Chief Technology Officer

Kodama Systems Inc.; California (MO); Remote; USD 250,000 - 400,000; Full time

Job summary

Kodama Systems Inc. is seeking a hands-on Chief Technology Officer to lead our seven‑person software and hardware team, own the technical roadmap, and drive the transition from production teleoperation to autonomy for heavy equipment.

You will set the direction for autonomy and safety systems, attract and mentor top engineers, and articulate a clear technical vision to investors, OEM partners, and internal stakeholders as Kodama scales.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience with autonomous vehicles or robotics.
• Proven track record leading senior and staff engineers.
• Ability to ship reliable robotic systems in the physical world.

Responsibilities

• Define and own the technical roadmap for Kodama.
• Lead a multidisciplinary team of software and hardware engineers.
• Drive autonomous capabilities on production equipment.
• Develop safety-critical systems as autonomy expands.
• Represent Kodama's technology to investors and partners.

Skills

Autonomous robotics

Engineering leadership

Technical vision

Stakeholder communication

Job description

Chief Technology Officer

About Kodama

Kodama is building autonomy and physical AI for heavy equipment operating in complex, unstructured environments. Today, we remotely operate forestry machines for paying customers, generating real-world training data from production operations.

We are starting in forestry, where the work is physically demanding and dangerous, job sites are remote, and recruiting and retaining skilled workers is a persistent challenge. Forestry is also an important part of the U.S. economy and plays a critical role in climate and wildfire resilience.

The Role

We are looking for a hands‑on CTO to lead our seven‑person software and hardware team, own the technical roadmap, and drive our transition from production teleoperation to autonomy. You will set the direction for our autonomy and safety systems, develop a strong engineering team, and help shape what Kodama builds.

What You'll Do

• Own Kodama's technical strategy and engineering roadmap.

• Lead and mentor a multidisciplinary team of five software engineers and two hardware engineers.

• Drive the development and deployment of increasingly autonomous capabilities on heavy equipment operating in production.

• Lead the development of safety-critical systems as autonomy expands.

• Represent Kodama's technology with investors, OEM partners, and other external stakeholders.

What We're Looking For

• Deep experience with autonomous vehicles, autonomous machinery, or mobile robotics.

• Experience leading and developing highly capable senior and staff engineers.

• Strong judgment about the tradeoffs required to ship reliable robotic systems in the physical world.

• The ability to communicate a clear technical vision internally and externally.

• Low ego, high ownership, intellectual honesty, and comfort operating in a fast-moving environment.

Particularly Valuable Experience

• Outdoor or off-road autonomy.

• Experience with modern learning-based robotics, including world models, robot foundation models, generative policies, imitation learning, or reinforcement learning.

• Safety-critical robotic or vehicle systems.

• Experience as a CTO, VP of Engineering, senior engineering leader, or technical founder at a robotics or autonomous-systems company.

Why Kodama

Kodama offers the opportunity to build autonomy on machines that are already operating commercially. Our engineers have access to production machines, real-world operating data, and the engineering teams at our OEM partners.

Location & Travel

This role may be remote within the United States, with a preference for candidates based in the Southeast. Expect approximately 10-20% travel, primarily to customer and development sites.

Compensation

Kodama offers competitive executive cash compensation and meaningful equity ownership commensurate with a true executive leadership role.