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Cto Startup Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

The Opportunity This is a hands-on CTO role for a leader who stays close to the work and builds ... brings the urgency of a startup to a company at scale. What You Will Own First 12 Months ...

CTO

Fresno, CA

$185K - $195K/yr

Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Role Overview: We are seeking an experienced Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to lead our technology strategy and oversee all technical aspects of our company. The ideal ...

Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Department: Engineering Reports to : President and CEO Position Type : Regular/Full-Time/On-Site/Exempt Location : San Jose, CA The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) is ...

Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Department: Engineering Reports to : President and CEO Position Type : Regular/Full-Time/On-Site/Exempt Location : San Jose, CA The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) is ...

We are seeking an accomplished Chief Technology Officer, CTO to lead the technology vision, engineering organization, AI strategy, and product architecture for a growing enterprise SaaS company ...

The Opportunity Postman is a rapidly growing Series D funded startup that specializes in providing ... We are currently seeking an experienced and highly skilled Field CTO to join our team, reporting to ...

Successful startup CTO experience. * 10+ years experience leading development of software and/or data management and curation. * 5+ years of health industry software (preferably at least some AI ...

Successful startup CTO experience. * 10+ years experience leading development of software and/or data management and curation. * 5+ years of health industry software (preferably at least some AI ...

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Cto Startup information

See California salary details

$25.2K

$164.3K

$272.9K

How much do cto startup jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 21, 2026, the average yearly pay for cto startup in California is $164,330.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $130,300.00 and $192,400.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a CTO startup?

A CTO (Chief Technology Officer) in a startup is responsible for overseeing the company’s technology strategy, product development, and engineering team. They play a key role in building the tech infrastructure, making crucial architectural decisions, and ensuring scalability. In early-stage startups, a CTO often codes and actively contributes to product development, while in later stages, they focus more on leadership and strategy. Their role is essential in aligning technology with business goals and driving innovation.

What are some of the biggest challenges a CTO faces at a startup, and how are they typically addressed?

As a CTO at a startup, you’ll frequently encounter challenges such as managing limited resources, rapidly iterating on product development, and balancing technical debt with new feature innovation. Additionally, you’ll often need to support hiring and mentoring a technical team while aligning technology choices with evolving business needs and investor expectations. These challenges are typically addressed through agile planning, fostering a culture of open communication, and prioritizing tasks that deliver the most value to the business. Startups value CTOs who can remain hands-on when required yet also provide strategic oversight and lead the company through periods of rapid change.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive in the CTO startup position, and why are they important?

To thrive as a CTO at a startup, you need deep technical expertise, a proven track record in software development or engineering leadership, and experience scaling technology solutions, often backed by a relevant degree. Familiarity with cloud platforms, agile project management tools, and compliance frameworks (like SOC 2 or GDPR) is commonly expected. Strong soft skills such as strategic vision, adaptability, and effective communication are essential to lead and motivate diverse teams in a fast-paced environment. These skills are vital for driving innovation, aligning technology with business goals, and guiding early-stage companies to sustainable growth.

What are popular job titles related to Cto Startup jobs in California?

For Cto Startup jobs in California, the most frequently searched job titles are:

What cities in California are hiring for Cto Startup jobs?

Cities in California with the most Cto Startup job openings:

Infographic showing various Cto Startup job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 95% Full Time, 3% Part Time, and 2% Contract. Highlights an 81% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 16% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $164,330 per year, or $79 per hour.

Chief Technology Officer

Doist

San Francisco, CA • On-site

$250 - $500/hr

Other

Posted 11 days ago


Job description

About Foodsmart Foodsmart is the leading telenutrition and foodcare platform, serving more than 3 million members across employer-sponsored health plans, Medicaid managed care organizations, Medicare Advantage plans, and commercial insurers. Backed by a national network of registered dietitians, the platform pairs personalized nutrition care with a benefits marketplace that drives measurable, lasting health outcomes. In 2024, TPG's The Rise Fund invested $200M into Foodsmart. We are in a high-growth phase where technology is a direct driver of commercial results, member experience, and clinical impact. Our published outcomes include 42% of food-insecure members becoming food-secure within six months, meaningful weight loss and HbA1c improvement at 24 months, and an NPS of 86.

The Opportunity

This is a hands-on CTO role for a leader who stays close to the work and builds alongside the team. We are building a focused, fast-moving engineering organization at a moment when the business needs technology to move faster, ship higher-quality products, and translate directly into commercial, clinical, and member value. We recently moved to a pod-based operating model and brought on a strong Chief Product Officer who will be the CTO's closest counterpart in building and shipping products. Over the past year we have invested in a strong foundational and data layer, and we have stood up a pod-based operating model that has meaningfully accelerated our product development lifecycle. The next CTO inherits an infrastructure and a working delivery model, and a clear runway to build on it and ship products that matter, rather than starting from scratch. We run an engineering organization across a US-based team and a newly deployed offshore team in India. A core part of the CTO's mandate is to develop the long-range plan for domestic and offshore staffing, shaping how and where the organization grows as we scale. This is also a rare moment to shape what a transformative consumer-driven healthcare business can do with AI. We are looking for someone energized by the opportunity to use AI not only to accelerate how we build, but to create entirely new service offerings and new forms of value for members and partners.

Beyond product

Beyond product, this CTO will be a leader in a broad organizational transformation toward becoming a truly AI-enabled company, applying the technology across how the whole business operates. Foodsmart exists to bring foodcare to underserved populations and to take on some of the country's hardest problems: access to affordable, healthy food and changing behaviors to support sustainably healthier lives. The right leader is genuinely motivated by that mission and believes technology is how we deliver on it at scale. We are looking for a builder: someone with a real fire in the belly, who loves being close to the work, has a strong bias for action, and holds themselves and their team to a high standard. This person thinks about technology in terms of the outcomes it produces and brings the urgency of a startup to a company at scale.

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