CTO - AI-native optical design platform (Paraxial)

Senior/principal-level engineer with deep experience building zero-to-one products Strong command over system design across backend, compute, and data layers Experience building and shipping simulation-heavy or data-intensive workflows Experience working with performance-sensitive code (C++, Python, or other modern languages) Ability to choose and integrate the right technology based on constraints (C++, Python, CUDA, GPU libraries, ML frameworks, rendering engines) Experience architecting pipelines involving optimization, numerical analysis, or scientific computation Ability to independently deliver a working product slice in weeks Strong intuition for glueing together APIs, LLMs, numerical code, and UI Clear communication with non-software domain experts Bias toward shipping, learning, and iterating Comfort owning ambiguous, open-ended problem spaces

Own the end-to-end architecture of Paraxial’s early product Make technical decisions across backend, orchestration, data modeling, optimization workflows, and early simulation integration Rapidly prototype core workflows (spec → model → optimization → results) Manage interfaces to external engines and future high-performance cores Integrate early LLM workflows Develop foundations for reproducibility, logging, and correctness Shape engineering culture, documentation, and hire the first technical team Make long-term decisions on HPC, GPU, ML, and CAD infrastructure