Co-Founder and CTO

Job Description: Co-founder & CTO Job Title: Co-founder & Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Location: Noida / Delhi-NCR (Preferred, Co-location with Founder) Compensation: Significant Co-founder Equity About Kiauth Kiauth is a pre-seed, high-impact startup building the foundational trust layer for India's digital economy—the "UPI for Identity." We are solving a massive, unified crisis of trust. For individuals, we're eliminating the risk of fraud from sharing ID photocopies and the chaos of managing weak passwords. For businesses, we're eliminating the multi-crore compliance liability under the DPDP Act and the security risk of account takeovers. Our platform replaces these broken systems with a single, privacy-preserving digital identity Layer that allows users to verify their identity in person and log in online with a simple, biometric-approved "digital handshake." The Mission: Why This Role Exists We are not looking for an employee. We are looking for a Founding Partner. We are searching for a passionate, hands-on, and visionary Technical Co-founder who will be the chief architect of this new trust infrastructure. You will be responsible for building the entire Kiauth platform from the ground up—a platform that must be un-hackable, infinitely scalable, and beautifully simple. This is an opportunity to build a piece of critical national infrastructure and define the future of digital identity in India. What You Will Do (The Responsibilities) Architect & Build: Lead the end-to-end design, architecture, and hands-on development of the entire Kiauth platform, including our backend microservices, secure APIs, and the user's mobile "App." Be the Security & Privacy Champion: Design and implement a world-class, "zero-knowledge" security architecture. You will own everything to ensure our platform is provably private and compliant with the DPDP Act. Define the Stack: Select the entire technology stack (languages, frameworks, cloud infrastructure, databases) to ensure scalability, security, and development velocity. Like Such as -Your Toolkit: Backend: Node.js / Go / Python, PostgreSQL / MongoDB, AWS / GCP Frontend: React / Next.js, React Native / Flutter Security: OAuth2, WebAuthn, FIDO2, PKI, JWT, encryption DevOps: Docker, CI/CD, Kubernetes Mindset: Ownership, innovation, and love for privacy-by-design Be the First Coder: This is a hands-on keyboard role. You will write the first lines of code and build the core MVP yourself, setting the standard for engineering excellence. Build the Team: As we grow, you will be responsible for recruiting, leading, and mentoring a world-class engineering team. Be a Strategic Partner: Work side-by-side with the CEO on product strategy, business planning, and pitching to investors and key partners. Who You Are (The Requirements) A Proven "Builder": You have 7+ years of hands-on experience and a demonstrable track record of architecting, building, and scaling complex, high-availability, and secure software platforms from scratch. A Security & Cryptography Expert (Non-Negotiable): You have deep, practical knowledge of cryptography, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), encryption, secure key management, and application security. You must be able to think like an attacker and build systems that are provably secure. A Full-Stack Polyglot: You are an expert-level backend engineer and have significant experience with modern cloud infrastructure (like AWS/GCP, Kubernetes, Terraform etc) and mobile development (Native or Cross-Platform). A Strategic Thinker: You are not just a coder; you are a product-minded-architect. You can translate complex business needs (like "DPDP Act compliance") into elegant technical solutions. A Co-founder at Heart: You are resilient, autonomous, and driven by a mission. You are willing to wear multiple hats, embrace ambiguity, and do whatever it takes to get from zero to one. Bonus Points (Nice to Have) Experience with identity protocols (OIDC, OAuth 2.0, SAML). Deep familiarity with the India Stack APIs (Aadhaar, DigiLocker, UPI). Previous startup experience, especially as a founder or early-stage employee. Experience in Fintech, cybersecurity, or other high-compliance industries. Why Join Us? Build Your Legacy: This isn't a job. It's a mission to build a piece of critical infrastructure that could be used by hundreds of millions of people. True Ownership: Receive a significant co-founder equity stake. You are not an employee; you are a partner in the venture's success. Greenfield Opportunity: You get to make all the key technical decisions. There is no legacy code. You will build your vision, your way. A Massive Problem: We are tackling one of the biggest, most valuable, and most interesting unsolved problems in the digital world. 📩 DM me or email vishal@.kiauth@gmail.com if you’re ready to build something that redefines digital trust.