Hands-on CTO — AI-First Engineering

About the Role

A partner company based in Germany is seeking a proactive and technically adept Hands-on CTO specializing in AI-first engineering to lead and own the entire engineering function. This opportunity exists within a thriving, profitable SaaS business where you will directly influence the development of mobile, web, and backend platforms. You will set the strategic direction for integrated AI-driven workflows to optimize software development while maintaining high standards of quality.

Key Responsibilities

• Assume full responsibility for the technical oversight of mobile applications, web platforms, backend systems, and cloud infrastructure, ensuring they scale effectively, remain reliable, and perform optimally.
• Analyze current architecture, codebases, development processes, and technical risks to pinpoint areas for enhancement and define a robust technical strategy.
• Develop and execute an AI-first engineering strategy encompassing AI-assisted development tools, coding agents, automated testing, and documentation processes to elevate workflow efficiency and code quality.
• Guarantee that AI-assisted and AI-created code meets rigorous production criteria including security, maintainability, reliability, and scalability.
• Oversee and refine cooperation with external engineering partners, balancing contributions from AI systems, internal staff, and outsourced teams.
• Implement engineering standards, governance frameworks, automated quality controls, deployment pipelines, monitoring solutions, and proactive incident prevention methodologies.
• Engage hands-on with architectural decisions, problem resolution, code reviews, and implementation tasks when necessary.

Required Qualifications

• Extensive hands-on leadership experience as CTO, Head of Engineering, Staff or Principal Engineer, or equivalent senior technical roles.
• Comprehensive skills in software engineering with capacity to independently assess and improve codebases and system architectures.
• Current, practical involvement in building, operating, or scaling software products with a technical delivery focus.
• Demonstrated expertise using AI-enhanced development tools and coding assistants to boost productivity without compromising technical standards.
• Experience with consumer-facing, subscription-based SaaS products, particularly web and mobile applications.
• Strong proficiency in modern JavaScript and TypeScript environments, including React, React Native, Node.js, or comparable frameworks.
• Solid understanding of cloud architecture, continuous integration/deployment (CI/CD), automated testing, monitoring, and software release lifecycle.
• Experience effectively managing distributed teams and collaborating with outsourced engineering vendors.
• Ability to critically evaluate existing technical ecosystems, make pragmatic decisions, and drive initiatives independently with high accountability.
• Fluent English communication skills for collaboration with founders and international stakeholders.

Benefits and Work Environment

• Full-time remote employment offering flexibility in a global working environment.
• Competitive monthly salary ranging between $10,000 and $15,000, depending on experience.
• Leadership role in pioneering an AI-first approach to engineering within a growing company.
• Direct involvement in strategic company decisions and close collaboration with founders.
• Opportunity to design and influence engineering workflows, product architecture, and team dynamics.
• Work on a profitable, large-scale B2C SaaS platform with a focus on execution efficiency and minimal bureaucracy.
• Maintain a strong technical presence while shaping overall engineering direction.

Additional Information

The hiring partner manages all applications and recruitment steps independently. Applications will be processed through an AI-driven system to ensure objective and prompt shortlisting, but final hiring choices are made by humans. By applying, candidates consent to data processing under applicable data protection laws. AI tools may be used to support parts of the recruitment process but do not replace personal evaluation.