEO and other cross-functional leaders to ensure technology is a multiplier across every function.

We're especially looking for someone with deep AI experience, who can deploy AI not just as a feature, but as a core enabler of efficiency, automation, and innovation across our product and engineering organization.

Key Responsibilities

Own and evolve our long-term technical vision and architecture.

• Choose and implement the right tools, frameworks, and technologies that balance speed, scalability, and maintainability.

Continuously assess emerging technologies that support innovation and growth.

• Champion and implement AI strategies to improve automation, scalability, and performance.

Engineering Leadership & Team Building

Build and lead a lean, agile, high-performing engineering team.

• Mentor and grow engineers while fostering a culture of accountability, speed, and technical excellence.

Set clear processes for code quality, reviews, releases, and documentation.

Product & Business Alignment

• Ensure engineering decisions align with user experience, time-to-market goals, and long-term business impact.
• Collaborate closely with Product, Design, and Business stakeholders to deliver practical and scalable solutions.

Infrastructure, DevOps & Security

• Ensure robust DevOps processes, CI/CD pipelines, and strong security/compliance practices.
• Oversee cloud infrastructure, system scalability, performance monitoring, and cost efficiency.

Own system uptime, monitoring, and incident response.

What Were Looking For

• Proven experience as a founding or senior technical leader in a high-growth tech company or startup.

Hands-on engineering expertise able to code, architect, and debug systems.

• Deep knowledge of backend systems , distributed architecture , and cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or Azure).
• Strong leadership skills capable of building a team and shipping product with limited resources.
• Excellent communicator who can align engineering with product, business, and design priorities.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience launching and scaling a product from MVP to production.

Familiarity with modern security, CI/CD, and DevOps best practices.

Strong AI/ML experience especially in deploying models to improve internal processes or user experiences.

Exposure to transactional or platform businesses (e.g., online travel agencies, fintech, marketplaces).

A product-first mindset with an obsession for shipping high-quality software.

Please Do Not Apply If

• You've only worked in large corporate environments and dislike ambiguity or wearing multiple hats.
• You prefer setting strategy from afar and don't enjoy being hands-on with code and architecture.
• You are not comfortable collaborating with non-technical stakeholders or translating engineering into business value.

You haven't built a tech foundation or engineering team from the ground up.

This is a rare opportunity to build a companys tech backbone from scratch and shape how technology drives product, growth, and impact from Day One.

If this sounds like the challenge youre looking for, we want to hear from you.