Chief Technology Officer - Software

GRADIAS, incubated by New Digital Intelligence, is dedicated to transforming education through cutting-edge AI solutions. The product leverages Generative AI (LLMs) to grade exams, tests, and homework, offering features like AI-suggested corrections, support for all assignment types, and both web and mobile app access. It ensures data protection, GDPR compliance, and aims for higher quality, efficiency, and cost optimization while providing fair, transparent, and objective evaluation. As a company in its formative stages, we are looking for a visionary and highly technical leader to join the founding team as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) & Co-Founder . This is a rare opportunity to architect the technical core of a high-potential startup and lead the „0-to-1“ engineering of AI-driven educational tools. Responsibilities Architect and Lead Technical Strategy: Design and build a robust, secure, and cloud-native architecture (GCP/AWS/Azure) capable of handling high-volume PDF processing and AI inference. Oversee the implementation and optimization of LLMs (currently powered by GPT-4o) and specialized Computer Vision models for advanced Handwriting Recognition (OCR). Translate the product vision into a technical execution plan, prioritizing the delivery of planned features like Curve Discussions, Chemical Formulas, and Legal Cases. Hands-on Engineering and Security: Lead the end-to-end development of the web and mobile platforms, ensuring a seamless experience for teachers and students. Ensure the platform adheres to the highest European data protection standards, managing sensitive educational data with zero compromise on security. Establish foundational engineering practices, including CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and rigorous code reviews to ensure 98% accuracy in grading. Innovation and Research: Develop systems that don’t just provide scores but generate human-like, pedagogical feedback that explains the „why“ behind the grade. Engineer performance analytics and AI-driven insights to help educators track learning trends and provide individualized student support. Contribute as a Co-Founder: Play a central role in shaping the company’s technical direction, ethical AI framework, and internal engineering culture. Recruit, mentor, and lead a high-performing engineering team of developers, AI researchers, and DevOps specialists. Represent Gradias’ technical competitive advantage to investors and strategic partners. Qualifications Proven experience as a CTO, VP of Engineering, or Senior Tech Lead in a fast-paced startup or high-growth tech environment. Deep technical understanding of Generative AI, Prompt Engineering, and Natural Language Processing (NLP). Experience with Document AI or OCR is a significant plus. Strong background in modern web technologies (e.g., Python/Flask/Node, React, MongoDB) and cloud infrastructure. Experience building GDPR-compliant systems and managing data security in a B2B/SaaS context. Ability to balance the rapid delivery of an MVP with the long-term scalability of the platform. Fluency in English is essential. Personal Attributes A proactive „player-coach“ who is comfortable writing code today and leading a team tomorrow. A genuine desire to leverage technology to solve the workload crisis facing educators worldwide. Thrives in the ambiguity of an early-stage startup and is committed to hitting ambitious growth targets. Able to work seamlessly with the CPO and CRO to align technical capacity with product market fit. What We Offer ~ A pivotal role with direct impact on company strategy and the future of AI in education. ~ Significant equity stake as part of the co-founding team. ~ The opportunity to build a new category of educational tools from the ground up. ~100% remote work within Germany. Ready to reclaim the future of education? If you are a technical visionary ready to build the next generation of AI grading tools, we’d love to hear from you.