--- title: CTO job description template for startups (2026) description: Free CTO job description template for Seed to Series B startups, with a 12-month scorecard, a 30-60-90 day plan and the JD mistakes that put good CTOs off. image: https://funded.club/hubfs/blog-featured-images/fc-cto-job-description.png --- [![Primary\_logo](https://funded.club/hubfs/Primary_logo.svg)](https://funded.club/) [Book a call](https://funded.club/contact-us) - [Hire](https://funded.club) - [Pricing](https://funded.club/pricing) - [Find a job](https://funded.club/startupjobs) - [Case Studies](https://funded.club/case-studies) - [Locally](https://funded.club/case-studies/locally) - [Supernova](https://funded.club/case-studies/supernova) - [Isolocity](https://funded.club/case-studies/isolocity) - [WeTravel](https://funded.club/case-studies/wetravel) - [Digital Science](https://funded.club/case-studies/digital-science) - [Blog](https://funded.club/blog-results) - [Resources](https://funded.club/resources) - [Predict success](https://signup.predict.ventures/) - [Growth Planner](https://funded.club/growth-planner) - [Glossary](https://funded.club/glossary) - [FAQ](https://funded.club/faq) - [Contact us](https://funded.club/contact-us) [Book a call](https://funded.club/contact-us) - Engagement options: - [Hiring solutions](https://funded.club) - [Pay-as-you-go](https://funded.club/pricing) - Membership plan # CTO job description template for startups (2026) ![cto-job-description-template-for-startups-(2026)](https://funded.club/hs-fs/hubfs/blog-featured-images/fc-cto-job-description.png?width=1200&height=628&name=fc-cto-job-description.png) [Ray Gibson](https://funded.club/blog/author/ray-gibson) Sep 30, 2026, 8:04:49 PM *Updated September 2026* A strong startup CTO job description names the technical decisions the hire will own in year one, says how much of the week is hands-on code versus hiring and managing, and is clear about the company's stage. It lists outcomes rather than duties, keeps must-haves to six or fewer, and shows the salary and equity ranges up front. ## Copy-and-paste CTO job description **About \[Company\]** \[Company\] builds \[one sentence on the product\] for \[who the customer is\]. We raised \[round\] from \[investors\] in \[month, year\]. The team is \[number\] people, \[number\] of them engineers. **The role** We're hiring a CTO to own our technology and engineering team as we go from \[where you are now\] to \[next milestone\]. You'll report to \[CEO name\] and spend about \[X\]% of your time writing code in year one. \[If relevant: this is a co-founder level role with equity to match.\] **What you'll do in your first 6 months** - Review the current architecture and decide, in writing, what we keep, rebuild or retire before \[milestone\]. - Hire \[number\] engineers, starting with a \[role\], and set up an interview process the team can run without you. - Ship \[specific product milestone\] by \[month\]. - Own the technical side of our \[Series A / Series B\] raise, including technical due diligence. - Agree with \[CEO name\] how product decisions are made and who has the final call. **What you'll bring** - You've built and shipped a product that paying customers used, and you still enjoy writing code. - Hands-on experience with \[core stack\]. - You've hired engineers and kept them. - You've made architecture calls under time and cash pressure, and can explain them to a non-technical co-founder. - Working knowledge of \[security or compliance need, e.g. SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA\] if it applies to us. - You've worked in a company of \[X to Y\] people. **Nice to have** - Experience in \[industry or domain\]. - You've been through a fundraise or a technical due diligence process. - \[Specific depth, e.g. payments or data infrastructure\]. **What we offer** - Salary: \[£/$/€ X to Y\], depending on experience. - Equity: \[X% to Y%\] in \[options / shares\], \[vesting schedule\]. - \[Remote / hybrid, X days a week in City\]. - Stage: \[Seed / Series A / Series B\] with \[number\] months of runway. \[Benefits\]. Prefer to start from rough notes? The [free job description builder](https://funded.club/job-description-builder) drafts one in minutes, and our [CTO interview questions](https://funded.club/blog/cto-interview-questions) map to the scorecard further down this page. Three JD lines, rewritten for a CTO with options Weak JD line "Own the technical vision and drive engineering excellence." "10+ years with modern tech stacks." "Competitive salary and equity." Startup-ready line "Decide by \[month\] whether we split billing out of the monolith, and write down why." "You've shipped a product paying customers used, and hired at least \[number\] engineers." "\[£/$/€ X to Y\] salary and \[X% to Y%\] equity, four-year vesting." ## How a CTO job description changes by stage Write for the stage you're at now, then say how the role will grow. | | Seed | Series A | Series B | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | **Hands-on code** | Most of the week | Around half, falling | Mostly code review and design | | **Team to lead** | A few engineers, often contractors | A growing team, first team lead | Several teams with managers | | **Top priority** | Ship and keep the product running | Hiring and a repeatable delivery process | Scale, security reviews, org design | | **Investor role** | Supports the CEO in pitches | Leads technical due diligence | Reports on engineering to the board | | **Title to consider** | Lead developer, unless a co-founder | CTO | CTO, often with a VP Engineering running delivery | Equity falls with each round, and co-founder CTOs sit in a different bracket. Benchmark against current data for your market. ## Scorecard: how you'll judge success Write the scorecard before the JD goes live, and make every interview question test one row. It stops a strong talker winning on charm. | Outcome | What good looks like at 12 months | How you'll test it in interviews | | --- | --- | --- | | Architecture decisions | Major decisions written down with reasons; the stack supports \[milestone\] without a rewrite | Review of your real system; ask about a decision they reversed | | Hiring | \[Number\] engineers hired and still here; the team runs interviews | Walk through their last three hires and one mis-hire | | Delivery | Milestones hit and a release rhythm the CEO can plan around | Ask what they cut the last time a date slipped | | Investor work | Led technical due diligence for the next round | Have them explain your architecture to a mock investor | | Founder partnership | A clear split of decisions with the CEO, disagreements settled quickly | Reference call with a former CEO they worked for | Suggested scorecard weighting for a Seed to Series A CTO Architecture decisions 25% Hiring 25% Delivery 20% Founder partnership 20% Investor work 10% Suggested weighting, not market data. At Series B, move weight from delivery to hiring and investor work. ## 30-60-90 day plan | Days | Focus | By the end they should have | | --- | --- | --- | | 1 to 30 | Listen: read the code, meet every engineer, join five customer calls | A written assessment of the architecture and team, with the top five risks | | 31 to 60 | Decide: agree priorities with the CEO, open the first roles, fix the worst risk | A two-quarter technical roadmap, a hiring plan and an interview loop | | 61 to 90 | Deliver: ship the first milestone and get the first hire to offer stage | A milestone live and the few engineering numbers they will report monthly | ## Mistakes founders make in CTO job descriptions **Writing a VP Engineering job and calling it CTO.** Running sprints and managing people while you set direction is a different hire. See [lead developer vs CTO](https://funded.club/blog/lead-developer-vs-cto-startup) covers where the lines sit. **Hiding the code split.** The best candidates decide in a few lines whether this is a builder's job or a manager's job. Put a rough percentage in the role section so they can self-select. **Leaving decision rights vague.** Early CTO hires fail on the founder relationship more often than on skill. Say who owns the roadmap and who breaks a tie. **Copying big-company must-haves.** "Managed 50+ engineers" filters out the person who took a product from zero to its first customers. ## Where Funded.club fits We've helped 500+ startups from Seed to Series D across North America, Europe and APAC, including engineering leadership hires. Funded.club agrees a low fixed fee upfront, averaging 6 to 9% of salary, from $4,900 to $21,900 per hire (see [pricing](https://funded.club/pricing)). One dedicated recruiter runs the search end to end, with first screened candidates within 7 days. If we don't deliver a shortlist of at least 3 qualified candidates within 30 days, you can claim the advance back in full. For the full process, read our guide on [how to hire a CTO for a startup](https://funded.club/blog/hire-cto-startup). ## Frequently asked questions ### Should a startup CTO job description include salary and equity? Yes. Senior engineers skip listings that say "competitive". Give salary and equity ranges, and say whether the role is co-founder level. ### What is the difference between a CTO and a VP Engineering job description? A CTO job description centres on technical direction, architecture and investors. A VP Engineering one centres on delivery, process and managing engineers. ### Do I need a CTO at Seed stage? Only if you need someone to own technical direction and share the founder load. If you need a strong engineer to build and lead a few others, hire a lead developer. Worth a brief chat about your next hire? [Book a free call](https://funded.club/contact-us). ## Hiring after a funding round? First candidates in 7 days. Fixed-fee, no commission. [See pricing](https://funded.club/pricing) [Book a free call](https://funded.club/contact-us) [Try the Growth Planner](https://funded.club/growth-planner) [![Primary\_logo](https://funded.club/hubfs/funded-images2022/Primary_logo.svg)](https://funded.club) © 2019-2026 Funded.club B.V. All Rights Reserved. Chamber of Commerce: 63083809    VAT (BTW): NL855084844B01 ## Contact Us - [Hiring service](https://funded.club) - [Pricing - Recruiting projects](https://funded.club/pricing) - [Find a job](https://funded.club/startupjobs) - [Our team](https://funded.club/fundedteam) - [Blog](https://funded.club/blog) - [Case studies](https://funded.club/case-studies) - [Startup resources](https://funded.club/resources) - [FAQ](https://funded.club/faq) - [Contact Us](https://funded.club/contact-us) ## Follow Us © 2019-2026 All rights reserved. - [Privacy Policy](https://www.iubenda.com/privacy-policy/56133290) - [Cookie policies](https://www.iubenda.com/privacy-policy/56133290/cookie-policy) - [Terms of Use](https://funded.club/terms) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@id" : "https://funded.club/#ray-gibson" }, "dateModified" : "2026-09-30", "datePublished" : "2026-09-30", "headline" : "CTO job description template for startups (2026)", "image" : [ "https://7828179.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7828179/blog-featured-images/fc-cto-job-description.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://funded.club/blog/cto-job-description", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@id" : "https://funded.club/#organization" } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "https://funded.club/#organization", "@type" : "Organization", "areaServed" : [ "North America", "Europe", "Asia-Pacific" ], "description" : "Fixed-fee recruiting partner for funded startups and fast-growing teams across North America, Europe and APAC. 500+ startups helped since 2019. 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