Chief Technology Officer

AI overview

Lead the transformation of the engineering organization to a high-velocity, product-focused team while guiding AI-first engineering practices.

This role is part of our Prerender team, one of our largest brands at saas.group.

Prerender is a dynamic rendering SaaS platform within the saas.group portfolio. Since 2017, we've revolutionized SEO practices by enabling search engines to crawl JavaScript-heavy sites seamlessly while preserving user experience. Thousands of companies worldwide trust our platform, which serves over 2.7 billion unique pages to web crawlers and drives results for enterprises and growing businesses alike.

Profile Overview

Prerender has built a platform that thousands of companies trust to serve billions of pages to web crawlers. Now we're evolving into something bigger: a platform that helps businesses reach not just search engines, but the AI systems increasingly shaping how people find information.

To get there, we need to transform how we build product. We're looking for a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to lead that transformation, shifting our engineering organization from infrastructure-optimization to a high-velocity, product-focused team that moves fast and ships features that matter.

This is a building role, not a caretaker role. You'll own the technology vision, set the engineering strategy, and have real authority over the R&D budget, team, and technical direction. You'll embed AI-first engineering practices, make smart infrastructure tradeoffs, and dramatically improve our delivery speed.

We need someone who's hands-on and willing to contribute directly, not just manage from above. You need deep technical expertise, a strong infrastructure background, and a proven track record of transforming engineering teams at SaaS companies.

Your Responsibilities

Technology Vision and Strategy:

  • Own the technology vision, roadmap, and engineering strategy for Prerender. Align engineering work with business objectives and customer value.
  • Lead adoption of AI-assisted development tooling to multiply team productivity.
  • Drive architecture and infrastructure decisions with a holistic view of TCO that includes maintenance burden and engineering opportunity cost, not just hosting spend.
  • Represent Prerender's technical capabilities to customers, partners, and the broader market.
  • Maintain high standards of software quality, performance, security, and reliability.
  • Stay ahead of industry trends and translate them into competitive advantages.

Team Management and Growth:

  • Coach and mentor engineers to reach their full potential. Set clear expectations and create real opportunities for growth. People matter here.
  • Build a culture of continuous improvement, ownership, and rapid iteration.
  • Foster diversity and inclusion within the engineering organization.

Execution and Delivery:

  • Dramatically improve engineering velocity and reduce cycle times from ideation to production.
  • Enhance DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, and robust monitoring systems.
  • Define and track engineering metrics that matter. Use data to identify bottlenecks and optimize workflows.

Executive Partnership and Stakeholder Management:

  • Partner with the CEO and leadership team on company strategy. Communicate technology progress to company leadership and the board.
  • Work closely with Product to align engineering capacity with customer needs.
  • Translate technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders and advocate for investments that drive business growth.

Ownership & Autonomy:

  • Own the full R&D budget including personnel, infrastructure, tooling, and vendor relationships.
  • Make the right decisions for engineering, aligned with company strategy, without second-guessing or micromanagement.

Who You Are

Beyond skills and experience, we're looking for someone with these qualities:

  • Accountability: You take ownership of outcomes, not just activities. When things go wrong, you focus on fixing them, not assigning blame.
  • Independence: You're comfortable making decisions with incomplete information and course-correcting as you learn.
  • Honesty: You communicate directly, even when the message is difficult. You'd rather surface problems early than let them fester.
  • Courage: You're willing to challenge the status quo and make unpopular decisions when they're the right ones.

What You Bring to the Table

  • 10+ years in software engineering, with 5+ years in senior engineering leadership (VP/Director/CTO) at a SaaS company.
  • Strong infrastructure background with experience running large-scale distributed systems, cloud infrastructure, and making strategic tradeoffs between cost, maintenance burden, and engineering velocity.
  • Demonstrated ability to embed AI tooling into engineering workflows and multiply team productivity.
  • Proven experience coaching, mentoring, and developing engineering teams, ideally through a significant transformation.
  • Track record of dramatically improving team delivery speed and reducing cycle times.
  • Business-oriented and hands-on: you understand how engineering decisions connect to revenue and customer value, and you contribute directly when needed.
  • Experience with scalable, high-performance web products, CI/CD, DevOps, and security principles. SEO or search-related experience is a plus.
  • Excellent communication skills. Comfortable presenting to boards, working with executives, and collaborating cross-functionally.

What's in it for You

  • Ultimate flexibility: We're 100% remote. Work from wherever you like, whenever you like.
  • Freedom and autonomy: High-trust environment with lots of independence to solve problems your way, with support when you need it.
  • Minimum bureaucracy: We stay efficient and keep momentum sustainable. No death by meetings.
  • Real impact: This is a C-level role with a seat at the executive table, board visibility, and the mandate to transform how we build product.
  • Small & friendly team: We help each other out, have fun, and don't take ourselves too seriously.
  • Our network: Access to a community of SaaS professionals across the saas.group portfolio who regularly exchange ideas and expertise.
  • Flexible time off: Recharge when you need to.
  • Learning Budget: Generous budget for classes, conferences, books, and other learning resources.

Prerender is part of saas.group, and we have a shared goal of succeeding together.

We don't just offer you a job. We're inviting you to join us on this journey to build the world's largest platform of independent SaaS companies.

Sounds like something you're up for? Apply even if you don't check every box. We believe in the power of diverse perspectives. Your application might be exactly what we need.

What is saas.group?

Think of us as the driving force behind your favorite software success stories. saas.group, established in 2017, is on a mission to turbocharge promising B2B SaaS ventures, unlocking their full potential. As a Software-as-a-Service portfolio powerhouse, we specialize in acquiring small software treasures and polishing them into industry stars. With a dynamic, fully remote team of nearly 400 colleagues spanning 45 countries we are truly global and we are rewriting the playbook on SaaS innovation and collaboration. We grow 25 exciting brands under our umbrella. Feel free to explore our Candidate's Hub to get an insider's view, dive into our culture, gain valuable insights into our teams and how we work.

saas.group is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. If you're passionate about working with a team that values innovation, excellence, and fairness, we encourage you to apply.

Perks & Benefits Extracted with AI

  • Flexible Work Hours: Freedom and autonomy: High-trust environment with lots of independence to solve problems your way, with support when you need it.
  • Home Office Stipend: Ultimate flexibility: We're 100% remote. Work from wherever you like, whenever you like.
  • Learning Budget: Generous budget for classes, conferences, books, and other learning resources.
  • Paid Time Off: Flexible time off: Recharge when you need to.
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