Chief Technology Officer

About YouTrain

YouTrain builds a military XR training platform for armed forces, law enforcement, and emergency responders. Our products – DronAR, TrainAR, BrothAR, ShootAR, DrivAR, and MissionAR – combine immersive environments with real equipment, enabling scalable training for drone operations, tactical shooting, emergency driving, and mission planning. Our customers and partners include the Bundeswehr, BWI, the Cyber Innovation Hub, and Quantum Systems. We are an international, fast-growing team headquartered in the heart of Hamburg – made for those who protect us.

The Role

As CTO you own YouTrain's entire technology strategy – from the Unity-based XR applications to the training platform (CMS/LMS, learning analytics, instructor portal) to secure on-premise and offline deployments for armed forces and authorities. You build and scale the engineering organization, set technical standards, and ensure our architecture grows with the company – without compromising the defence sector's requirements for security and reliability.

What You'll Do

• Own the technology strategy, target architecture, and make-or-buy decisions for the entire product portfolio.
• Build, lead, and develop the engineering organization (recruiting, mentoring, processes, culture).
• Steer the architecture across XR clients (Unity), backend platform, data management, and deployment models (cloud, on-prem, edge/offline).
• Anchor defence-sector security and compliance requirements in the technical implementation.
• Represent technical due diligence towards customers, partners, and investors.
• Align the engineering roadmap closely with product and management and ensure delivery capability.

About You

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, including several years in technical leadership (CTO, VP Engineering, Head of Engineering).
• Proven experience building and scaling engineering teams in a product company.
• Deep architectural understanding of distributed systems, modern backend stacks, and client applications; Unity/3D/XR experience strongly preferred.
• Experience with security-critical environments, on-premise, or air-gapped deployments.
• Entrepreneurial mindset, hands-on mentality, and startup or scale-up experience.
• Business-fluent English; German a strong plus. EU/NATO citizenship required due to our customer environment.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience in defence, GovTech, or simulation.
• Experience with multiplayer/real-time systems, streaming, or learning platforms.
• Existing network of tech talent in Germany and/or Ukraine.

What We Offer

• Meaningful mission: your work improves the operational readiness of those who protect us.
• Modern office in central Hamburg with a hybrid work model (office & home office).
• International team with colleagues across Germany, Ukraine, and other locations.
• Startup environment with real ownership, flat hierarchies, and fast decisions.
• Competitive compensation aligned with experience and responsibility.
• Deutschlandticket and Wellpass (fitness & wellness programs).
• Top equipment including the latest XR hardware.
• Individual learning and growth opportunities beyond your role.