Founding CTO / Head of Engineering – Stealth Mode

Agentic Commerce | Category-Defining Platform

Company Snapshot

Status: 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 Overview

We 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)

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