CTO

Clause5afe is building the infrastructure layer for global AI governance certification. The CTO will own the technical vision and execution for everything we build: the certification platform, client portals, auditor tools, API infrastructure, public registry, and real-time compliance monitoring systems. You will lead engineering from the ground up - hiring the team, setting the architecture, and delivering the products that make our certification process scalable, secure, and world-class.

What You’ll Do

• Define and execute the technical strategy for Clause5afe’s entire product and platform infrastructure.
• Build, hire, and lead the engineering team from initial hires through scale (targeting 8-15 engineers in Year 1-2).
• Architect and deliver the core certification platform: client onboarding portal, document management, audit workflow tools, evidence collection, scoring/assessment engines, and certificate generation.
• Build the public certification registry - a transparent, searchable database where certification status can be independently verified.
• Develop API infrastructure for enterprise integrations, enabling clients to connect their AI systems to our monitoring and compliance tools.
• Establish security, privacy, and infrastructure standards befitting a company that certifies others on these exact topics.
• Collaborate with the CCO on translating certification methodology into scalable technical workflows.
• Support investor due diligence on technical architecture, scalability, and product roadmap.
• Manage vendor relationships for cloud infrastructure, DevOps tooling, and third-party integrations.

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, with at least 5 years in a technical leadership role (VP Engineering, CTO, Principal Engineer).
• Proven experience building SaaS platforms from scratch in a startup or early-stage environment.
• Strong full-stack architecture skills: Python or Node.js backend, React frontend, cloud infrastructure (AWS or Azure).
• Experience with compliance, audit, or GRC (governance, risk, compliance) platforms is a significant plus.
• Deep understanding of security best practices, data encryption, access controls, and secure application development.
• Experience hiring, managing, and mentoring engineering teams through rapid growth.
• Ability to translate business requirements into technical architecture and manage engineering timelines against business milestones.
• Startup mentality - comfortable building from zero, making tradeoffs, and shipping fast without sacrificing quality.

Nice to Have

• Experience with AI/ML systems, model evaluation, or AI governance tooling.
• Background in enterprise software serving regulated industries (fintech, healthtech, cybersecurity).
• Experience building developer-facing products, APIs, or open-source tooling.
• Prior CTO/VP Eng role at a company that achieved SOC 2, ISO 27001, or similar certifications (you’ll understand our clients’ world from the inside).