Chief Technology Officer - AI Hardware Business - London
A venture-backed London business at the intersection of artificial intelligence, computer vision and consumer hardware is hiring its next Chief Technology Officer. Recann is the search partner on this mandate.
About the business
The company builds an AI-driven consumer experience that combines computer vision, sensor-based input and a large language model coaching layer, delivered through proprietary physical hardware deployed across multiple sites. The first commercial site is cashflow positive, the company has signed its first partnership with a premium gym chain, the seed round is closing, and the company is preparing for Series A. The founders include a serial entrepreneur with a track record of building category-defining consumer businesses, supported by an experienced chair from the health and wellness sector.
Full company details are shared with shortlisted candidates following an initial conversation with Recann.
The role
This is a hands-on technical leadership role. The CTO owns the technology end to end - hardware and firmware, computer vision, the LLM application layer, the cloud platform, the data pipeline and the engineering organisation, and is expected to be close to the code through the next phase of the company's growth.
Reporting to the CEO, the CTO will ship the next generation of the product, build reliability into hardware operating at remote unattended sites, and build out a small engineering team. The founders remain closely involved in product direction and will work alongside the CTO on the leadership side.
Who we're looking for
Candidate's are not expected to have everything. But priorities for the role, in order:
- Ownership across the full hardware and software stack. The overarching criterion: someone who has built a product where hardware and software are equally weighted and the integration between them is the central challenge.
- A hands-on builder suited to the current stage, comfortable being in the code daily.
- Genuine personal competence in computer vision - production-quality pose estimation and sensor fusion.
- Experience of real-time systems with hard safety-critical loops, where a software signal has physical consequences. A robotics, automotive, medical-device or industrial-automation background is a strong analogue.
- Working knowledge of large language model application patterns, with experience shipping LLM applications that have run reliably in production.
- Experience of leading a small engineering team well, with the appetite to build and grow one.
- Holding a CTO title previously is not required. What matters is having done the work.
Location and working pattern
This is a London-based role. The expectation is four days per week in the company's London office, with three days considered for exceptional candidates. Remote-only working is not available.
Remuneration
Base salary will be depending on experience, with the package structured to reflect the stage and seniority of the role.
How to apply
Applications are handled through Recann.
Initial conversations are confidential, and full company details are shared following an initial qualification call.
Recann is acting as an employment agency on this assignment in line with the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003.