CTO & Co-Founder, Aquanode Stealth Co

Montauk Capital • New York City, NY

4d

About The Position

Aquanode is pioneering a new approach to delivering clean, affordable drinking water through distributed, intelligent water-generation and distribution systems. Leveraging AI and edge computing, the platform continuously optimizes performance, efficiency, and reliability at the local level while enabling scalable deployment across diverse environments. We have established partnerships, have begun fundraising, and are preparing to move from prototype to pilot and scale deployments.

We’re seeking a Chief Technology Officer and technical co-founder to define and execute Aquanode’s technology strategy across hardware, firmware/IoT, and software. This is a co-founder-level role for a builder who thrives at the intersection of hard tech, systems engineering, and productization, and most importantly, is committed to building a generational company in the climate resilience space. You will architect and scale the hardware, control systems and connected-device platform, turning prototypes into reliable, field-ready kiosks that operate as a coordinated network across sites, and will set the technology vision and roadmap to yield a scalable, reliable water network. You’ll define the platform boundaries—what’s in hardware, firmware, cloud, and at the edge—so the system scales efficiently. You’ll hire and lead the engineering team while setting safety, compliance, and operational standards for multi-site deployment. And you’ll build the team and operating cadence—metrics, feedback loops, and build/buy choices—that let the company ship faster as deployments multiply across sites.

Requirements

• Deep engineering expertise building or scaling atmospheric water generation (AWGs), HVAC, or expertise in thermodynamics.
• IoT / Network experience : creating a connected network from a series of machines.
• Energy systems knowledge : understanding methods for making energy systems viable at scale.
• Software/Hardware Delivery : Proven experience shipping IoT + hardware platforms at scale (water/energy/industrial preferred).
• Hands-on Architect : Comfortable designing systems and shipping code/firmware in early stages.
• Scale Economics Mindset : Demonstrated ability to drive the development of a geographically distributed hardware and software platform
• Security-First, Safety-First : Track record implementing secure architectures across device, network, and cloud; rigorous testing and monitoring.
• Startup DNA : Operates in ambiguity, balances speed with rigor, and loves building zero to one

Nice To Haves

• Strong knowledge and expertise in the water or distributed energy infrastructure space
• An instinct for how to develop durable products/systems in extreme environments
• Track record in early-stage or founding technical roles scaling from prototype to multi-site deployments.

Responsibilities

• System Architecture & Integration: Own end-to-end architecture for the hardware and associated IoT systems
• Scale Economics & Platform Development: Build a modular platform (hardware + software) to support multi-site, multi-region deployments, spares strategy, and versioning, as well as bringing down costs over time to ensure scalable unit economics
• Platform & User Experience: Manage development of web/mobile UIs for end users, operators, and partners
• Technical Leadership: Recruit, mentor, and lead software, hardware, blockchain, web and IoT teams; set engineering practices for safety, security, and quality.
• Partnerships & Vendor Collaboration: Work with hardware manufacturers, manage relationships with connectivity providers, cloud platforms, OEM components, and field service partners.
• Investor & Stakeholder Engagement: Represent Aquanode’s technology vision with investors, customers, and partners. Lead technical diligence, articulate scale-up plans, and report on milestones, risks, and mitigations.

Benefits

• This role offers a competitive base salary, equity participation, federal and banking holidays plus additional time off, and a full range of health benefits.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Education Level: No Education Listed