Chief Technology Officer

The research industry is being rebuilt from the ground up and Ideally is building the platform at the centre of it.

A $30bn market is shifting away from slow, agency-led research toward always-on software that enables faster, repeatable decisions at a fraction of the cost. AI is accelerating this change, automating workflows that once required specialists and putting powerful insight tools directly into the hands of the people who need them.

Ideally is building the decision engine for modern marketing teams, combining consumer data and AI agents that generate insights and recommend actions within a centralised platform. We're enabling consumer understanding to be used early and often in creative and commercial decisions.

We're one of New Zealand's fastest-growing startups, recently closed a Series A, and are scaling into the US. This is an opportunity to define a category, not just contribute to one.

Why work at Ideally

Ideally is a high-performance, high-care environment built for people who want to do the most meaningful work of their career.

We move fast, set a high bar, and expect people to take ownership of outcomes, not just execution. As the company evolves, so will the role. You will be expected to adapt quickly, focus on what matters most, and operate with sound judgement in ambiguous situations.

You will work closely with a small group of highly capable leaders across Product, Engineering, Product Science, and Research to build something category-defining.

About this role

As CTO, you will shape Ideally's technical vision and own the machine that ships quality software at pace. That means the engineering team, architecture, tooling, security, and technical direction behind the product.

This is a leadership role reporting to the CEO. You will stay close enough to the work to make strong technical calls, coach effectively, and shape how modern AI-enabled engineering gets done. This is not a manage-from-above role.

In tight partnership with the Head of Product, you will share ownership of what gets built and how, challenging each other openly, moving quickly, and keeping engineering deeply connected to customer and commercial outcomes.

What outcomes you'll deliver

• Set a clear, defensible technical direction that enables the product to scale without unnecessary complexity, avoidable risk, or accumulating debt
• Ensure the platform meets enterprise-level expectations around security, reliability, governance, and performance
• Create the conditions for high-quality software to ship at pace, reliably, and with minimal rework
• Lead and embed AI-enabled engineering workflows that increase focus, flow, and execution velocity
• Partner deeply with the Head of Product to shape both problems and solutions, with no boundary between problem-framing and solution-building
• Anticipate and resolve technical risks, constraints, and scaling bottlenecks before they become problems
• Build and lead a high-performing engineering team with strong ownership, accountability, and clear connection to the mission
• Operate as a true leadership team member, aligned around enterprise-level outcomes and collective success

What you'll bring

• Proven technical leadership in high-growth or scaling SaaS environments
• Hands-on engineering ability, comfortable in the code, not just directing from above
• A track record of building and scaling engineering teams, systems, and delivery practices
• Strong experience with AI strategy and AI-enabled product development
• The ability to translate commercial and customer context into clear, decisive technical decisions
• Experience partnering cross-functionally with product to drive shared outcomes
• A proven track record of building platforms that are secure, resilient, and enterprise-ready, with experience embedding strong security, governance, and compliance practices into engineering – including infrastructure risk, data protection, and AI compliance

Core capabilities

Enterprise platform security, AI strategy and model landscape, technical architecture in high-growth SaaS, software delivery practices, engineering team design, and commercial context for build vs. buy decisions.

System or tool proficiency

AI-enabled engineering tools (Cursor, Copilot, Claude Code), core stack (AWS, .NET, React), engineering workflow tools (Linear, GitHub), and market tools for common problems (such as WorkOS for enterprise auth).

Where you'll work

This role is based in Auckland, working closely with Ideally's leadership, Product, Engineering, Product Science, and Research teams.

What we offer as perks

• Competitive rewards and upside, including salary and meaningful ESOP
• Growth and progression, with stretch opportunities and exposure as we scale
• Flexibility and autonomy, with a hybrid model and focus on impact rather than hours
• Support that matters, including paid parental leave, fertility support schemes, and wellbeing resources
• A fun, social environment, including our annual company-wide offsite ThinkFest

Perks are table stakes for us. What truly defines Ideally is our high-performance, high-care culture, the calibre of people, the ownership they're given, and the chance to help shape an industry.

Who should apply

This role is suited to someone who wants to build a category-defining platform and is comfortable with the pace, ambiguity, and expectations that come with that.

If this excites you, we'd like to hear from you, even if your experience doesn't perfectly match every requirement. We care more about judgement, capability, and how you think than a checklist of credentials.

We know from research that female and non-binary applicants are less likely to apply unless they feel 100% qualified. If that's you, please take this as your nudge to apply anyway. Focus on the bullet points that reflect your strengths and experience, not the ones that don't.