Founding CTO / Head of Engineering – Stealth ModeAgentic Commerce | Category-Defining Platform
Company SnapshotStatus: Stealth
Stage: Formation / Pre-Seed
Category: Agentic Commerce
Market: ~$1.3T projected by 2030
Location: (flexible)
We are building a company at the frontier of Agentic Commerce, where AI becomes the primary interface for discovery, decision-making, and transactions. This is a once-per-cycle platform shift—comparable to mobile and cloud—that requires new technical primitives, architectures, and systems of trust.
Role OverviewWe are seeking a Founding CTO / Head of Engineering to partner directly with the founder as a true co-creator—owning the technical vision, architectural foundations, and engineering culture of a category-defining platform.
This is a 0→1 founding role, not a staff CTO position. You will make early, high-leverage decisions that shape the company for years, balancing speed with durability and ambition with rigor. The role requires deep systems thinking, strong product intuition, and hands-on execution—paired with the judgment to know when not to overbuild.
The ideal candidate brings founder-level ownership, operates with low ego and high accountability, and has driven prior platform or interface shifts across commerce, AI, and developed large-scale systems.
What You’ll Own
- Technical vision & architecture: Define the core technical strategy and platform architecture from first principles, aligned with long-term product, GTM, and ecosystem goals
- Agent-native foundations: Design and build systems that support AI-driven discovery, decisioning, and transactions—optimized for trust, extensibility, and interoperability
- 0→1 execution: Translate an early thesis into real, working systems quickly, while making architectural decisions that compound rather than constrain
- Judgment under uncertainty: Navigate tradeoffs between speed, quality, and durability in a stealth environment without hiding behind process or perfectionism
- Engineering culture & talent bar: Hire early engineers, set the technical and cultural bar, and model ownership, clarity, and accountability from day one
- Founder-level collaboration: Operate as a thought partner to product and GTM leadership, shaping what gets built—not just how it’s built
- Long-term defensibility: Build systems that accrue durable advantage through data, workflows, and ecosystem integration over time
Who We’re Looking ForRequired- 15+ years of experience building and scaling complex platforms and systems
- Proven 0→1 engineering leadership, followed by meaningful scale
- Deep background in commerce platforms, AI-driven systems, marketplaces, or distributed systems
- Strong architectural judgment in ambiguous, fast-moving environments
- Founder mentality: high ownership, comfort with responsibility, and willingness to make irreversible decisions early
Strong Preference- Senior technical leadership experience at Google, Meta, Amazon, or similarly scaled global technology companies (seniority Director +).
- Experience operating across both big-tech rigor and startup velocity
- Prior founder, co-founder, early-stage CTO experience or 0-1 platforms in Large enterprises
- Demonstrated ability to lead with low ego, strong opinions, and clear decision-making
- Pattern recognition from prior platform or interface shifts (e.g., marketplaces, mobile, cloud, AI)
- Formal training in Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Physics, or Engineering from a top-tier U.S. institution (e.g., MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, Caltech), or equivalent depth demonstrated through exceptional real-world execution and technical leadership.
What Success Looks Like- You are an inspirational leader who sets the cultural bar, brings people together, and builds high-trust, highly collaborative teams.
- You turn an early thesis into a credible, scalable, and defensible technical platform
- You make early architectural decisions that age well as complexity grows
- You enable fast product iteration without compromising long-term integrity
- You attract exceptional engineers who value ownership and clarity
- You build technical foundations capable of supporting category leadership
Why This Role- Founding-team ownership and leadership in a once-per-generation platform shift
- Direct partnership with an experienced founder and former executive at the world’s largest commerce and AI platforms
- Opportunity to lead and define the technical backbone of Agentic Commerce
- Equity, influence, and genuine co-founder-level impact from day one
Company: Stealth Mode
Compensation: Equity + cash (stage-appropriate)
