CTO / Co-Founder (Next Gen AI Search)

TD;LR;

• The position is a co-founder type 👉 fair equity allocation & milestone-based bonus equity based on your level of experience & everything amazing you bring to the table.
• No salary till fund-raise - pre-seed expected Q1 2025).
• Joining initially on a part-time basis with a plan to join full-time upon a successful pre-seed round is a possibility.

About the company:

We are Smalk, a purpose-driven company on a mission to redefine search and discovery in the modern AI age. At the core of our work is building a groundbreaking foundation model for LLMs and Generative AI applications, revolutionizing how people connect with authentic information and creative content crafted by the storytellers of the open web.

Our vision challenges the dominance of standardized, centralized platforms by fostering human-centered discovery and amplifying authentic voices. Based in Paris, our distributed team is humble yet ambitious, driven to create a future where AI-powered search is personal, meaningful, and alive.

Join us as we pioneer a new era of exploration, leveraging cutting-edge AI to deliver transformative experiences for our first wave of users. Together, let’s redefine search and make it truly human!

About the position:

As part of the founding team, we are looking for an exceptional-experienced personality to create & lead our tech strategy from the ground.

For this role, we want to partner with someone who can roll up their sleeves to get started and has the drive to work independently with limited guidance.

You are a true leader has you will have to build a team of talents, internally and externally, to help you execute on the strategy you develop.

This role will involve writing code, mentoring and reviewing code from developers, hiring and developing the tech team, defining tools/architecture/process, and taking ownership of the production infrastructure.

This is an exciting opportunity of a lifetime to be a part of the company from the beginning and a great time to shape your own job with your own stack 😉.

Priorities will include the following:

👉 Build the company from the ground up together and serve in agile mode with our first customers.

👉 Defining the technical and architectural direction of the platform to give SMALK a major advantage as it scales.

👉 Speeding up the shipment of the MVP to work as quickly as possible on an iteration mode.

👉 Write and ship code (end to end) at a high velocity, turning design mock-ups and written specs into performant and maintainable code.

👉 Building and developing data collection pipeline (AI).

👉 Bring a framework to manage technical deadlines (process) and budgets.

👉 Deliver a strong QA strategy + troubleshoot & debug to ensure consumer satisfaction.

👉 As we grow revenue and secure funding, you will build the entire IT department including identifying talent needs, hiring, and leading a high-performing integrated tech team (global + remote).

A few things about yourself (Skills Required):

We know we are looking for the needle in a haystack, but feel free to apply anyway as we are looking for an experienced & passionate personality first . The ideal candidate;

· is a true natural leader or has previous experience in managing & scaling teams.

· Is sharp, intuitive & a team player with communication skills.

· is a highly motivated and resilient person, not afraid of high-bar ambitions.

· has significant experience (+6 years) in building full-stack production applications with an emphasis on backend APIs and infrastructure.

· has a strong understanding of Gen AI tech stack (closed & open source models) with a focus on RAG applications

· has (nice to have) experience with building recommendation engines or social graphs (BS/MS in Computer Science/similar quantitative engineering disciplines)

· has programming experience skills in Python, Java, C++, JavaScript, or similar languages.

· has an experience in B2B-SaaS facing infra.

· has an entrepreneurial & a hands-on style with a strong bias for action and results while working effectively in an innovative, unstructured environment that values collaboration without ego.

· operates at a high level of intensity, acting with a sense of urgency without sacrificing excellence.

· is process driven.

· is excited to create, dream, and deliver.

A plus;

· Basics of DevOps and tools such as Docker, Kubernetes, Jenkis, Git, etc…

· Previously held CTO position or other Engineering leadership role

We care a lot about a couple of things:

· We're looking for a true partner who will be on our core founding team. We love underdogs from all kinds of backgrounds who want a shot at creating something special that'll define their career.

· As we are a Paris-based startup, we would first consider team player from France & Europe.

· As we are a remote-first company, you must be exceptionally good at collaborating with a virtual team, and able to work independently to drive the brand forward as we grow the team.

· If you’re not English native, you must be fluent in writing and speaking in English.

· To fit into our company culture and vision, the candidates must also have a passion for solving hard problems.

What's in it for you (what we offer):

· It’s an opportunity to build a product from the ground. As the first Founding Engineer, you will partner in the startup's vision and trajectory, playing a key role in the direction and architecture of our technology. In this start-up role, you will have the joy of seeing the direct and immediate impact of your work.

· Be part of building a great AI model from the ground up and have a real impact on people’s digital lives.

· Directly shape the future of a completely new model for AI applications.

· Challenge your skills and push your creative limits by working with the latest technologies and systems.

· Play an active role in one of the most significant technological innovations in human history.

· Flex PTO & Flex Hours & location / WFH

There are a lot of great companies out there, so we appreciate that you are interested in joining SMALK. 😍

If you are a self-motivated individual with a passion for cutting-edge technology, and you are looking for an exciting opportunity to lead the development of an innovative tech stack, we would love to hear from you.

Thank you!