Founding Engineer & CTO

NovusMinds AI; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 250,000 - 380,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity stake

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Flexible PTO

Job summary

NovusMinds, a Bay Area startup building AI-native wealth-management solutions, seeks a Founding Engineer & CTO to be the technical cornerstone of the company. You will write code, design systems, and build the team from day one, translating product vision into scalable AI platforms powering clients.

You’ll report to the CEO, define the tech roadmap, and ensure security, compliance, and data privacy for a regulated industry.

Qualifications

• 10+ years software engineering with leadership experience.
• Hands-on AI/ML stack expertise with LLMs and RAG.
• Proficiency in Python, TypeScript or Go.
• Experience building cloud-native architectures on AWS/GCP/Azure.
• Experience hiring and leading small teams.
• Strong communication with non-technical stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Define end-to-end architecture for NovusMinds’ WealthOS platform, from data pipelines to LLM orchestration to client-facing apps.
• Build and ship production AI/ML systems, including Gen AI features and RAG workflows.
• Establish CI/CD, testing frameworks, and infrastructure-as-code from the ground up.
• Recruit, hire, and mentor the founding engineering team.
• Partner with the CEO and product leads to set the technology roadmap and build-vs-buy decisions.
• Ensure security, compliance, and data privacy standards for the financial services industry.
• Evaluate and integrate third-party APIs, data providers, and cloud services.
• Represent the company’s technical vision to investors, partners, and hires.

Skills

AI/ML leadership

Backend development

Python

TypeScript

Go

Cloud-native

AWS/GCP/Azure

LLMs & prompt engineering

Hiring & team leadership

Communication

Tools

AWS

GCP

Azure

CI/CD pipelines

IaC

Kubernetes

Job description

About NovusMinds

NovusMinds is a newly funded startup building AI-native solutions for the wealth management industry. Powered by Gen AI, large language models, and our proprietary WealthOS platform, we partner with TAMPs, RIAs, and private banks to modernize how financial advice is delivered, portfolios are managed, and client relationships are deepened.

We are backed by industry leaders in wealth management and are assembling a founding team of ambitious operators and builders who want to reshape a multi-trillion-dollar industry.

The Role

We are looking for a Founding Engineer & CTO to be the technical cornerstone of NovusMinds. This is not a management-only role. You will write code, architect systems, and build the team around you. As a co-builder from day one, you will have an outsized impact on the product, the culture, and the company’s trajectory.

You will report directly to the CEO and work closely with the founding team to translate our product vision into scalable, production-grade AI systems that power the next generation of wealth management.

What You Will Do

• Define and own the end-to-end technological architecture for NovusMinds’ WealthOS platform, from data pipelines to LLM orchestration to client-facing applications.
• Build and ship production AI/ML systems, including Gen AI features powered by large language models, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and agentic workflows.
• Establish engineering best practices, CI/CD pipelines, testing frameworks, and infrastructure-as-code from the ground up.
• Recruit, hire, and mentor the founding engineering team, fostering a high-performance, collaborative culture.
• Partner with the CEO and product leads to set the technology roadmap and make build-vs-buy decisions aligned with customer and market needs.
• Ensure security, compliance, and data privacy standards appropriate for the financial services industry (SOC 2, encryption, audit trails).
• Evaluate and integrate third-party APIs, data providers, and cloud services to accelerate time-to-market.
• Represent the company’s technical vision to investors, partners, and prospective hires.

What We Are Looking For

• 10 years of software engineering experience, with at least 3 years in a senior or staff-level technical leadership role.
• Deep hands-on experience with modern AI/ML stacks: LLMs (GPT-4, Claude, open-source models), vector databases, embeddings, fine-tuning, and prompt engineering.
• Strong backend engineering skills in Python, TypeScript, or Go, with production experience in cloud-native architectures (AWS, GCP, or Azure).
• Proven ability to take products from zero to one: you have built and shipped software that real users depend on.
• Experience hiring and leading engineering teams of 5 people, with a track record of attracting top talent.
• Excellent communication skills: you can articulate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and investors.
• A bias toward action, intellectual curiosity, and comfort with ambiguity in a fast-moving startup environment.

Nice to Have

• Domain experience in wealth management, financial planning, asset management, or fintech — understanding TAMPs, RIAs, and the regulatory landscape is a strong plus.
• Familiarity with financial data standards (FIX, custodial feeds, portfolio accounting systems).
• Prior founding or C-level experience at a venture-backed startup.
• Contributions to open-source AI/ML projects or published research.
• Experience building multi-tenant SaaS platforms serving enterprise clients.
• Familiarity with SEC, FINRA, or state-level regulatory requirements for financial technology companies.

What We Offer

Meaningful Equity

Significant founding equity stake reflecting your role as a technical co-builder and key member of the NovusMinds founding team.

Competitive Compensation

Competitive base salary commensurate with experience and Bay Area cost of living, plus performance-based bonuses.

Benefits & Wellness

Full health, dental, and vision insurance. Flexible PTO and a culture that values sustainable high performance.

Growth & Impact

Shape the technical DNA of NovusMinds from the ground floor. Direct access to leadership, investors, and industry decision-makers.

novusminds.ai

NovusMinds is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all team members.