Chief Technology Officer (CTO) & Backend Team Lead

Why TREAT?

TREAT is a fast-growing gaming startup that created a new model - Play to Impact. Based on gamification, TREAT gives pet lovers the option to co-own & treat a real dog/cat in need (a real-life "Tamagotchi").

TREAT has over 13,000,000 annual recurring meals, treats, and toys being sent to shelter animals.

Our vision is to impact millions of lives by entertaining millions of users.

About the role

As the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) & Backend Team Lead for our small, but fast-growing Startup, you’ll be the strategic leader driving TREAT’s backend goals & development efforts, ensuring that we stay at the cutting edge of technology and innovation. As a hands-on CTO, your responsibilities will initially have a 70% backend focus with 30% on the CTO responsibilities. Leading the backend team in creating scalable, reliable, & impactful processes and systems that support game features and technologies and that align with our mission to improve the lives of shelter dogs. By working closely with various teams across the company, you will ensure that TREAT’s platform continues to deliver high-quality, innovative experiences to millions of users globally.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the company's technological roadmap, collaborating with other departments (frontend, art, product, etc).
• Lead and grow the Backend team, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Coordinate the successful and timely release of new app version releases, with the frontend team.
• Oversee, manage, and implement the team’s work plan.
• Oversee the development of scalable, reliable, & impactful processes and systems that support both existing and new game features, technologies, and solutions to meet quality and reliability standards.
• Addressing & solving critical bugs, collaborating cross-functionally to ensure these solutions are implemented successfully.
• Ensure the platform’s scalability and performance to accommodate growing user engagement.
• Implement robust QA processes, combining automated and manual testing to guarantee an optimal user experience.

Requirements

• Proven experience in team leadership roles (minimum 2 years)
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
• 6+ years of experience in backend development - with a minimum of 3 years of hands-on experience with Java Spring boot / Java Spring
• Proven experience in developing and maintaining microservices architectures
• Experience with AWS, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), etc
• Proven experience in successfully delivering applications to production with a large user base (minimum of 20,000 users per day)
• Experience with relational (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL) and NoSQL databases
• Expertise in establishing and managing comprehensive QA processes.
• Proficient in Git for version control, with a strong understanding of working with Git in Unity projects.
• Strong leadership, communication, and project management skills, with the ability to navigate a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• Passion for animals—whether you’ve had pets or supported animal shelters, your love for pets aligns with our mission.

Advantages

• Experience within the gaming industry
• Experience with Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
• Experience with modern game engines (e.g., Unity) and development tools