CTO-in-Residence

AINAD is looking for a Chief Technology Officer-in-Residence to shape the technical strategy and product foundations of our AI-native, tech-enabled ventures, while defining how we build from idea to MVP to scale across the studio.

About AINAD

AINAD is a UK-based venture studio that builds and scales AI and SaaS companies across sectors like health, education, fintech and productivity. We act as a hands-on co‐founder to our ventures, providing product, engineering, growth, capital and operating support so they can move from concept to scale faster and with more structure.

The Role

As CTO-in-Residence, you will be the senior technical leader across the studio. You will define how we build products, make architecture decisions and structure engineering teams, while working directly with selected portfolio ventures as an embedded or fractional CTO. This is not a single-company “maintenance” role – it’s a strategist–architect–operator position for someone who loves building from first principles across multiple startups.

It’s ideal for a senior technical leader (CTO, VP Engineering, technical co‐founder) who wants to apply their experience across several AI and software ventures rather than just one organisation.

What You’ll Do

• Define and refine AINAD’s technical playbook for building AI-native and SaaS products (architecture principles, tooling choices, delivery patterns).
• Act as a senior technical partner for selected ventures, especially at concept, MVP and early-scale stages.
• Shape early technical strategy: architecture, stack choices, data/AI approach, integrations and scalability considerations.
• Support rapid prototyping and MVP builds, working with product and design to turn concepts into launch-ready products.
• Guide the pragmatic use of AI/ML - when to build, buy or integrate - and how to manage models, data and experimentation safely.
• Set engineering quality standards appropriate to stage (code review, testing, observability, security basics, documentation).
• Help ventures transition from scrappy prototypes to more robust, scalable infrastructure and engineering practices.
• Advise on technical hiring: define profiles, interview candidates, help onboard early engineers and future venture CTOs.
• Coach founders and technical teams on prioritisation, delivery cadence, technical debt management and communication with non‐technical stakeholders.
• Contribute to investor and partner conversations where technical credibility, defensibility and roadmap clarity are key.

What We’re Looking For

• Significant experience in senior technical leadership roles (CTO, VP Engineering, technical co‐founder, Head of Engineering) in startups or scale-ups.
• Proven track record taking products from 0 → 1 (concept to MVP) and 1 → early scale (stabilising and maturing architecture, teams and processes).
• Strong software architecture background and fluency with modern cloud, data and application stacks.
• Experience with applied AI/ML or AI-enabled products, and comfort evaluating what is technically realistic versus hype.
• Ability to switch context across multiple ventures while maintaining strategic and technical depth.
• Excellent communication skills – able to explain technical trade-offs to founders, investors and customers in plain language.
• Comfortable leading both by doing (reviewing designs, unblocking builds) and by coaching (mentoring engineers and technical leaders).
• High ownership, low ego; enjoys ambiguity and building frameworks where little exists.

What We Offer

• A “CTO with leverage” role: shape the technical foundations of multiple AI and SaaS ventures rather than just one.
• Significant autonomy to design how we approach architecture, delivery and engineering across the studio.
• Close collaboration with founders, product leaders, commercial leaders and investors on ambitious early-stage ideas.
• Flexible structure (full-time or high-commitment fractional, to be agreed) with competitive compensation and meaningful long-term upside aligned to impact.
• The opportunity to influence the technical DNA of a venture studio and help multiple startups avoid common scaling and architecture pitfalls.

Location

Hybrid / flexible, with a preference for candidates who can spend meaningful time in the UK (especially London) and occasionally join in‐person sessions with founders and the studio team.

If you’re a senior technical leader who loves building products and engineering systems from scratch, and want to do that across several AI-native ventures, we’d love to hear from you. Please apply with your CV/LinkedIn and a short note on why this CTO-in-Residence role at AINAD appeals to you.