Chief Technology Officer

Company Description

Microfone is a community-based, anonymous social audio platform. It?s where you go to get honest answers to difficult questions, share your most vulnerable thoughts, connect authentically with other humans around the world, and discuss any issue or topic. Harnessing the power of new AI transcription and translation tools, Microfone is the first social audio network that can recommend content to users, in any language, anywhere on earth.

The Role

We?re seeking a mission-driven CTO to lead the architecture, development, and scaling of Microfone?s platform. You?ll work directly with the founders to build and iterate on a product that handles complex user data with multiple layers of anonymity and privacy. This isn?t just another social app ? it?s a new communication model, and we need someone who can help build it responsibly and creatively.

What You'll Do

• Architect and scale a backend capable of supporting real-time, anonymized audio-based conversations.
• Design systems that balance data utility with user anonymity ? handling pseudonymous IDs, encrypted metadata, and differential privacy principles.
• Build and manage a flexible user permissions model (e.g., anonymous, pseudonymous, verified, etc.)
• Implement robust content moderation pipelines, integrating LLM-based tools (like Gemini) for real-time filtering, summarization, and community flagging.
• Own database architecture ? ensuring efficient querying of high-volume audio data, usage logs, and anonymized user graphs.
• Lead full-stack development using tools in the Google Cloud ecosystem, including Gemini APIs, Firebase, BigQuery, and Cloud Functions.
• Collaborate on feature design, ship MVPs fast, and build a small, elite engineering team as we scale.

You Should Have

• 8+ years of full-stack engineering experience, including leading development teams or founding roles.
• Deep expertise in data architecture, anonymized user systems, and secure identity design (or a deep interest in designing these thoughtfully).
• Fluency with Google Cloud Platform, including:
• Firebase (Auth, Firestore, Functions)
• BigQuery
• Cloud Run or App Engine
• Gemini AI APIs or Vertex AI
• Experience working with or building LLM-powered features ? moderation, summarization, matching, etc.
• Strong knowledge of PostgreSQL or other relational DBs; comfort with designing and querying complex, relational and semi-structured data.
• Familiarity with audio data handling, cloud storage, and scalable media pipelines a plus.
• Bonus: background in privacy tech, social platforms, audio tech, or startups with identity-sensitive features.

You Might Have Worked At...

• A privacy-focused social network (e.g. Clubhouse, BeReal, Whisper, Dispo)
• A cloud or AI startup (e.g. using GCP, OpenAI, or Gemini APIs)
• A company like Snap, Signal, Discord, or Google, where user data and content systems require nuanced privacy approaches
• Your own startup ? especially if you?ve built and shipped a product solo or with a small team

Ideal Fit

You?re not just an engineer ? you?re a builder. You love the thrill of MVPs, the discipline of clean architecture, and the challenge of designing systems that treat people with care. You?re energized by the idea of leading the technical vision for a new kind of network, one that pushes back against the social media status quo in favor of something more human.