Remote CTO at SaaS Startup

About Roboten
We are a startup founded in 2021 by a team including some of Sweden’s top tech entrepreneurs. We are developing Roboten, a low-code development tool and app hosting platform that our customers can use to create their SaaS or business software.

Roboten consists of four parts:

- AppStudio is a visual tool for building frontends (think Webflow but for apps).

- BaaS provides the backend as a service (imagine a love child between Airtable and Hasura).

- Flow is a visual tool for integration and automation (think Zapier on steroids).

- IAM offers a straightforward interface to the industry’s best user and permission management systems (even easier than Auth0).



They can be used standalone in your tech stack or together to create new applications.

A demonstration how Roboten AppStudio is used to build a bank app with low-code.

The fundamental difference between us and other low-code platform companies is our dislike for vendor lock-in. We have set out to create a solution that makes our customers completely vendor-independent. This ambition influences every decision we make and underpins the architecture of our software.

Roboten is a low-code development tool that generates first-class code using only standard open-source libraries (such as React and Node.js). Our customers should be able to take the generated code and run it anywhere.

But Roboten is also a fully optimized app hosting solution. It’s completely optional. Customers can leave their app with Roboten and be confident that it’s always running and scaling to millions. We aim to be the best in the world at that. That’s why our customers will stay with us - by choice.

You find more information about Roboten on our website (https://www.roboten.com).

The job
You'll bring experience in launching and scaling SaaS. You’ve walked on a few mines and learned from the mistakes. And you’re eager to use your knowledge and experience to make our audacious goal a reality.

As CTO, you are ultimately responsible for both the technical development and operation of Roboten. This includes the tools our customers use (AppStudio, BaaS, Flow, and IAM) and the hosting environment we provide for applications built with these tools.

An essential task is to be in touch with the market. You meet customers, listen to their experiences and take note of their needs. Armed with this knowledge, you will work closely with the CEO and the Head of Product to plan future developments. With feedback from developers and your experience as a seasoned software developer, you ensure that priorities are the right ones from a technical perspective.

Since we are a small company (20+ employees), you will work closely with our developers. You actively participate in discussions about features, architecture, and design choices. You review code, try out the tools as an end-user, and provide feedback. Heck, as a seasoned SaaS developer, you might even contribute with one line of code or two, although that is not your main task.

Duties and responsibilities
- You are in charge of growing our existing development team, ensuring it’s high-performing, and coping with rapid growth and change implementation.

- You ensure that the team works in an agile and best practice manner.

- You lead the effort to continuously improve the team’s development methodology and results.

- You collaborate with the CEO and the Head of Product in high-level planning of the further development of existing tools (AppStudio, BaaS, Flow, and IAM), future tools, and the hosting environment. You contribute your and your team’s technical insights and knowledge.

- You break down the high-level product development plan into manageable tasks and prioritize among them. You then let the developers carry out the tasks without getting in their way. But you’re always there for them, ready to answer questions. You are, in Scrum terminology, a product owner.

- You are responsible for the hosting platform always working and are responsive, even when customers pour in.

- You take all necessary steps to ensure that all technology assets are protected, secured, and have a proper disaster recovery continuity plan.

- You make sure our customers are super happy with the hosting and support.

- You prepare the budget for development and hosting operations and can convincingly justify why the money should be spent.

- You seek contact and deepen relationships with potential strategic technology partners and key suppliers to ensure Roboten’s access to critical resources at favorable terms.

- You support investor relationship by explaining advanced technical stuff in a way that a 12-year-old understands. (Not that we mean our investors are like 12-year-olds, but… Yeah, you get the idea.)

- You represent us as a tech speaker at conferences, seminars, and where potential customers or employees are.



Experience and education
- A requirement is that you already have a relevant senior technical role, e.g. lead developer, chief software architect, or CTO.

- You have first-hand experience rolling out and scaling web applications once and twice.

- You have a proven track record of building high-performing development teams and managing rapid growth and change implementation.

- You have prepared and followed up on budgets.

- You have a proven track record of successful negotiations with strategic technology partners and key suppliers where both parties have come out as winners.

- When it comes to formal education, we’re not so picky. What counts is what you know and what you’ve done. But, of course, it’s a big plus to have at least a bachelor degree in computer science or similar.



Qualifications and skills
- You are a seasoned techie who knows from personal experience the pitfalls of launching and scaling SaaS.

- You have a good grasp of the common elements of a modern web development stack and hands-on experience in frontend, backend, or full-stack development.

- You have deep knowledge and long experience with most of the technologies we use, including HTML5, CSS3, TypeScript, React, Node.js, JSON, JSONata, GraphQL, and REST.

- Keeping up to date with technology developments, best practices, and methodologies in the software field is a natural part of your life.

- You know the difference between being a leader and a manager. You’re a true leader, energizing teams across Europe and taking pride in helping and supporting colleagues with any problem they might have.

- You can eas...