CTO / Co-Founder - Hardware & Climate Technology (AWH)

About the role

A climate-tech company building an ecosystem of water solutions that generates, conserves and optimizes water for agriculture, industry and environmental restoration in water-scarce regions is looking for a CTO / Co-Founder. Its core technology is Atmospheric Water Harvesting (AWH), and the CTO will lead its development from early-stage R&D through commercialization and real-world deployment. This is a hands-on role: designing, building, testing and iterating, not delegating everything from day one.

Key responsibilities

• Define and lead the technical vision and architecture of AWH systems
• Design and develop mechanical and thermal systems
• Take products from idea to prototype, pilot and commercial deployment
• Lead hands-on R&D, experimentation, testing and performance optimization
• Drive system efficiency, reliability and scalability
• Oversee prototyping, validation and field testing
• Contribute to IP strategy, patent drafting and technical documentation
• Build and later lead a technical team (engineers, researchers, technicians)
• Collaborate with partners, suppliers and research institutions
• Support fundraising and investor discussions with deep technical insight

Required profile

• MSc / PhD in Mechanical Engineering (strongly preferred) or a related field
• Proven experience taking physical products from concept to commercialization
• Experience working on real hardware, not just simulations or papers
• Startup, scale-up or spin-out experience is a strong plus
• Comfortable with uncertainty and early-stage ambiguity, hands-on and execution-driven

Required skills

• Thermodynamics and heat transfer
• Cooling and refrigeration systems, including innovative cooling methodologies
• Fluid mechanics and airflow systems
• Phase change materials (PCM) and energy storage
• Energy-efficient system design
• Experience with MOFs, absorbents and coating methodologies is a plus

What we offer

• Co-founder equity with meaningful ownership
• The chance to build core climate infrastructure technology from the ground up
• Work on a global, high-impact problem of water security and energy efficiency