Description

Summary

Midnight is a regulatory-friendly data protection-based blockchain that safeguards sensitive commercial and personal data, protecting fundamental freedoms of association, commerce, and expression for developers, companies, and individuals. Midnight utilizes a novel data protection-first programming model and ZK proofs while operating as a Cardano sidechain.


We are looking for a unique, talented, and visionary CTO to join our team and help shape the future of Midnight’s products and technology. As our CTO, you will play a central role in defining Midnight’s technical and product vision, driving innovation, and leading our engineering efforts. You will have the rare opportunity to make a significant impact in the blockchain, data protection, and regulatory compliance space, creating a lasting legacy through your thought leadership, executive vision, and community engagement. This role will report to the CEO of Midnight.

Main Objectives

  • Develop and execute a clear technical strategy for Midnight, focusing on zero-knowledge proofs, blockchain technology, regulatory compliance, and interoperability with traditional financial systems.
  • Understand the unique needs of DApp developers and create an ecosystem to provide best-in-class support for this community. Evaluate and navigate trade-offs in the design space for DApps and smart contracts, balancing performance, security, user experience, and regulatory considerations.
  • Act as a thought leader and spokesperson for Midnight, frequently engaging with the community, regulators, and financial institutions through public speaking, articles, and other means.
  • Lead and manage the engineering team, ensuring the successful delivery of high-quality, products suitable for high demands on usability, security, data protection, and compliance.
  • Work with the marketing, sales, partnerships, and community teams to support go-to-market initiatives and help them deepen relationships with their respective technical audiences.

Duties

Product & Technology Strategy

  • Develop strategic plans and set timelines for evaluation, development, and deployment of technical services, to ensure alignment with business goals
  • Discover and implement new technologies that yield a competitive advantage
  • Study current and new industry trends, technologies, and software development and DApp ecosystem
  • Respond to feedback from stakeholders and use it to make improvements or adjustments needed to our technology

Plan & Process

  • Establish and supervise software development, integration, quality assurance, and production deployment processes and best practices
  • Create a timeline for the development and deployment of technology services, monitoring KPIs for delivering on functionality, quality, time, and budget
  • Ensure Midnight’s technological processes and services comply with all requirements, laws, and regulations
  • Reduce the risk of technological breaches

Thought Leadership & Collaboration

  • Being an authoritative voice in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space
  • Communicating technology strategy to customers, partners, and investors
  • Collaborating with department heads, marketing, production, and operations as an advisor of all technologies involved
  • Representing Midnight at conferences and networking events

Team

  • Build and lead all of Midnight’s technology groups including product, engineering, architecture, Developer Relations, SRE, etc
  • Mentoring team members

Leadership

As leaders, it is our responsibility to motivate, develop and progress our fellow team members. There is a need to communicate openly with all members of your team, address any issues head-on, and not shy away from difficult conversations. Empowering your team to provide the best results by organizing clear processes and coordinating team efforts should be your top priority. Please read our Leadership at IO Global for more information on your duties and responsibilities as a leader at IOG.

Requirements

Key Competencies

  • Team Leadership: Engaging, motivating, and supporting the team is most important. Managing the skills, qualifications, and capabilities is a challenge in the fast-changing technology landscape
  • Delivering results: No function is effective if it can not deliver the needed results. Streamlined technology choices or effective leveraging of standards will reduce complexity and improve time to market
  • Strategic Orientation: The technology capability and strategy should have a significant impact on the business strategy. How do you make the most of the new technologies within the existing resource constraints?
  • Influencing and Collaboration: The differentiator - winning relationships - up, down, and sideways that create an environment of collective success
  • Project Management: In order to successfully manage implementations

Education / Experience

  • BSc/BA in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field; MBA or other relevant graduate degree is a plus
  • Experience in product management or a similar role in an enterprise environment, with a keen understanding of the intersection between technology and product strategy
  • Extensive experience in blockchain technology and a deep understanding of the application of zero-knowledge proofs to blockchain technologies
  • Hands-on experience with DApp development and familiarity with the design considerations for smart contracts
  • Proven track record of building and managing high-performance engineering teams in B2B or B2B2C setups
  • Demonstrated ability to think strategically and make data-driven decisions that align with business objectives
  • Strong communication and public speaking skills, with a passion for community engagement and fostering relationships with regulators and financial institutions.
  • Leadership and organizational abilities

Benefits

Location

IOG is a fully distributed organization but due to team distribution, we require someone to be based either in the United States, preferably on the East Coast, or in Ireland / UK.

The base salary for this position has a range of $260k up to $360k per year at the commencement of employment. Any offer is determined by overall experience and performance during the interview process. This is only part of the total compensation package.

All colleagues

  • Flexible schedule
  • Remote work – ability to work anywhere
  • Laptop reimbursement
  • New starter package to buy hardware essentials (headphones, monitor, etc)
  • Learning & Development opportunities
  • Competitive PTO and Sick Leave plan

US Employees

  • Medical, Dental, and Vision benefits coverage through Anthem for the employee and dependents
  • 401k
  • Health Savings Account
  • Life Insurance

UK & Ireland Employees

  • Monthly Health Stipend to use towards any wellness or medical coverage/service
  • Pension

At IOG, we value diversity and always treat all employees and job applicants based on merit, qualifications, competence, and talent. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.