Chief Technology Officer

About Tree-Nation

Tree-Nation is the largest reforestation platform that allows citizens and companies to plant trees all around the world and offset their CO2 emissions.

We use technology to make tree planting easy. Tree-Nation invented the virtual tree, the online forest, and many other software tools in order to provide a unique technological solution aimed at shortening the distance between remote projects and their sponsors, between people and companies that want to plant trees and don't know how to, and expert planters around the world who can take care of that.

Since our beginning in 2006, over 700,000 users and more than 20,000 companies have planted 40 million trees using our platform and we have successfully onboarded 50 reforestation projects all around the world.

Let's make a difference together!

Work environment

Our team is composed of so many nationalities, cultures, backgrounds, and experiences that it seems at first sight we are very different. And we sure are. Nonetheless, we share a few things in common, things that are not defined by our nationality or background but by our sheer willpower. A warrior spirit. A fire. The way we go through life.

We're constantly in search of individuals who embody the "Swiss knife" mentality – versatile and adaptable professionals who can seamlessly transition between various roles and tackle a wide range of challenges. Much like this iconic tool, we value team members who are creative problem solvers, resourceful, and possess a diverse skill set. (And no, this does not mean that being from Switzerland is a requirement 😀).

About this position

Your role as our Chief Technology Officer is an essential part of our strategy. You will lead our Product & IT department, taking the primary responsibility for executing our Product Roadmap as well as scaling and maintaining our technical infrastructure. The ideal candidate will combine within themselves an exceptional capacity for software engineering, software product strategy as well as team leadership and management.

What you'll do:

• Lead the Product & IT department to develop a market-leading reforestation platform.
• Manage a team of software engineers, product managers, designers, and QA specialists.
• Define and prioritize the product roadmap together with the CEO.
• Foster vision-driven product development.
• Lead product design with an emphasis on innovation and excellence.
• Drive mobile-first product strategy and oversee cross-platform consistency.
• Define and execute software architecture strategy.
• Define and execute strategy for solving technical debt.
• Establish and manage DevOps practices to streamline development and deployment processes.
• Oversee quality assurance and testing.
• Oversee technical security and compliance.

What you'll bring:

• Fluency in reading, writing, and speaking in English.
• Strong software start-up tech and product leadership experience.
• Genuine interest in reforestation, climate change, or related environmental initiatives, aligning with Tree-Nation’s mission.
• Proven experience leading and scaling product and engineering teams, especially in high-growth environments.
• Ability to drive a product vision with a unique, daring approach that's less reliant on data and more aligned with a strategic vision for user impact.
• Strong foundation in software architecture, particularly with PHP (Laravel), MySQL, and frontend technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript).
• Demonstrated experience in scaling a web-based software product to a mobile-first platform.
• Deep expertise in AWS services, including EC2, S3, RDS, CloudFront, Lambda, and CloudWatch.
• Experience managing Kubernetes environments, with proficiency in Helm for streamlined deployment and management of applications.
• Experience with CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment) practices and tools, with knowledge of GitHub Actions as a “nice-to-have” for automating workflows directly in GitHub.
• Deep appreciation for user-centered design principles, with a track record of developing intuitive, user-focused digital products.
• Exceptional eye for detail when analyzing design, user experience, or reviewing code.
• Ability to prioritize function over form, designing each element to serve a clear and practical purpose.
• Demonstrated ability to tackle complex technical and organizational challenges, particularly in startups where adaptability and quick thinking are essential.
• Strong collaboration skills with experience working closely with CEOs, designers, product managers, and other stakeholders to align on and execute product goals.
• Demonstrated ability to identify, prioritize, and systematically reduce technical debt within a product, ensuring sustainable growth and scalability. Skilled at balancing the need for immediate product development with long-term technical health.
• Knowledge of best practices for security and regulatory technical compliance.

The perfect candidate can be described as following:

• Mission-driven.
• Visionary.
• Strategic thinker.
• User-centric.
• Collaborative leader.
• Multitalented.
• Innovative.
• Adaptable.
• Engineering mind.
• Highly stress resistant.
• Honest.
• Conscientious.
• Proactive.
• Very organized.
• Great communicator.

What we offer:

• A unique opportunity to contribute to saving the planet.
• Competitive market salary according to experience with a clear path for consistent increases.
• Company equity plan.
• Permanent contract.
• Our unique offices are not just a place to work. They were built to be a lab for sustainability, to facilitate a lifestyle that reduces our ecological footprint daily. You will be submerged in nature every day.
• Memorable team-building activities.