Co-Founder and CTO

Company: TestAutomate
Role: Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer
Stage: Early-stage startup
Location: Remote / Flexible
Compensation: Founder equity; no fixed salary at the current stage

About TestAutomate

TestAutomate is building an AI-native approach to software testing, focused on one of the most persistent problems in software engineering: Can engineering teams actually trust their test results?

Traditional test automation often struggles to distinguish genuine product defects from flaky tests, unstable environments, test data issues, and infrastructure failures. AI can accelerate test creation and execution, but generating and running tests is only part of the problem. The real challenge is determining what happened, why it happened, and whether the result can be trusted.

At TestAutomate, we believe the next evolution of software testing goes beyond autonomous test execution to intelligent, evidence-driven testing and trustworthy verdicts.

We are looking for a technical leader who understands these challenges firsthand and shares our conviction that this problem deserves a fundamentally better solution.

The Opportunity

We are seeking an experienced engineering leader to join as Co-Founder and CTO and help build TestAutomate from the ground up.

This opportunity is intended for someone who has led engineering organisations, built software platforms, or driven quality engineering and test automation initiatives — and who sees the potential for AI to fundamentally change how software quality is validated.

You will partner directly with the Founder & CEO to shape the product vision, define the technical strategy, build the core technology, and establish the engineering foundation of the company.

This is not a conventional executive position. It is an opportunity to bring your technical expertise, industry insight, and entrepreneurial conviction to a problem you believe is worth solving.

What You’ll Own

• Technical vision and architecture: Define the long-term technical direction and architecture of an AI-native testing platform.
• AI and agentic engineering: Explore and build intelligent agents that can execute tests, investigate failures, reason about outcomes, and support evidence-based verification.
• Trustworthy test verdicts: Address the challenge of distinguishing genuine defects from flaky tests, environmental issues, and unreliable test results.
• Product development: Translate the vision into working technology, validate assumptions, and make pragmatic early-stage engineering decisions.
• Engineering leadership: Establish the engineering culture, technical standards, and team needed to build and scale the platform.
• Product and market collaboration: Work closely with the Founder & CEO to refine the product based on industry expertise, customer feedback, and emerging opportunities.
• Company building: Contribute to the strategy, roadmap, and key decisions that shape TestAutomate's future.

Who We’re Looking For

We are particularly interested in connecting with people currently working as:

• VP of Engineering / VP of Quality Engineering
• Director of Engineering / Director of QA
• Head of Engineering / Head of Quality Engineering
• Head of Test Automation or Software Quality
• Engineering Managers with substantial technical and domain expertise
• CTOs, technical founders, or senior engineering leaders in QA, developer tools, or AI-driven software engineering

Experience and expertise

You will ideally bring:

• Significant experience in software engineering, quality engineering, QA, or test automation.
• A deep understanding of the challenges of flaky tests, test maintenance, debugging failures, test reliability, and release confidence.
• Experience leading technical teams, defining architecture, or building complex software systems.
• Familiarity with AI/ML, LLMs, AI agents, or a strong conviction about their potential to transform software testing.
• The ability to evaluate technical assumptions critically and turn an ambitious idea into a practical product.
• A builder's mindset: willing to get hands-on with technology while providing strategic leadership.

Experience with AI-native developer tools, browser automation, continuous integration, and cloud-based testing platforms would be valuable.

Above All, We’re Looking for Conviction

Titles and years of experience alone are not what matter most.

We want to connect with someone who has experienced the limitations of conventional test automation, recognises why existing approaches fall short, and believes there is an opportunity to solve the problem differently with AI.

Someone who doesn't just want to join a startup, but wants to help define what the next generation of software testing should look like.

If you have strong opinions about where testing is heading, have thought deeply about the problem, and are excited to build a solution rather than simply discuss one, we'd love to hear from you.

What This Opportunity Offers

• A genuine technical co-founder role with meaningful equity participation.
• Direct partnership with the Founder & CEO in shaping the company.
• Ownership of technical vision, product architecture, and engineering strategy.
• The opportunity to build in the intersection of AI, software quality, and developer tools.
• The chance to help define a new approach to trustworthy software testing.

Please note: TestAutomate is at an early stage and cannot currently offer a fixed salary. This is an equity-based founding opportunity, with the specific equity arrangement to be discussed openly with the right candidate.

Interested?

If this problem resonates with you, we'd welcome a conversation.

Please share your LinkedIn profile and a brief note about your experience in software testing, engineering leadership, or AI — particularly what you believe needs to change in the way software quality is validated.

We're looking for someone who shares the conviction that software testing needs to evolve, and who wants to help build that future.