Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer

Company Description

ABOUT GROOVON

The music industry is broken. Artists are paid fractions of a penny per stream while free music has systematically devalued their work. Algorithms controlled by a handful of platforms favour the top 1% of artists, leaving the other 99% invisible. Social media throttles the reach of both artists and fans unless they pay to play. We have become passive consumers of music — fed playlists by machines — rather than active participants in a culture we love. Music discovery is fragmented, the live experience is disconnected from the digital world, and fans who champion artists for years are never recognised or rewarded for their loyalty. The industry stands at a genuine inflection point as AI reshapes how music is created, distributed, and discovered. The old rules no longer apply — and that is an opportunity.

groovon intends to drive that future, not follow it. We are a global movement promoting the interests of music fans, artists, and grassroot venues — reshaping music discovery, engagement, live experiences, and fan rewards from the ground up. We see the future of music as LIVE, HUMAN, CONNECTED AND FAIR. This moment demands bold vision, a genuine movement, and fearless execution. We need a CTO co-founder who wants to architect the technical backbone of that future from the ground up.

We are about to commence testing with limited users in April 2026. Currently bootstrapped our first funding round will start in May 2026.

Role Description

This is a full-time remote Co-Founder & CTO position. The Co-Founder & CTO will lead Groovon's technical vision and development, driving innovation across our digital platforms and ecosystem. Responsibilities include overseeing technical architecture, managing product development, building and leading a high-performing tech team, and ensuring the scalability and security of our systems. This role will also involve collaborating with other co-founders/CXOs on strategic business decisions to support the company’s mission of reshaping the music industry.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

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Academic qualification
— minimum Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline; advanced degree is a strong plus

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Minimum 15 years' experience
in software engineering or technical leadership — with a clear progression into senior and executive positions

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Previous CTO experience required
— must have held a CTO, Co-Founder & CTO, or equivalent technical leadership role at a successful technology start-up venture.

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Proven track record scaling ventures
— demonstrated experience scaling a technology product or enterprise from early stage through significant growth; startup and high-growth environments strongly preferred

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Former
roles in tech sectors
— background in consumer tech, music/entertainment, SaaS, media tech, marketplace platforms, or adjacent technology-led industries

THE ROLE

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Define and own groovon's technology strategy
— set the technical direction, make foundational architectural decisions, and ensure every technology choice serves groovon's long-term mission and commercial ambitions

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Put AI at the centre of everything
— AI is not a feature at groovon, it is core to our product, our discovery engine, our fan experience, and our competitive moat; you will lead how we build and deploy it

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Architect for scale from day one
— design infrastructure, systems, and data pipelines that can grow from thousands to millions of users without breaking

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Build and lead the engineering team
— hire, mentor, and cultivate a world-class engineering culture; this is a people leadership role as much as a technical one

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Own the product-tech roadmap
— translate groovon's vision into shipped, loved features across mobile, web, and platform; work closely with the founding team to prioritise ruthlessly

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Drive tech operations and reliability
— ensure groovon's platform is fast, resilient, secure, and operationally excellent at every stage of growth

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Lead data strategy
— build the data infrastructure, analytics, and personalisation capabilities that make groovon smarter with every user interaction

IDEAL BACKGROUND

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Founded or co-founded
a tech company, led engineering at an early-stage startup, or been a founding engineer who scaled a product to millions of users

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Deep expertise
in consumer platform architecture — two-sided marketplaces, social apps, streaming, or live event tech is a strong advantage

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Strong command
of mobile-first product development — iOS, Android, or cross-platform at consumer scale

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Hands-on experience
with recommendation systems, search, or ML/AI applied to media or content discovery

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Proven ability
to build and retain engineering teams — including remote and distributed teams

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Experience navigating
rapid iteration and MVP culture without sacrificing long-term architectural integrity

-High level of personal interest in music

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS WE LOOK FOR

SCALED TO MILLIONS

Took a product from zero or early stage to millions of active users — ideally in a consumer or marketplace context

FULL-STACK OWNERSHIP

Owned the full product tech stack — from infrastructure decisions to front-end experience — with measurable business impact

BUILT ENGINEERING CULTURE

Grew and led an engineering team with strong retention and shipping velocity

MUSIC OR MEDIA TECH (significant plus)

Experience in audio, streaming, ticketing, creator tools, or live events platforms is a significant plus

*✦ strong plus — highlighted cards indicate advantageous but not essential criteria*

MINDSET & CHARACTER

— Founder mentality

— Long-term player

— Passionate about music & entertainment ✦

— Builder, not just a manager

— Speed + quality balance

— Mission-driven

— Collaborative & opinionated

— Global perspective

— Comfortable with ambiguity

COMPENSATION

Meaningful equity stake in groovon · Negotiated based on experience. Significant opportunity for wealth creation.