Technical Lead/CTO at Fortalis — Defence and National Security Software

As the founding technical hire, you will architect and build a modular software platform designed for high-consequence environments. You’ll integrate disparate data sources and SME technologies into a unified operational picture for national resilience. This is a hands-on leadership role combining product strategy with first-principles engineering from a blank slate.

• Architect and build an interoperable platform that ingests and synthesises cross-domain signals from multiple external data sources and SME technologies.
• Collaborate directly with the CEO to translate complex real-world security problems into robust, scalable, and deployable software solutions.
• Lead the development of distributed systems and integration-heavy APIs to produce decision-ready intelligence for government and critical infrastructure clients.

• 5–10 years of experience building and designing complex, integration-heavy distributed systems while remaining a hands-on, high-output individual contributor.
• Strong architectural judgment with the ability to leverage AI tools and modern workflows to own the output of a foundational platform.
• A mission-driven mindset with the desire to work in the defence and national security sector; prior experience in secure environments is a plus.

• Founding ownership: As the first technical hire, you own the entire architectural roadmap and technology stack from day one without legacy constraints.
• Mission-critical impact: Build the software layer for national resilience, solving fragmented data challenges for defenders in cyber, physical, and information domains.
• High-upside equity: This role offers meaningful co-founder level equity or early-employee stakes for a mission-driven leader shaping a foundational security platform.