CTO / Founding Systems Architect

Location: Canada, remote or hybrid
Function: Engineering, Platform Architecture, AI Infrastructure, Data, Geospatial, Edge, Secure Systems
Seniority: Executive / Principal Architect / Founding Technical Leader
Engagement: Full-time, fractional-to-full-time, founding technical partner, interim CTO or senior contractor pathway

About the Role

Nexus Agency is recruiting a CTO / Founding Systems Architect for a frontier-technology platform at the intersection of AI, data infrastructure, geospatial intelligence, edge computing, secure cloud, climate and hazard analytics, and decision-support systems.

This is a build-stage technical leadership role for someone who wants to help shape a serious platform from architecture into deployment.

We are looking for a senior builder who can turn an ambitious technical vision into working systems: secure, testable, documented, interoperable and ready for real-world use. This is not a title-only CTO role. It is for someone who can operate as a founder-level technical owner, principal architect and execution leader.

The platform will support risk intelligence, site readiness, geospatial context, AI-assisted analysis, evidence workflows, edge-enabled deployment, secure decision support and operational resilience.

If you want to build frontier technology that connects AI, geospatial systems, climate risk, infrastructure resilience and secure deployment, this role is for you.

What You Will Own

You will lead the technical direction, architecture and build strategy for a platform that brings together:

• AI-assisted risk intelligence and decision-support workflows
• data ingestion, harmonization and data-fabric architecture
• geospatial intelligence, ArcGIS-oriented outputs and spatial decision layers
• Earth observation, remote sensing and site-context intelligence
• climate, hazard, resilience and mission-readiness analytics
• edge computing nodes, runtime environments and deployment images
• secure cloud, hybrid and controlled-environment infrastructure
• sensor, telemetry and local-input integration
• evidence packages, validation records and acceptance documentation
• dashboards, operational reporting and system-health views
• open-source public-good components
• enterprise-grade deployment and support capabilities

You will help make the platform buildable, secure, explainable, interoperable and scalable.

The Core Technical Challenge

This role owns the architecture for two connected stacks:

Open-Source Public-Good Stack

Reusable reference components, schemas, APIs, SDK patterns, data models, geospatial workflows, documentation, test examples and developer-facing tools that can support transparency, research collaboration, interoperability and ecosystem adoption.

Enterprise-Grade Deployment Stack

Secure, production-grade, configurable and supported deployment capabilities for government-facing, institution-facing, partner and mission-site environments, including hardened deployment images, secure cloud and edge environments, access controls, enterprise GIS integration, observability, backup, recovery, support pathways and acceptance documentation.

You will help decide what should be open, what must remain controlled, what should be built, what should be integrated and how the platform should scale.

What You Will Deliver

In the first 90 to 180 days, you should be able to lead or produce:

• end-to-end system architecture
• technical roadmap and build sequence
• open-source release plan
• enterprise deployment plan
• data architecture and data-fabric model
• geospatial and ArcGIS-oriented architecture
• edge-node, runtime and deployment-image architecture
• AI and model integration architecture
• secure cloud and DevSecOps architecture
• observability and system-health model
• integration and interface specifications
• architecture decision records
• technical risk register
• engineering team structure
• test, validation and acceptance approach
• technical documentation and handoff model

What You’ll Do

• Own the architecture across data, AI, geospatial systems, edge computing, secure cloud, cybersecurity, DevSecOps, observability, testing and deployment.
• Turn platform strategy into an executable engineering roadmap.
• Define the boundary between open-source public-good components and enterprise deployment capabilities.
• Lead data architecture for ingestion, data contracts, metadata, lineage, source readiness, validation and access control.
• Shape geospatial architecture for GIS layers, site-context models, ArcGIS-oriented outputs, spatial services and map-based decision workflows.
• Guide AI and model integration for risk analytics, anomaly detection, forecasting, hazard-consequence logic, evidence scoring and decision support.
• Define edge and deployment architecture for local runtime, deployment images, configuration records, monitoring, updates, rollback and remote support.
• Build security into the platform from the start, including identity, access control, encryption, secrets management, logging, monitoring and vulnerability tracking.
• Establish technical acceptance discipline: architecture records, configuration records, test logs, release notes, limitation notes, issue records and deployment documentation.
• Help recruit and structure the technical team across software, data, AI, GIS, cloud, cybersecurity, DevSecOps, edge, hardware, QA and documentation.

Who You Are

You are a senior technical leader who has built complex systems before. You may be a CTO, founding engineer, technical co-founder, principal architect, VP Engineering, chief architect, platform architect or distinguished engineer.

You are strategic, but still close enough to the system to make hard technical decisions.

You can review architecture, challenge assumptions, structure repositories, define interfaces, guide security tradeoffs, choose build-versus-buy paths, sequence delivery and explain technical decisions to non-technical stakeholders.

You are comfortable with ambiguity, but you do not hide behind it. You simplify, sequence, decide and ship.

What We’re Looking For

Strong candidates will bring experience across several of the following areas:

• complex platform architecture
• AI or machine-learning infrastructure
• data platforms, pipelines or data-fabric architecture
• geospatial systems, ArcGIS, Earth observation or remote sensing
• secure cloud, hybrid cloud or controlled-environment deployment
• edge computing, distributed systems or field-deployed infrastructure
• DevSecOps, CI/CD, SRE and observability
• cybersecurity architecture and privacy-aware systems design
• API, SDK, runtime or integration architecture
• open-source software strategy and governance
• enterprise software delivery
• technical documentation, testing and acceptance
• public-sector, regulated, critical-infrastructure or institution-facing technology environments

The right candidate knows how to architect across domains, identify gaps, recruit the right people and make strong technical decisions under real constraints.

You’ll Stand Out If You Have

• Built a platform from prototype to production.
• Led architecture across AI, data, GIS, cloud, edge or secure infrastructure.
• Released or governed open-source software.
• Delivered enterprise or government-facing technical systems.
• Worked with geospatial intelligence, ArcGIS, Earth observation, climate risk, emergency management, infrastructure resilience or mission-support technology.
• Built technical teams in fast-moving, high-accountability environments.
• Produced architecture documents, technical roadmaps, acceptance plans or deployment models that survived real users and real constraints.

Why Join

This is an opportunity to help build frontier technology from Canada with global relevance.

The work sits at the intersection of AI, geospatial intelligence, climate risk, secure infrastructure, edge computing and public-interest technology. It is for people who want to build systems that matter, not just optimize another consumer app.

You will help define technical architecture, shape the engineering culture, build open and enterprise pathways, and contribute to a platform designed for real-world risk, resilience and decision-support use cases.

What Success Looks Like

A successful CTO / Founding Systems Architect will:

• turn a complex technical vision into a clear architecture and build plan;
• establish both the open-source public-good stack and the enterprise-grade deployment stack;
• define clear boundaries between open components, enterprise capabilities, secure configurations and customer-specific deployments;
• produce the architecture, roadmap, specifications, technical controls and acceptance framework needed to build;
• guide engineering across data, AI, GIS, edge, cloud, cybersecurity, observability and deployment;
• recruit or coordinate the technical team needed to execute;
• create systems that can be tested, validated, deployed, documented, supported and scaled; and
• build technical credibility with engineers, partners, customers and institutional stakeholders.

Compensation

Initial 90-Day Execution Mandate

This role may begin with a structured 90-day execution mandate. During this period, the selected candidate will be expected to deliver defined technical outputs, including system architecture, technical roadmap, open-source and enterprise stack boundaries, data and geospatial architecture, edge deployment approach, AI/model integration plan, technical risk register, team structure, and testing / acceptance framework.

Depending on engagement structure, the initial period may be set up as a paid probationary employment period or a milestone-based consulting engagement. Successful delivery may lead to a confirmed ongoing CTO / Founding Systems Architect appointment. The initial period may count toward employment tenure where the candidate is engaged as an employee from day one.

Eligibility

Candidates must be legally authorized to work in Canada or in the applicable role location. Canada-based candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

Equal Opportunity

Nexus Agency welcomes qualified candidates from diverse professional, geographic, cultural, technical, institutional and sectoral backgrounds.

We are especially interested in senior technical leaders who can bridge software, data, AI, geospatial systems, cybersecurity, secure infrastructure, climate resilience, edge computing and frontier public-interest technology.

Talent Pipeline Notice

This is a continuous strategic talent posting. Candidates may be considered for current or future opportunities across Nexus Agency, Nexus Consortiums, Nexus-aligned companies, partner organizations, public-interest technology programs, projects and implementation vehicles.

Application, participation, expression of interest or introduction does not guarantee selection, appointment, compensation, contract award, placement, public authority, procurement approval, endorsement, certification, financeability, insurability or implementation authority.

How to Apply

Please submit:

• resume or executive profile
• LinkedIn profile or professional biography
• short statement of interest
• summary of work authorization
• examples of platforms, systems, architectures, open-source projects, enterprise deployments or technical teams led
• preferred location, engagement model and availability

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.