Remote Chief Technology Officer Jobs in Santa Rosa, CA

Founded in 2020 by a team of leaders from Braintree, PayPal, and Lending Club, Highnote is an embedded finance company that sets the standard in modern card platform management. As an all-in-one card issuer processor and program management platform, we provide digital-first organizations with the flexibility to seamlessly issue and process payment cards, embed virtual and physical card payments, and integrate ledger and wallet functionalities—empowering businesses to drive growth and profitability.

We've raised $145M+ and have grown our team to 125+ employees. Headquartered in San Francisco, we've managed to build one of the most advanced payments teams in the industry, with team members in 25+ US states.

Operating through our core values of customer obsession, executional excellence, intentional inclusion, we're helping businesses grow for the future by creating the payment products demanded by tomorrow, with the ability to solve for use cases that don't exist yet.

We are fast-moving, hands-on, and strongly believe everyone deserves a seat at the table. We believe we're unlocking incredible opportunities that can change the future of payments, as long as we have the right people to make it happen.

Highnote is looking to hire a Technical Program Manager to work directly for the CTO & Co-Founder. We are looking for a strong technical program management track record, demonstrated experience launching critical products and services, and a well-rounded technical background ideally in the payments space.

What you'll be doing:

• Create project plans that cut across product, tech, operations, external partner teams for on time execution. Drive plan execution with demos, agile metrics, milestones, and test plans
• Take responsibility of executive goals, create desired outcomes, and deliver those outcomes across teams
• Understand executive's visions and goals, apply that to align senior leaders and teams to execute and deliver on schedule
• Work with product, design, and engineering teams on people, schedule, and scope tradeoffs
• Be the primary point of contact for all program stakeholders
• Create work break down with milestones by diving deep into technical systems and products
• Embrace ambiguity and skillfully detangle and clarify to enable teams to move faster

• 7+ years of technical product or program management experience
• 7+ years of working directly with engineering teams experience
• 5+ years of software development experience or Bachelor's in Computer Science
• Experience in using SQL, data analytics, and AI for reasoning, drive data driven discussions, and influence decisions to achieve outcomes
• Experience managing programs across cross functional teams, building processes and coordinating release schedules
• Proficiency using AI-powered development tools (e.g., Claude Code) across the full software development lifecycle - including design, prototyping, development, testing, and iteration. A demonstrated passion for AI-driven development, a commitment to continuously advancing AI skills, and a drive to push the boundaries of productivity and engineering outcomes.

• 8+ years of hands-on work managing complex technology projects experience
• Experience managing projects across cross functional teams, building sustainable processes and coordinating release schedules

• We're a startup that allows for our employees to truly build from the ground up and impact every layer of our organization.
• We're a team of payments obsessed individuals. While some of us come from the fintech world, some of us don't. We value the varied backgrounds and the diverse perspectives of our employees.
• We're small on hierarchy and big on growth. We're a flat organization that allows everyone to have direct exposure to our leadership team. We are looking for builders who thrive in ambiguity.
• We're backed by Oak HC/FT, Costanoa Ventures, Adams Street Partners, Westcap, and Pinegrove Venture Partners. Angel Investors include Bill Ready (CEO at Pinterest) and Renaud Laplanche (Co-Founder & CEO of Upgrade).

• Flexible Paid Time Off
• 100% healthcare coverage + 75% coverage for dependents
• 401k program
• Paid Parental Leave: Up to 16 weeks paid leave for the birth parent, and up to 6 weeks paid leave for the non-birth parent
• Equity in Highnote
• Stipend to build out your home office; internet and phone reimbursement
• At Highnote we have built a total rewards philosophy that includes fair, equitable, geo-based compensation that is performance and potential based. Our compensation packages are competitive based on robust market research and are a combination of a cash salary, equity, and benefits. In compliance with the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, the annual salary range for applicants is $160,000-$200,000.

Please note that positions located in San Francisco are hybrid and include core working days of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in office.

Highnote is a diverse and inclusive company committed to growing a diverse and inclusive team. We invite people from all backgrounds and identities to apply. We do not discriminate based on gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race, religion, age, national origin, citizenship, disability, pregnancy status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected by US federal state or local laws, or the laws of the country or jurisdiction where you work. Additionally, we encourage everyone to share which pronouns you wish for us to use when addressing you (i.e.: she/her, he/him, they/them, etc).

Note on Recruitment Fraud: Highnote will never ask for payment, bank details, or interview candidates via text/chat apps. All official emails come from @highnote.com or Greenhouse.