Founding Engineer (Potential CTO)

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Founding Engineer (Potential CTO) based in Canada. This is a high-impact founding engineering opportunity at an early-stage healthtech startup developing an AI-powered nervous system rehabilitation platform. You will be the second technical leader, taking ownership of the product and technology stack from mobile experience to AI infrastructure and real-time biosignal processing. The role offers significant influence over architecture, product direction, engineering practices, and the future technical organization. You will build an AI coaching experience that combines frontier AI models with personalized physiological data and wearable technologies. Working closely with the founding team, you will turn ambitious concepts into reliable products used by real customers. The position is ideal for a hands-on engineer who thrives in ambiguity, moves quickly, and is comfortable making foundational technical decisions. There is a clear path toward a CTO role for someone who demonstrates strong technical leadership and a compelling founder mindset. Accountabilities Own technical direction, architecture, and execution as the founding engineer, with the potential to grow into the CTO role.Build and launch the first end-to-end AI coaching experience, spanning the React Native mobile application through AI model inference.Architect and develop an AI-powered nervous system training coach, including model integration, prompt engineering, tool use, and evaluation frameworks.Translate real-time biosignals such as HRV, breathing, motion, and PPG into personalized coaching experiences for users.Develop AI-powered quality assurance and testing pipelines that enable safe, reliable, and high-frequency product releases.Make full-stack technical decisions across mobile frontend, backend services, infrastructure, databases, AI-native systems, and integrations.Build and maintain integrations with iOS HealthKit and wearable platforms such as Apple Watch, Oura, Whoop, and EEG headbands.Own the complete mobile product lifecycle, including development, release management, debugging, monitoring, iteration, and ongoing optimization.Work closely with the founding team to translate product vision into scalable technical solutions and prioritize high-impact initiatives.Establish engineering practices, technical standards, and development processes that can support the growth of the future engineering organization.Make pragmatic architectural and product trade-offs in a fast-moving environment while maintaining quality, reliability, and user safety. Requirements 3+ years of experience in mobile and full-stack software engineering, with a demonstrated ability to take consumer mobile products from 0→1 and ship them to real users.Deep proficiency with React Native and experience owning the complete mobile development lifecycle.Production experience with Claude or other frontier AI models, including prompt engineering, tool use, model integration, and evaluation.Strong understanding of AI-native application architecture, with experience integrating AI throughout the product and technology stack rather than treating it as an isolated feature.Backend development experience using Node.js or Python, ideally with PostgreSQL and modern cloud infrastructure such as Vercel, Fly, or Render.Hands-on experience with Apple HealthKit, wearable APIs, or real-time biosignal data, including HRV, PPG, motion, or related physiological signals.Strong architectural and systems-design capabilities, with the ability to make independent technical decisions in an early-stage environment.Founder mindset, entrepreneurial approach, and ideally previous experience as a first engineer or early-stage startup team member.Ability to operate effectively with significant autonomy, ambiguity, changing priorities, and limited resources.Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to translate technical considerations into clear product and business decisions.Willingness and ability to work in person in Montreal, San Francisco, or New York.Background or strong interest in nervous system science, somatics, neuroscience, or trauma research is an advantage.Visa sponsorship is not available for this position. Benefits $170,000 USD annual salary.Meaningful equity participation.Opportunity to join an early-stage healthtech venture at a foundational stage.Potential path to Chief Technology Officer (CTO) as the company and engineering organization grow.Significant ownership over technical architecture, product development, AI strategy, and engineering culture.Opportunity to work directly with frontier AI technologies, mobile platforms, wearable data, and real-time biosignal processing.High level of autonomy and influence over the company's technical direction.Opportunity to build foundational systems and products from the ground up.In-person collaboration in Montreal, San Francisco, or New York.Visa sponsorship is not available. How Jobgether Works We use an AI-powered matching process to ensure your application is reviewed quickly, objectively, and fairly against the role's core requirements. Our system identifies the top-fitting candidates, and this shortlist is then shared directly with the hiring company. The final decision and next steps (interviews, assessments) are managed by their internal team. We appreciate your interest and wish you the best! Why Apply Through Jobgether? Data Privacy Notice: By submitting your application, you acknowledge that Jobgether will process your personal data to evaluate your candidacy and share relevant information with the hiring employer. This processing is based on legitimate interest and pre-contractual measures under applicable data protection laws (including GDPR). You may exercise your rights (access, rectification, erasure, objection) at any time. We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.