Hybrid CTO & Co-Founder — Cybersecurity & AI Infra

Scan Ninja Inc.; Houston (TX); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Job summary

Scan Ninja Inc. is seeking an experienced CTO and Co-Founder in Houston to define the long-term technology strategy and lead engineering, AI, and infrastructure efforts.

This hybrid role offers remote flexibility and a chance to shape a category-defining cybersecurity company from the ground up. You will own the cryptographic modernization, manage cross-functional teams, and partner with founders on product direction, architecture, and go-to-market alignment while staying close to code and

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, with at least 5 years in senior technical leadership roles.
• Hands-on experience designing distributed, cloud-native systems on AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• Deep background in cybersecurity and cryptography, including post-quantum readiness.

Responsibilities

• Own the overall technology vision, architecture, and multi-year engineering roadmap.
• Lead software, platform, AI, and infrastructure teams across hiring, performance, and delivery.
• Architect scalable, secure, and cost-efficient systems for vulnerability management and compliance automation.
• Own the cryptographic modernization and post-quantum readiness roadmap, from discovery to customer migration planning.
• Partner with co-founders on product strategy, fundraising, board updates, and customer engagement.
• Establish engineering standards, security practices, and operational excellence across the company.

Skills

Software engineering leadership

Cloud-native architecture

Cybersecurity knowledge

Post-quantum cryptography

Stakeholder communication

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Computer Science/Engineering

Tools

AWS

Azure

GCP

Job description

As CTO and Co-Founder, you will define the long-term technology strategy for Scan Ninja Inc and lead the engineering, AI, and infrastructure teams that bring it to life. This is a security role as much as an engineering one. You will own how we detect, prioritize, and prove the closure of risk for customers in defense, critical infrastructure, and other regulated industries, including the cryptographic modernization work that carries them through the post-quantum transition. You will partner directly with the founders on product direction, architecture, hiring, and go-to-market alignment, while staying close to the code and to customers. This is a hybrid role based in Houston, TX with flexibility for remote work, and is ideal for an experienced technology leader who wants to shape a category-defining cybersecurity company from the ground up.

Responsibilities

• Own the overall technology vision, architecture, and multi-year engineering roadmap
• Lead software, platform, AI, and infrastructure teams across hiring, performance, and delivery
• Architect scalable, secure, and cost-efficient systems for vulnerability management and compliance automation
• Own the cryptographic modernization and post-quantum readiness roadmap, from discovery and cryptographic bill of materials through risk scoring and customer migration planning
• Partner with co-founders on product strategy, fundraising, board updates, and customer engagement
• Establish engineering standards, security practices, and operational excellence across the company
• Evolve IT and platform strategy to support enterprise customers and regulated industries
• Represent Scan Ninja externally with customers, partners, investors, analysts, and the broader security community

Requirements

• 10+ years of software engineering experience with at least 5 years in senior technical leadership roles
• Proven track record building, scaling, and leading high-performing engineering and product teams
• Hands-on experience designing distributed, cloud-native systems on AWS, Azure, or GCP
• Deep background in cybersecurity with a clear point of view on the space, covering cloud and network security architecture, secure software development, and how attackers actually operate
• Working knowledge of applied cryptography and the post-quantum transition, including the NIST post-quantum standards (FIPS 203, 204, and 205), CNSA 2.0 timelines, and what it genuinely takes to migrate a production estate off RSA and elliptic curve cryptography
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field

Must Have

• Demonstrated expertise in software development, including programming, debugging, and shipping scalable production systems
• Experience leading product development initiatives end to end, from discovery to launch and iteration
• Strong skills in IT strategy and enterprise architecture for security or data-intensive products
• Applied cryptography judgment, meaning you can review a cryptographic design, reason about protocol and algorithm choices, and separate a real quantum risk from vendor noise
• Track record of project and program management across multiple concurrent technical initiatives
• Exceptional leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills with both technical and business stakeholders

Nice to Have

• Direct experience with compliance frameworks such as CMMC, NIST 800-171, SOC 2, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, HIPAA, or FedRAMP
• Grounding in quantum computing fundamentals and the harvest now, decrypt later threat model, enough to lead a credible technical conversation with a defense or critical infrastructure customer
• Prior experience as a founder, co-founder, or founding engineer at a venture-backed startup
• Background applying AI/ML or LLMs to cybersecurity, vulnerability management, or compliance use cases
• Experience operating in regulated industries such as finance, healthcare, or critical infrastructure