CTO Artificial Intelligence (Defense)

A Defense organization is seeking a CTO for the AI field.

The CTO will lead engineering and architectural excellence at the executive level.

This role is to ensure the development of smart, stable, sustainable, secure, and scalable AI systems. He will be responsible for all aspects of development processes, infrastructure, and architecture, and will drive the technology strategy to realize the organization’s vision in the most complex operational environments.

In this role, the CTO will manage the core engineering guilds, including DevOps, MLOps, and Data Engineering.

• Leading engineering guilds: Professional management, mentoring, and development of all software engineers, DevOps, MLOps, and data engineers in the organization .
• Defining the technological vision and architecture: Shaping the technological roadmap, selecting technology stacks, and designing the long-term system and platform architecture to support all squads.
• Setting standards and development processes: Implementing engineering best practices, including CI/CD, code reviews, testing methodologies, and version control.
• Managing platform teams: Direct responsibility over core infrastructure teams that provide DevOps and MLOps as-a-service for the entire organization.
• Solving engineering and system challenges: Leading the resolution of complex technological challenges, such as deploying and optimizing models on edge environments, addressing large-scale deployments across networks, securing AI systems, and integrating with existing operational systems.
• Managing technological stakeholders: Regular collaboration with lead architects and engineering leaders in the defense industry and the IDF, ensuring compatibility and seamless integration.

Education:

• Mandatory: Bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or a related engineering field.
• Preferred: Master’s degree in a relevant field.

Experience:

• Mandatory:
• At least 10 years of experience in software engineering and complex systems.
• At least 4 years in leadership/technology management roles (e.g., Development Team Lead, Architect, Head of Engineering).
• Proven experience designing, building, and maintaining large-scale production systems.
• Deep hands-on experience with cloud infrastructure (public/private), containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), and CI/CD processes.
• Strong Advantage:
• Practical experience in building MLOps and data engineering platforms.
• Experience working in secure or air-gapped (classified/IDF-style) environments.
• Familiarity with embedded systems or edge computing.
• Prior experience in the defense sector or military technology units.

Skills and Competencies:

• Broad system-level perspective and the ability to plan long-term architecture.
• Technological leadership that promotes a culture of quality, automation, and accountability.
• Strong problem-solving skills for complex engineering challenges (deep-dive capabilities).
• Ability to bridge research-driven AI requirements with production limitations and needs.
• Pragmatic mindset, balancing innovation with system stability and reliability.
• Capability and willingness to mentor and teach advanced technological concepts (high-level proficiency in technical English, including conducting meetups, internal training, etc.).