Executive Assistant to the CTO

Modernintelligence; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Modern Intelligence seeks an Executive Assistant to support the CTO in Austin. You will manage calendars, prep meeting materials, and shield the CTO’s time for engineering and product work.

You will attend select meetings, capture decisions, and brief the CTO afterward, without making decisions on his behalf. You will build relationships across the engineering group and executives, use AI tools to automate routine tasks, and help shape how the EA role evolves as we scale.

Qualifications

• 3+ years supporting a senior leader in a coordination-heavy role.
• Able to follow engineering meetings and relay issues accurately without solving them.
• Strong written updates and concise communication.
• Fluency with AI tools to automate routines.
• Discretion with personnel, financial, customer, and export-controlled information.
• On-site in Austin, Texas.
• Must be a U.S. person (citizen, LPR, or protected status).

Responsibilities

• Organize CTO calendar and protect focus time for engineering and design work.
• Attend meetings when CTO cannot, capture decisions and brief afterward.
• Prepare executives for meetings with briefs and context.
• Provide periodic updates to engineering and other teams.
• Build strong relationships across the company, especially with engineering and executives.
• Take clear notes in technical meetings and relay follow-ups.
• Help shape expectations for the EA role as the company grows.

Skills

EA experience

Engineering liaison

Written comms

AI tools

Discretion

On-site Austin

US person

Education

Program coordination

Tools

Google Workspace

Jira

Confluence

GitLab

Job description

Modern Intelligence builds Sovereign, targeting software for unmanned systems. Manufacturers install it on UAVs, USVs, UUVs, and other unmanned vehicles. Sovereign runs on the vehicle's computer. It detects, classifies, and tracks targets from the onboard cameras, keeps identity when the picture breaks up, and can run terminal guidance into impact. It keeps working when GPS is out and the radio is jammed.

We've held Department of War contracts, including work with Air Force Special Operations and SOCOM.

We've raised more than $12 million from Bedrock, Vine, Contrary, Air Street, Caffeinated, Champion Hill, Swell, Myelin, and others.

We are looking for an executive assistant for our CTO. We are a small company that is growing fast and our CTO often has more information coming at him than he has time to manage. We are looking for someone to whom he can delegate context: You will be asked to organize calendars and manage time, ensuring he has sufficient focus time for engineering and design activities as well as other traditional EA activities.

We are looking for an EA who is excited to embrace AI to help with EA tasks: we want our EA to be able to focus on tasks that require a person, or physical presence. You may be asked to attend meetings the CTO cannot, to capture what happened and brief him afterward, not to represent him or make decisions in his place. You will often be asked to prep the CTO and possibly other execs before meetings. You will be asked to check in on the engineering team while the CTO is busy or away.

We are looking for someone who will form a strong relationship with everyone at the company (at least in the near future), especially with members of the engineering organization and the other executives. Some level of technical sophistication is required, but no formal engineering experience is required (but is encouraged). You may be asked to take notes in technical meetings - capturing decisions and follow-ups. You will be asked to provide periodic updates throughout the day.

You will be the first EA hired at Modern Intelligence, so you will help shape expectations for the role for future EAs and will have a significant opportunity to teach us how best to utilize EAs.

Experience & Responsibilities

• 3+ years supporting a senior leader as an executive assistant, or equivalent experience in a coordination-heavy role.
• Enough technical comprehension to sit in an engineering meeting and follow it: you should be able to tell "blocked on review" from "blocked on hardware" and relay a problem accurately without needing to solve it. You will not be asked to write code.
• Strong written communication. A large part of this job is meeting preps and short written updates that need to be accurate and quick to read.
• Fluency with AI tools, and enthusiasm for using them to take the routine parts of this job off your plate.
• Discretion. You will regularly see personnel, financial, customer, and export-controlled information.
• On-site in Austin, Texas.
• Must be a U.S. person (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)). This role sits in meetings covering export-controlled technology.

Additional Experience

• Experience supporting engineering or technical leadership.
• Experience at a startup or other small, fast-moving company.
• Fluency with Google's office suite (Gmail, Calendar, Drives, Docs, Sheets, Slides)
• Familiarity with Jira, Confluence, or GitLab, or a demonstrated ability to pick up tools like them quickly.
• A background in program or project coordination: scrum master, program coordinator, technical recruiting coordinator, or similar.
• Experience owning travel booking and expense management for an executive.

Prior Defense Industry Experience

• Prior defense industry experience.
• An active or previously held security clearance.
• Military administrative experience, particularly in a technical role.
• Experience supporting more than one executive at once.

Modern Intelligence builds software that identifies targets and guides munitions to them, and it is in use on live missions today. You will not write that code, but you will sit in the rooms where it gets decided and you will know what everyone here is working on. If you want your organization and judgment applied to work that actually matters,