Experienced Startup CTO possible co-founder role, hands on Rust, startup experience a must have

Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Founding Technical Leadership Role Rust Real-Time Systems Social AI Payments

Please read the full job description before applying.

We are not looking for a traditional corporate CTO.

We are looking for a hands-on technical leader who still builds ships reviews architecture and understands modern product engineering at scale.

This role is for someone who combines strong engineering judgment with startup execution ability someone comfortable moving between backend architecture real-time systems infrastructure product strategy and technical leadership.

About the Role

OleOle is building a football-focused social network and super app combining:

Real-time social feeds and microblogging

Messaging and mobile communication

TikTok-style short-form video

Live scores and sports engagement

AI-powered translation and football history

Rewards payments and future crypto infrastructure

This role may evolve into a co-founder-level position for the right person.

You will define the long-term technical architecture of the company while also helping build and ship the platform alongside the engineering team.

We are not looking for a CTO who has spent the last 20 years only managing meetings vendors and process.

We are looking for someone who still codes still understands systems deeply and still enjoys building.

What Were Looking For

A product-first systems-oriented technical leader who understands:

Real-time social feeds and recommendation systems

Messaging and event-driven infrastructure

High-performance backend architecture

Frontend/backend integration for modern consumer products

Payments wallet infrastructure or financial systems

AI infrastructure and data-driven products

Scalability reliability and operational discipline

You do not need to be an expert in every area above.

However you should have strong experience across multiple domains and the ability to make pragmatic technical decisions across a highly ambitious product ecosystem.

Key Responsibilities

Define and lead the long-term technical architecture of the platform

Lead backend architecture and infrastructure strategy using Rust-based systems

Help build scalable systems supporting feeds messaging live updates video and data infrastructure

Oversee engineering direction across backend frontend infrastructure and product systems

Partner closely with leadership on product and company strategy

Establish engineering culture hiring standards and technical execution processes

Work directly with engineers on architecture reviews tradeoffs and implementation decisions

Help design future financial infrastructure including rewards wallets payments and crypto-related systems

Support AI-powered systems including translation recommendation search and football history infrastructure

Ensure scalability reliability performance and security across all systems

Technical Areas Involved

Rust backend infrastructure

Real-time systems and asynchronous architecture

APIs event-driven systems and distributed services

Messaging and feed infrastructure

Video and media systems

AI and data infrastructure

Payment and wallet systems

SSR and SEO-focused architecture

High-scale consumer product engineering

What Makes Someone Successful in This Role

You have personally designed and operated production systems

You still enjoy building and solving technical problems directly

You can explain architectural tradeoffs clearly and pragmatically

You understand how consumer platforms scale technically and operationally

You focus on execution and shipping not unnecessary complexity

You are comfortable operating in ambiguous startup environments

You know when simplicity is the correct engineering decision

You can lead engineers without becoming disconnected from the technology

We value real-world system ownership technical depth execution ability and engineering judgment significantly more than keyword-heavy resumes.

Compensation & Structure

This role is currently structured as deferred compensation.

All current team members including leadership engineers designers and product teams are currently working under the same structure while the company secures funding.

This is not unpaid work.

Compensation is intended to convert into a normalized salary structure post-funding in addition to:

Significant equity ownership

Long-term token participation

Founding-level influence over the company and platform

We want to be fully transparent:

There is real startup risk

Fundraising timelines are unpredictable

Building at this stage requires resilience ownership and long-term thinking

At the same time this is an opportunity to help architect and build one of the most ambitious consumer platforms in global football from the earliest stages.

OleOle Where Fans Kick Off

Qualifications :

Qualifications

Your Background

715 years of software engineering and technical leadership experience ideally within startups or high-growth consumer technology platforms

Strong hands-on engineering background with active involvement in architecture systems design and production codebases

Significant experience building and scaling modern consumer platforms involving real-time systems high concurrency and large-scale user engagement

Strong production Rust experience building asynchronous backend systems and distributed infrastructure

Deep understanding of backend architecture APIs event-driven systems databases caching and scalable infrastructure design

Experience building or operating one or more of the following:
Social feeds and microblogging systems
Messaging or real-time communication platforms
TikTok-style video or media infrastructure
Financial wallet fintech or gambling infrastructure
AI-powered consumer products
Large-scale SEO or content infrastructure

Ability to make pragmatic technical tradeoffs balancing scalability performance speed maintainability and operational simplicity

Experience leading and mentoring engineering teams while remaining deeply technical and hands-on

Comfortable operating in fast-moving startup environments with ambiguity evolving priorities and limited process

Strong communication skills with the ability to explain architectural decisions clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders

Strong entrepreneurial judgment ownership mentality and execution focus

What Makes Someone Successful in This Role

You have personally designed and operated production systems at scale
You still enjoy building and solving technical problems directly
You focus on execution shipping and long-term maintainability
You value simplicity and practical engineering over unnecessary complexity
You are comfortable taking ownership without requiring constant direction
You understand how modern consumer products scale technically and operationally
You can lead engineers without becoming disconnected from the technology

Strong Plus

Experience with Rust-based consumer platforms
Experience with distributed systems and event-driven architectures
Experience with feeds messaging streaming or recommendation systems
Experience with payments crypto wallet infrastructure or gambling systems
Experience with AI infrastructure search recommendation or translation systems
Startup leadership experience building products from zero to one
Existing network within startup venture capital or fundraising ecosystems
Passion for football sports media or global fan communities

We value real-world system ownership technical depth execution ability and engineering judgment significantly more than keyword-heavy resumes.

OleOle Where Fans Kick Off

Additional Information :

Additional Information

Building a platform like OleOle is difficult by design.

We are not looking for people who avoid hard technical problems we are looking for builders who are energized by solving them.

What We Value

Creative problem solvers who are willing to challenge assumptions propose new ideas and help build better systems rather than simply repeating existing patterns

Engineers who can adapt across a broad range of technologies infrastructure challenges and evolving product requirements

People who are comfortable operating in fast-moving startup environments with ambiguity shifting priorities and limited process

Strong entrepreneurial judgment with the ability to work independently and take ownership without requiring constant direction or micromanagement

Builders who focus on practical execution scalability and product quality rather than unnecessary complexity

Engineers who embrace difficult challenges and enjoy helping shape products from the ground floor

Location & Work Environment

OleOle is based in Austin Texas although the team currently operates remotely while the company completes its fundraising process.

We are a privately held company building a globally ambitious football platform with a distributed international team.

OleOle Where Fans Kick Off

Remote Work :

Yes

Employment Type :

Full-time