Founding Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Role Title: Founding Chief Technology Officer Location: Remote-first (U.S.) Job Type: Full-time Clearance Required: U.S. Citizenship & Top Secret clearance eligibility required Modern Government Solutions (MGS) is conducting a confidential executive search on behalf of a venture-backed defense technology partner seeking its Founding Chief Technology Officer. The client's identity is withheld at this stage and will be shared with qualified, pre-screened candidates under a non-disclosure agreement. All inquiries are handled discreetly through MGS. About the Opportunity Our client is an early-stage, venture-backed company building advanced hardware, sensing, and autonomous systems for defense and national security customers. In a short time the company has moved from concept to field-validated technology, secured early government agreements, and attracted institutional investment. The next phase is about converting proven prototypes into rugged, mission-ready products at production scale, and that mission defines this role. This is a founding executive seat with meaningful equity and outsized influence over the company's technical direction. It is a builder's role, not a research role: you will lead the teams that design, prototype, manufacture, deploy, and continuously improve products that protect the people who use them. What You Will Own Technology vision & roadmap. Partner with the CEO and COO to translate customer and operational needs into a multi-year technology strategy, and build the engineering organization to deliver it. AI/ML and edge AI. Lead model development and MLOps for inference that runs on low-power hardware, offline and in degraded environments; not cloud-dependent enterprise AI. Robotics & autonomy. Direct development of autonomous and embedded systems that operate in GPS-denied and communications-denied conditions. Hardware & embedded engineering. Oversee electrical, mechanical, embedded, and systems engineering through ruggedization and environmental (MIL-STD-class) testing. Prototype-to-production. Own the transition from prototype to scalable manufacturing; design for manufacturability, supply-chain qualification, quality and production-test systems, and production scale-up. Engineering leadership & culture. Recruit and develop an elite, multidisciplinary engineering team, and set an execution culture built on speed, ownership, and mission focus. What We're Looking For 15+ years of hands-on engineering leadership, including taking hardware products from concept through production. Military or aerospace systems experience is a strong plus. Deep, current expertise across machine learning and edge AI, robotics or autonomous systems, and embedded platforms; a leader equally at home in the machine shop and the boardroom. A track record of scaling: standing up manufacturing or contract-manufacturing at volume, and building an engineering organization from a handful of people to twenty-plus who would follow you again. Builder's temperament: comfortable making decisions with incomplete information, hands-on in early-stage development, and driven by mission over title. S. citizenship required, with the ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret clearance (TS/SCI eligibility preferred; an active clearance is a plus), due to federal contract and export-control (ITAR) obligations. Advanced degree in engineering, computer science, robotics, physics, or a related field preferred - though a record of shipped products outweighs academic credentials. Location, Compensation & Eligibility Location: Remote-first within the U.S., with periodic travel to customer sites and company engagements. Openness to relocation over a multi-year horizon is expected as the company scales its operations. Compensation: Competitive executive salary, meaningful founding equity, performance-based incentives, and comprehensive benefits. Eligibility: U.S. citizenship is required. The client is an equal-opportunity employer; employment decisions are made on the basis of merit and mission fit. How to Apply Qualified candidates and referrals may apply in confidence through the Modern Government Solutions careers page or by contacting the MGS recruiting team directly. Pre-screened candidates will be introduced to the client and provided full role details under NDA.