Chief Technology Officer

Talantir; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 450,000 - 550,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive cash compensation

Meaningful equity

Hybrid work in SF Bay Area

Job summary

Eden Prescott is seeking a founding CTO in the San Francisco Bay Area to define the engineering vision, build the platform from the ground up, and recruit an elite team. You will work hands-on, shaping architecture and collaborating with founders to deliver AI-driven simulation and real-world decision-making capabilities.

The role offers competitive cash compensation plus meaningful equity, with hybrid work in the SF Bay Area and significant impact from day one.

Qualifications

• Must have built products from 0→1 at an early-stage startup (or equivalent).
• Proven track record leading engineering teams through rapid growth.
• Strong foundations in software engineering and systems design.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the long-term technical strategy for the platform.
• Design architecture powering AI-driven simulation and decision-making systems.
• Build scalable distributed backend systems and cloud infrastructure.

Skills

0→1 product/startup

Engineering leadership

Software engineering fundamentals

Distributed systems

Cloud infrastructure

AI/ML infrastructure

Backend scalability

Product architecture

Ambiguity tolerance

Talent recruitment

Job description

# Chief Technology OfficerEden Prescott•San Francisco Bay AreaFull-timeDirector$0 – $500,000Posted 2026-07-2911-1011.54 — Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)SOP Alignment (Top)33%Marketing Technology Stack OptimizationReadiness Match83%1 skill gaps identifiedSOP Signal Score0/100 compliance keywords## What Does This Chief Technology Officer Role Involve?### CTO### San Francisco Bay Area (Hybrid)### Competitive Cash + Meaningful EquityOne of Eden Prescott's AI clients is hiring a founding CTO to help build a category-defining company at the intersection of AI, simulation, and real-world decision makingThis is an opportunity to join at the earliest stage, work directly with the founders, and build both the technology and engineering organization from the ground up.### About the CompanyOur client is building an AI platform that helps organizations model, simulate, and optimize complex real-world systems before decisions are made.Their technology combines large-scale simulation, AI, and modern software infrastructure to solve problems where mistakes are expensive and the physical world is difficult to predict. Initial customers operate in industries with highly complex operations, but the long-term vision extends far beyond a single market.### The OpportunityThis is not a traditional executive role. You'll be the technical co-pilot to the founders, responsible for defining the engineering vision, building the platform, recruiting an elite engineering team, and helping shape every major technical decision. You'll spend your time writing code, designing systems, speaking with customers, recruiting exceptional talent, and solving some of the hardest technical problems the business faces.### What You'll Do- Define and execute the company's long-term technical strategy.- Design the architecture powering AI-driven simulation and decision-making systems.- Build scalable distributed systems capable of handling large, complex datasets.- Lead product architecture across backend infrastructure, AI systems, developer tooling, and cloud infrastructure.- Work directly with customers to understand real-world operational challenges and rapidly translate them into product.- Build engineering processes without slowing down execution.- Recruit, mentor, and retain an elite engineering team from the ground up.- Foster a culture of high ownership, speed, and technical excellence.- Remain deeply hands-on, contributing code and technical leadership every day.### What We're Looking For- Experience building products from 0→1 at an early-stage startup.- Proven success leading engineering teams through periods of rapid growth.- Exceptional software engineering and systems design fundamentals.- Deep expertise in distributed systems and cloud infrastructure.- Experience building highly scalable backend platforms.- Familiarity with AI/ML infrastructure and deploying production AI systems.- Strong product instincts with the ability to balance speed and long-term architecture.- Comfortable operating with ambiguity and making high-conviction decisions.- Natural recruiter capable of attracting exceptional engineering talent.- Builder mentality with a desire to create something enduring.### Bonus Points- Simulation, robotics, autonomy, or physical AI experience.- Experience building platforms that combine AI with real-world operational data.- Experience working in industrial, logistics, manufacturing, infrastructure, or similarly complex environments.Previous founder or founding engineering experience.### You'll Thrive Here If You- You want to build one of the defining AI companies of the next decade.- You love solving technically difficult problems with real-world impact.- You prefer ownership over process.- You enjoy building elite teams as much as building software.- You're comfortable making decisions with imperfect information.- You want your fingerprints on every part of the company.### Why This Role?- Founding executive position with significant equity upside.- Partner directly with experienced founders from day one.- Build the engineering organization exactly the way you believe it should be built.- Solve problems that combine AI, distributed systems, and complex real-world environments.- Help define the future of how AI is applied outside the confines of traditional software.This role is classified under Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) (O\\*NET 11-1011.54) — view the full career profile for typical tasks, skills, and outlook.### Required SkillsEngineering and TechnologyComplex Problem SolvingTechnology DesignWritingDesignSpeaking