Chief Technology Officer - Bitcoin Trust Company

The Company

Swan is a leading Bitcoin-only financial services company supporting individuals and companies throughout their Bitcoin journey. We hire passionate Bitcoiners who want to work with a self-motivated and fully distributed startup team.

The Role

Last year, Swan announced the intent to launch a Bitcoin-only trust company. Now, we are working toward building a pipeline of highly qualified individuals to help us lead this company. The trust company will embark on the mission of onboarding the world’s Bitcoin-only clients ranging from wealth managers, family offices, institutions, and beyond while innovating in Bitcoin-only custody initiatives such as multi-institutional custody and other new forms of collaborative and conditional custody enabled by Bitcoin native technology. The company will maintain complete legal separation from Swan, and have its own management structure including a CTO and CSO/CISO separate from Swan, while having the benefit of access to Swan’s broader resources (over 60 employees in product, engineering, and security, with more than 150 employees overall).

We are looking for a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) or Chief Technology and Security Officer (CTSO) to lead the technology operations of the trust company. The CTO will be responsible for the design, implementation, and continued enhancement of of the core trust company functionality ranging from implementation of ledgering systems, integrations with cold storage and digital asset security systems, and innovations such as multi-institutional custody with the help of the Swan Custody team.

This is a startup-phase tech company role that must balance the fast paced needs of a startup with the regulatory and risk needs of a trust company managing billions of dollars in AUM. The ideal candidate will have experience in rapidly changing high growth environments, be comfortable with wearing many hats, and be able to rapidly jump levels from hands-on review of engineering initiatives, to vendor selection, to conversations with management and regulators.

Your responsibilities

• Team Leadership: lead and mentor the engineering team, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and accountability.
• Hiring: lead the hiring, onboarding, and mentoring process to bring new engineers on board with access to help from Swan’s recruiting and HR practice.
• Strategy and Roadmap: Develop and implement a cohesive technology strategy and roadmap to achieve a highly compliant financial institution, integrating industry best practices. Oversee the development and maintenance of our technology infrastructure, ensuring robustness, scalability, and compliance with regulatory standards.
• Custody integrations: Ensure the seamless integration of Bitcoin asset management platforms, cold storage HSMs, and similar.
• Vision: Stay abreast of emerging trends and technologies in the Bitcoin and financial sectors, and work closely with our talented team of Bitcoin core developers, security engineers, and product managers to develop a vision for multi-institutional custody, inheritance management, and other Bitcoin native implementations.
• Risk Management: Work closely with the management team and board to mitigate risks to the company, ensuring our systems are resilient against digital threats and aligned with industry best practices, in partnership with the CSO/CISO.
• Incident Response Leadership: Develop, oversee, and periodically refine the company's SRE and incident response strategy in partnership with the security team. Drive regular training sessions for team members, ensuring a cohesive and effective response to incidents.
• External Relations Management: Lead the company’s engagement strategy with vendors and partners. Assess vendor suitability for implementation. Engage with CTO and product/engineering counterparts at partners.
• Business Continuity: Develop, implement, and regularly exercise a cohesive backup and disaster recovery strategy.
• Executive Briefings and Consultation: Serve as the company’s senior staff on technology matters. Periodically provide insights, recommend strategies, and emphasize best practices to the management team and/or board.

Skills and experience that will help you succeed

• Proven experience as a CTO or in a similar leadership role, with a history ranging from startups to regulated financial environments. Department level leadership at larger institutions may be acceptable.
• Hands-on experience leading engineering teams and developing tech strategies.
• Heavy experience in cloud-based infrastructure (Azure, AWS, GCP).
• Strong background in a regulated financial setting such as a trust company, bank, or other financial institution.
• Deep understanding of Bitcoin and digital asset management infrastructure.
• Excellent leadership and team-building skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Excellent communication skills, capable of effectively articulating technology strategy to a diverse range of stakeholders.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
• This is a USA-based W-2 employment role.

Here's a bit about our culture

• We’re a growing team: Fully distributed across the world, Slack and Huddles are huge here.
• We’re very flat: Leadership is desired and encouraged; we hire people who care about and use the product they are working on.
• We’re Bitcoiners: We find solutions that encourage Bitcoin principles. We are often involved in the Bitcoin community through writing, podcasts, conferences, open source projects, and time spent on Twitter to help educate the masses. We love Bitcoin, and it comes through in our daily chats, meetings, and actions.

Join us, become a Swan!