Title
Principal Investigator / Chief Technology Officer / Founding Technical Executive
We are building VWST, a breakthrough volumetric video compression and capture platform designed to make immersive 3D media practical, scalable, and more efficient. Our company sits at the intersection of deep tech, media, and product, and we are looking for people who want to help define a new category while working closely with founders in a scrappy, high-ambiguity environment.
The PI/CTO will own the engineering and research validation of VWST, including technical architecture, prototype development, performance evaluation, and the translation of research into a production path. This person will also help shape product direction, interpret market feedback, support GTM strategy, and serve as a senior technical voice alongside the founders.
Core responsibilities
- Own the technical roadmap for VWST from prototype to product-ready system.
- Lead research validation, technical experimentation, and performance benchmarking.
- Drive engineering execution across codec development, rendering, system integration, and SDK-oriented productization.
- Make architecture decisions for heterogeneous hardware, including GPU/NPU and device-agnostic deployment considerations.
- Work closely with founders on product direction, customer feedback, and go-to-market priorities.
- Help define technical hiring needs and participate in hiring additional engineers in the next phase.
- Represent the company credibly in technical, academic, and investor conversations.
Required qualifications
- Senior, principal, or equivalent deep-tech engineering experience, or an advanced academic background with strong applied research leadership.
- Demonstrated experience in one or more of: codec development, signal processing, volumetric geometry, rendering, GPU/NPU systems, heterogeneous hardware, or SDK engineering.
- Strong ability to move between research rigor and shipping discipline.
- Comfort working in a very early-stage startup with significant founder involvement and a high level of ownership.
- Product intuition and comfort engaging with market feedback and technical GTM decisions.
- Ability to work hybrid from Portland, including on-site periods as needed.
Preferred qualifications
- Experience in startup deep-tech development end-to-end.
- Prior work with volumetric video, XR, media infrastructure, or adjacent infrastructure-heavy systems.
- Experience hiring or mentoring early engineering teams.
- Credibility in academia, industry research, or deep-tech venture ecosystems.
- Comfort with equity-heavy early-stage compensation.