Chief Technology Officer

Location: Las Vegas, NV (hybrid; flexible for the right candidate) Reports to: Chief Executive Officer Direct reports: Heads of Engineering, AI, Business Intelligence, and Product About Neato Neato is a Las Vegas-based eCommerce accelerator that purchases inventory from established consumer brands and operates as their exclusive marketplace partner across Amazon and the broader digital commerce ecosystem. The company is 90 employees, backed by Advantage Capital with a Series A at a $100M pre-money valuation, and operates a portfolio of consumer brands across multiple categories. The Opportunity Neato is hiring a Chief Technology Officer to lead the technology and AI organization through the company's next phase of growth. The CTO oversees engineering, artificial intelligence, business intelligence, and product, and is one of five C-suite executives reporting to the CEO. The company has built proprietary platforms across warehouse operations, analytics, and listing management that drive measurable margin gains and operational advantages over competitors. Neato has also invested significantly in applied AI across the operating stack, with deployed agent systems supporting finance, operations, and brand management. The CTO's mandate is to lead these systems to maturity, expand their reach across the organization, and convert the operating leverage they generate into durable competitive advantage. The role carries broad authority over technology strategy, platform architecture, engineering talent, and AI governance. The CTO partners directly with the CEO on strategic direction and engages regularly with the C-suite and institutional stakeholders. You Are… AI-Forward You use AI in your own daily work — writing code, drafting strategy documents, analyzing data, building tools for yourself — not just managing teams that do. You can show us how AI is embedded in how you actually work today, with specifics. You have built or deployed production AI systems with real users and real cost economics, and you can speak in detail about what worked, what failed, and what you learned about the gap between AI in a demo and AI in production. You hold defensible positions on model selection, agent architecture, evaluation methodology, and the operational economics of LLMs at scale. You read primary sources in the field rather than industry summaries, and you can articulate where the field is going and why. You believe AI-augmented workflow is the default operating mode for a modern organization, not an enhancement layered on top of traditional engineering. You set that standard for the teams you lead and can describe how you have done so previously. You believe you are in the top 1% of the 1% when it comes to AI and you can defend your beliefs in heated debate. Product-Forward You think like a product leader, not only an engineer. You understand what to build and why, not just how, and you can talk fluently about user outcomes, adoption, and business impact alongside technical execution. You have direct experience defining and executing product roadmaps for software platforms, and you can describe specific decisions where you said no to a feature, killed a project, or changed direction based on real data. You translate business problems into product opportunities and can defend the tradeoffs you made in doing so. You are comfortable being challenged on those tradeoffs by sophisticated executives and non-technical operators alike. You have discipline about what does not get built. You can hold the line against feature requests from senior stakeholders when the request is not the right use of the team's capacity, and you can do so without damaging the relationship. You think about adoption and operator behavior, not just shipping. You understand that internal users at a company like Neato are themselves your customers, and you build products with their actual workflow in mind. You are comfortable being the senior-most product voice in the room while the company builds out a dedicated product function, and you have a clear point of view on how that function should eventually be staffed and structured. Leadership Style You give honest, direct feedback, including upward to founders and laterally to peer executives. You can describe specific moments where you delivered a difficult message to someone senior to you and what came of it. You hold a high performance bar and are willing to make the calls others avoid, including terminations of people who are well-liked but not delivering. You do this with care for the individual, but you do it. You develop your senior leaders deliberately, not by accident, and you measure your success in part by theirs. You can describe leaders you have grown, what specifically you did to grow them, and where they are now. You take strong positions and defend them under pressure. You also change your mind when the data warrants it, and you can describe a specific instance of being publicly wrong and updating in front of your team. You operate with high ownership and minimal need for direction. You expect the founders to be partners and thought collaborators, not managers, and you carry the weight of your mandate without asking for it to be redirected back to them. You communicate clearly and decisively, especially under pressure. You can be challenged in real time by a Board member, an acquirer’s technical lead, or a senior peer and hold your ground or update your view in stride. You are comfortable being the smartest person in the room on some topics and explicitly wrong on others, and you can tell the difference in real time. Responsibilities Lead the technology organization across engineering, AI, business intelligence, and product, including direct management of four department heads Define and own the technical strategy that supports the company's growth objectives and operational priorities Architect the AI governance framework that determines how autonomous systems operate within the organization and ensure that framework evolves with the field Build, develop, and retain a high-performing technical team and set the hiring bar for engineering and AI talent across the company Own the roadmap and execution of Neato's proprietary platforms across warehouse operations, analytics, and e-commerce management Direct the AI organization to extend automation into every operational function with measurable ROI on each deployment Partner with the CEO and executive team on capital allocation, build-versus-buy decisions, and major technology investments Represent the technology organization to the Board, institutional investors, and external stakeholders Set and enforce standards for engineering quality, system reliability, security, and operational excellence Experience 5+ years of progressive leadership experience in software engineering, ideally including a senior leadership role at a venture-backed or PE-backed company Demonstrated success leading technical organizations of 10+ engineers through periods of growth or transformation Deep hands‑on experience with applied artificial intelligence in production environments, including agent systems, LLM integration, and the operational economics of AI at scale Track record of shipping proprietary software platforms that delivered measurable business outcomes Experience hiring, developing, and managing senior engineering and product leaders Demonstrated ability to operate at the executive level, including direct engagement with CEOs, boards, and institutional investors Preferred Experience Prior tenure as CTO, Head of Engineering, Head of Product, or Head of AI at a consumer, eCommerce, marketplace, or B2B SaaS company Experience at a company that went through a successful financing event, acquisition, or other major transaction Background in operations-heavy businesses where technology directly impacts unit economics Founding or early‑stage operating experience What We Offer Competitive executive base salary Meaningful equity participation through Neato's Key Employee Unit Awards Plan, vesting over four years Performance-based bonus structure tied to company and individual objectives Comprehensive health, dental, and vision benefits Direct partnership with the CEO and a high-impact seat on the executive team #J-18808-Ljbffr