CTO Guide, Advisor and Auditor for SaaS platform

Looking for a CTO advisor and guide to mentor and audit SaaS platform. Needs to be extremely sophisticated resource. This can be a full time of part-time role depending on your availability. About SimplifyVMSSimplifyVMS is a next-generation Vendor Management System (VMS) and Contingent Workforce Management Platform designed for global enterprises and Managed Service Providers (MSPs). Our multi-tenant, cloud-native SaaS platform helps organizations manage contingent labor, SOW engagements, and service procurement with agility, compliance, and intelligence.With customers across North America, EMEA, and APAC, SimplifyVMS is building a scalable, secure, and globally compliant platform that supports multi-region data storage, GDPR compliance, multi-currency transactions, and localization across multiple hierarchies and organizational levels.We are seeking a visionary CTO Advisor/Auditor and Guide for our Engineering team with extensive experience in PHP/Laravel-based SaaS architectures, global-scale system design, and hands-on leadership across architecture, data engineering, performance, and delivery management.Position OverviewThe CTO Advisor/Auditor and Guide of Engineering will lead all aspects of software engineering and platform architecture for SimplifyVMS, overseeing product development, data architecture, scalability, and technology excellence.This executive will guide a distributed engineering team to deliver high-performing, secure, and compliant global SaaS products, while ensuring strong collaboration with Product Management, Customer Success, and Operations.This is both a strategic and hands-on technical leadership role — ideal for a leader who combines deep architectural experience with a passion for building enterprise-grade SaaS platforms that scale globally.Key Responsibilities1. Technical Strategy & ArchitectureDefine and own the technical vision and roadmap for the SimplifyVMS platform.Architect and guide the evolution of a PHP/Laravel-based global SaaS solution, ensuring scalability, modularity, and maintainability.Lead architectural modernization efforts including containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), microservices adoption, and API-first design.Oversee multi-region data residency, GDPR compliance, and data partitioning strategies across EMEA, APAC, and North America.Design and manage multi-currency, multi-language, and localization frameworks across organizational hierarchies and workflows.Define best practices for performance optimization, caching, load balancing, and distributed systems management.2. Engineering Leadership & DeliveryLead, mentor, and scale a high-performing global engineering team (developers, architects, QA, DevOps, data engineers).Establish engineering excellence frameworks — coding standards, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and release governance.Oversee end-to-end delivery of platform enhancements, ensuring on-time and high-quality releases aligned with product roadmap goals.Implement DevSecOps practices ensuring security, compliance, and continuous monitoring throughout the SDLC.Collaborate with product leadership to translate business goals into scalable and sustainable engineering solutions.3. Data Engineering, Reporting & AnalyticsOversee data architecture design, data flow management, and high-performance data pipelines across multi-tenant environments.Drive development of real-time reporting, analytics, and business intelligence capabilities within the VMS platform.Ensure accuracy, performance, and compliance in handling sensitive workforce, financial, and supplier data.Implement data retention, encryption, and anonymization policies aligned with GDPR and regional compliance standards.4. Global Platform ManagementManage and optimize multi-region deployments, ensuring uptime, reliability, and performance SLAs.Oversee cloud infrastructure strategy (AWS / Azure / GCP) including load balancing, redundancy, and cost optimization.Establish standards for disaster recovery, monitoring, and incident management.Lead initiatives for workflow localization — ensuring process, currency, and language variations function seamlessly across regions and organizational hierarchies.5. Stakeholder & Cross-Functional LeadershipCollaborate with Product, UX, and Customer Success teams to align technology with customer outcomes.Partner with executive leadership on product vision, innovation strategy, and technology investment planning.Represent Engineering in customer-facing discussions for enterprise clients and strategic partners.Build a culture of ownership, transparency, and continuous learning across engineering teams.Required Skills & QualificationsTechnical Expertise15+ years of software engineering experience, with 8+ years in a senior engineering leadership or VP role.Deep hands-on experience in PHP, Laravel, MySQL/PostgreSQL, and modern web application architectures.Proven experience building and scaling complex B2B SaaS platforms supporting global enterprise customers.Strong expertise in:Microservices and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).Multi-tenant architectures with role- and hierarchy-based access.Multi-region data storage and GDPR compliance frameworks.Multi-currency, multi-language, and localization management.API-first integration frameworks with HRIS, ERP, and third-party SaaS platforms.Strong background in data engineering, ETL pipelines, and reporting frameworks.Solid understanding of cloud infrastructure (AWS), DevOps automation, and CI/CD.Experience with performance engineering, load testing, and high availability systems.Leadership & ManagementProven ability to build, scale, and mentor large engineering teams across multiple time zones.Experience managing agile delivery organizations with rapid iteration and continuous deployment.Strong communication and stakeholder management skills — able to collaborate effectively with product, business, and client executives.Track record of transforming legacy systems into modern, cloud-native architectures.EducationBachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical discipline.Advanced degree (MBA, M.Tech) preferred but not required.Preferred ExperiencePrior experience in HR Tech, Procurement Tech, or Workforce Management platforms.Exposure to AI/ML integration for analytics and intelligent automation.Experience with SOC 2 / ISO 27001 compliance, and secure data handling practices.Thought leadership in modern PHP/Laravel architectures, open-source contributions, or technical publications.Why Join SimplifyVMSLead technology innovation for a global SaaS company revolutionizing workforce management.Architect and scale a modern PHP/Laravel-based enterprise platform serving multinational clients.Build and mentor a world-class engineering team with cutting-edge technologies (containerization, DevSecOps, AI-driven reporting).Competitive executive compensation, performance incentives, and leadership visibility.