Cto (Chief Technology Officer)

Redherd.Io; Cape Town; On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

A rapidly scaling cybersecurity firm in Cape Town is looking for a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to lead their technical vision and innovation efforts. In this executive role, you'll drive the product roadmap, manage global teams, and integrate advanced AI capabilities into their anti-phishing platform. Ideal candidates will have extensive experience in software security, team leadership, and a strong grasp of modern ML frameworks. This represents a unique opportunity to influence the future of cybersecurity.

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience deploying LLMs in production.
• Proven success in building distributed engineering organizations.
• Experience developing engineering orgs around testing and automation.

Responsibilities

• Drive product roadmap and lead global teams.
• Ensure platform reliability and scalability.
• Represent technical strategy at the leadership level.

Skills

AI

ML

LLMs

Leadership

Communication

Education

8+ years in software or security engineering

Tools

TensorFlow

PyTorch

AWS

GCP

Azure

Kubernetes

Job description

Chief Technology Officer (CTO)Location : Remote — with a minimum 4 hours overlap to UTCReports To : CEOLeads : Engineering, Product, Threat IntelligenceAbout the CompanyThis opportunity is with a rapidly scaling cybersecurity firm focused on digital threat detection, phishing defense, and brand protection.

They're leveraging machine learning—particularly LLMs—to defend global brands against online fraud.

With a distributed workforce and a strong engineering presence in South Africa, they are on a mission to build the most advanced anti-phishing platform in the space.

Role OverviewThis is a pivotal executive leadership role where you'll own the technical vision and execution of the platform.

You'll drive the product roadmap, build and lead global teams, and integrate AI and LLM capabilities to tackle phishing and online fraud at scale.

The role blends strategy, architecture, team growth, and hands-on innovation.

Key Objectives Lead the development of next-gen threat detection capabilities using generative AI, ML, and automated systems.

Align cross-functional teams—engineering, product, and go-to-market—to deliver tech-driven competitive advantages.

Ensure the reliability, scalability, and security of the platform, meeting enterprise-grade standards.

Define a forward-looking technical roadmap that supports the company's growth, mission, and innovation goals.

Recruit, structure, and scale top-tier engineering teams distributed across regions.

Core ResponsibilitiesLeadership & Team Building Drive a culture of engineering excellence, collaboration, and accountability across distributed teams with 20 - 50 Engineers (Scaling).

Scale globally distributed engineering talent while optimizing for speed, autonomy, and retention.

Introduce and evolve agile workflows and DevOps practices that align with high-performance delivery.

Architecture & Technical Strategy Oversee and refine infrastructure decisions including cloud platforms, orchestration layers, and microservice design.

Craft and manage a multi-year tech roadmap centered on LLMs, advanced analytics, and detection automation.

Evaluate and integrate cutting-edge tools (e.g., GPT-powered analysis, real-time data processing) into the product stack.

AI / ML Innovation & Product Engineering Lead R&D efforts for automated takedowns, phishing detection, and suspicious domain classification.

Collaborate with product management to turn customer problems into scalable, AI-powered solutions.

Operationalize LLM-based features—such as pattern recognition and automated monitoring—within production systems.

Security, Governance & Compliance Design and maintain security protocols aligned to global standards (SOC 2, ISO , GDPR).

Embed security directly into the development lifecycle using modern DevSecOps practices.

Manage regular audits, threat modeling, and proactive vulnerability testing initiatives.

Executive Collaboration & Communication Represent technical strategy at the leadership level, ensuring alignment with business goals and client needs.

Communicate complex ML / LLM-driven initiatives to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Act as a thought leader at industry events and contribute to strategic partnerships in the cybersecurity ecosystem.

Ideal Experience & SkillsAI, ML, and LLMs Hands-on experience deploying LLMs in production to tackle real-world problems such as fraud detection or text classification.

Proficiency with modern ML frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch) and a solid grasp of NLP applications.

Understanding of how generative AI can support phishing prevention and brand protection workflows.

Leadership & Team Development Proven success in building and leading distributed engineering organizations.

Strong people management skills with a track record of building inclusive and high-retention cultures.

Experience developing engineering orgs around testing, automation, and scalable code delivery.

Security & Threat Intelligence 8+ years in software or security engineering, with 4+ years at the Director / VP / CTO level.

Familiarity with phishing ecosystems, brand impersonation tactics, and threat detection methodologies.

Understanding of the core principles of cybersecurity, digital forensics, and risk mitigation.

Tech Stack & Infrastructure Deep knowledge of cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure), CI / CD pipelines, and Kubernetes-based systems.

Comfort with high-availability architectures and cost-effective infrastructure scaling.

Operational experience implementing DevOps and Agile processes at scale.

Strategic & Business Alignment Able to translate engineering initiatives into business value and revenue outcomes.

Excellent presentation and communication skills across technical and non-technical audiences.

Collaborative mindset with the ability to operate effectively within EU time zones and across distributed teams.

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Chief Technology Officer • Cape Town, Western Cape