Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

San Francisco, CA - USA

Monthly Salary: Not Disclosed

Posted on: 22 hours ago

Vacancies: 1 Vacancy

Job Summary

Industry: Biometric Security / Enterprise AI

Company Stage: Venture-backed scaling

Must domains: face recognition biometrics edge AI security

About Client

Client is a venture-backed leader in biometric security headquartered in Cupertino California. We build privacy-first AI-powered access control systems used by Fortune 50 enterprises and operators of the worlds most critical infrastructure.

Our flagship product is a tightly integrated hardware edge AI and cloud platform that enables frictionless high-assurance authentication across hyperscale data centers financial institutions airports universities and secure facilities. As digital identity becomes foundational to global security Client is positioned to define what comes next.

The Role

We are seeking a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to own the end-to-end technical vision and execution of Client s platform and products.

This is a builder CTO role for a systems-level leader who can architect scale and ship deeply integrated hardware software and AI systems. The CTO will lead large multidisciplinary engineering teams and will be responsible for designing and delivering the next 1 3 generations of Client s core products.

This role is not advisory not research-only and not business development oriented. The CTO is the companys senior-most technical authority accountable for turning long-term product vision into reliable manufacturable and globally deployable systems that win in the market.

What Youll Own

Technology Vision & Architecture

Define and own Client s technology and platform roadmap with a 3 10 year horizon.
Architect next-generation biometric identity systems across facial authentication edge AI secure hardware and cloud services.
Ensure all product evolution balances accuracy latency security privacy cost and scalability.

Engineering Leadership

Lead and scale engineering organizations spanning hardware firmware embedded systems AI/ML and cloud software.
Set technical standards for reliability security performance and manufacturability.
Make final architectural decisions and drive disciplined execution across teams.

Product Evolution

Own the evolution of Client s core products across multiple generations delivering step-function improvements in customer value and market differentiation.
Partner closely with Product and Design to translate customer needs and market opportunities into shipped capabilities.
Ensure innovation moves from concept prototype production deployment.

AI Edge & Privacy

Guide the development of computer vision and AI systems optimized for on-device inference and real-world environments.
Champion privacy-first and security-by-design approaches across the stack.
Build platforms that can adapt to future identity modalities and regulatory requirements.

Market & Technical Leadership

Represent Client as a technical leader with customers partners and at industry forums.
Maintain awareness of relevant standards and compliance frameworks (e.g. GDPR NIST FedRAMP) as design constraints-not ownership areas.

Culture & Talent

Build a culture of strong technical judgment systems thinking and high accountability.
Mentor senior engineering leaders and develop next-generation technical talent.
Encourage fast iteration paired with production-grade rigor.

What Were Looking For

10 years in senior technical leadership roles (CTO VP Engineering VP Product Engineering or equivalent).
Proven experience leading both hardware and software engineering teams at scale.
Deep expertise in hardware/software convergence edge computing embedded systems and cloud-connected devices.
Track record of shipping complex high-reliability products into production.
Strong product intuition and the ability to think in product generations not just features.
Background in security biometrics AI computer vision or adjacent deep-tech domains.
Technical degree in Computer Science Electrical Engineering or related field; advanced degree preferred.

Bonus Experience

Hands-on experience with AI/ML systems for computer vision or biometric applications.
Experience designing privacy-first or security-critical platforms.
Patent portfolio or history of shipping novel defensible technology.
Exposure to relevant standards bodies or technical working groups.

What well filter out is this:

Strategy-only execs
Innovation lab leaders
Non-technical product leaders
What we hope to attract instead:
Former VP Engs who should be CTOs
CTOs from edge AI / robotics / security / infra
Product-minded technologists whove shipped hardware multiple times

Industry: Biometric Security / Enterprise AI Company Stage: Venture-backed scaling Must domains: face recognition biometrics edge AI security About Client Client is a venture-backed leader in biometric security headquartered in Cupertino California. We build privacy-first AI-powered access co...