Position Overview

We are seeking an ambitious technical leader who combines strategic vision with hands-on development expertise. This is an exceptional opportunity for a senior developer ready to step into their first CTO role, where you'll shape our technical vision and business strategy while actively contributing to platform development. You'll lead our evolution from WordPress-based solutions to a modern, headless CMS architecture while building and scaling our technical team. This role offers significant growth potential with performance-based rewards tied directly to company success.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

Technical Vision & Strategy: Develop and implement the technical vision and roadmap aligned with business objectives, making critical decisions on platform architecture, technology stack, and development priorities

Business Collaboration: Work closely with co-founders to shape overall business strategy, participate in senior-level decisions, and contribute to investment and fundraising discussions

Innovation & Competitive Advantage: Identify opportunities for technological innovation, guide product development to maximise market fit, and ensure competitive positioning

Stakeholder Engagement: Represent the company in technical discussions with key partners and clients, support sales efforts with technical expertise and product demonstrations

Hands-On Technical Development

WordPress Platform Leadership: Oversee development of club websites using established WordPress templates, refine custom templates based on user feedback, and optimise performance for speed and mobile responsiveness

Platform Evolution: Lead our strategic migration from WordPress to headless CMS architecture with React and Node.js, develop React Native components for mobile applications, and establish best practices for the new tech stack

API Design & Integration: Collaborate on API design and integration to support headless CMS solutions, with expertise in both REST and GraphQL APIs

DevOps & Automation: Leverage Azure DevOps YAML pipelines for automated testing and deployment, ensure centralized code and configuration management supporting parallel deployment of multiple sites

Technical Operations & Quality

Architecture & Performance: Lead technical design of the platform, ensure scalability, security, and performance across all systems

Development Standards: Establish development methodologies, best practices, and quality assurance processes that balance speed with technical excellence

Infrastructure Management: Manage hosting infrastructure, technical operations, and oversee security updates and maintenance across all platforms

Technical Debt: Strategically manage technical debt while balancing immediate delivery needs with long-term sustainability

Team Building & Leadership

Direct Team Management: Lead and mentor a part-time developer, providing technical guidance and ensuring effective collaboration on development tasks

Technical Culture: Create a productive and innovative technical environment, establish development processes, and foster knowledge sharing

Hiring Strategy: Develop strategies for attracting and retaining technical talent as the company scales

Cross-functional Collaboration: Work closely with Product Owners, Test Analysts, and DevOps Engineers to ensure aligned technical delivery

Knowledge Sharing: Document processes, maintain version control standards, and support all team members with technical guidance

Resource & Business Management

Strategic Resource Allocation: Make informed decisions about technology investments and priorities, optimising development approaches based on available resources

Financial Responsibility: Take responsibility for overall company performance, financial outcomes, and sustainable growth

Efficiency Optimisation: Develop technical solutions that maximise limited resources while maintaining quality and performance standards

Required Skills & Experience

Technical Leadership Experience

5-8 years of hands-on development experience with demonstrated progression toward leadership

Track record of mentoring junior developers or leading small technical projects

Experience making architectural decisions and influencing technical direction

Interest in or experience with business strategy and customer-focused development

Core Development Skills

WordPress Expertise: Extensive experience in WordPress development, including themes, plugins, and following WordPress best practices

Modern Web Technologies: Strong skills in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, MySQL, and Python

API Development: Proven experience with REST and GraphQL API development and integrations

React Ecosystem: Experience with React and React Native development, understanding of headless CMS architectures

DevOps & Operations

Experience with Azure DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, and automated testing frameworks

Understanding of cloud infrastructure, security best practices, and performance optimisation

Familiarity with git version control and modern development workflows

Emerging Technologies

Experience using AI development tools (CoPilot, ChatGPT, Deepseek, etc.) to accelerate development

Proficiency with VS Code and modern development environments

Preferred Skills & Experience

Previous exposure to startup or small business environments

Interest in or basic understanding of business development and client relationships

Experience with NoSQL databases and Node.js development

Knowledge of modern frontend build tools (e.g., faust.js, npm)

Background in mobile-first development and sporting/community organisations

Demonstrated self-motivation and ability to work independently

Strong communication skills for stakeholder interaction

Position Structure

Compensation & Growth Opportunity

Base Salary: AU$126,000 per annum

Performance Bonuses: Significant earning potential through client retention bonuses (5-10% of base salary annually) and new business acquisition bonuses (2-5% of new contract value)

Total Potential Earnings: AU$141,000-AU$156,000+ annually based on performance

Professional Development: Annual budget for conferences, training, and certifications available from year two

Career Growth: Clear pathway to traditional CTO compensation levels as the company scales

BYOD Policy: Bring Your Own Device with software subscriptions and essential tools provided

Decision Authority & Responsibility

Significant influence over company direction as senior technical leader

Participation in major strategic and operational decisions

Direct accountability for technical outcomes and business performance

Work Environment

Sports Tech Startup: Join an innovative tech startup in the sports industry with direct influence on technical and business direction

Team Structure: Lead a small technical team including a part-time developer, with opportunities to scale the team as the company grows

Flexible Structure: Remote-first environment with flexible hours focused on outcomes rather than traditional office schedules

Learning Culture: Emphasis on continuous improvement, experimentation, and professional development

Direct Impact: See the immediate results of your technical decisions on client satisfaction and business growth

Collaborative Environment: Work closely with co-founders who value technical expertise and innovation

Success Metrics

Technical Excellence

Platform reliability, performance, and scalability across WordPress and new architecture

Successful migration to headless CMS with React/Node.js stack

Development efficiency, code quality, and automated testing coverage

Security implementation and technical debt management

Business Impact & Growth

Client retention rates of 90%+ annually, directly impacting bonus potential

Successful acquisition of new business through technical excellence and stakeholder relationships

Sustainable company growth and platform adoption across sporting communities

Achievement of key business milestones that demonstrate product-market fit

Leadership Development

Successful team building and technical culture development, including effective management of part-time developer

Growing capability in stakeholder management and business collaboration

Strategic decision-making that balances technical excellence with business needs

Personal growth trajectory toward traditional CTO-level competencies

Ideal Candidate Profile

This role is perfect for an entrepreneurial senior developer (5-8 years experience) ready to make the leap into technical leadership. You should be excited about building something from the ground up, comfortable with performance-based compensation that rewards success, and passionate about serving sporting communities through innovative technology solutions.

You might be:

A senior developer seeking your first CTO opportunity with hands-on involvement

A technical co-founder type who thrives in startup environments

An experienced developer motivated by direct impact on business outcomes

Someone who values learning, growth, and the opportunity to shape a company's technical future

The successful candidate will balance technical expertise with emerging business acumen, demonstrating both the ability to write quality code and the vision to guide strategic technical decisions. This is an opportunity to grow into a traditional CTO role while maintaining the technical work you love.

Why Join Us?

Meaningful Impact: Build technology solutions that directly serve sporting communities across Australia

Technical Ownership: Lead the architecture and implementation of modern web solutions from WordPress to React/Node.js

Career Acceleration: Gain CTO-level experience and responsibilities typically reserved for much larger companies

Performance Rewards: Directly benefit from the company's success through substantial performance bonuses

Learning Environment: Work with cutting-edge technologies while building processes and culture from the ground up

Flexible Growth: Develop both technical and leadership skills with support from co-founders and stakeholders