Chief Engineer (Kinetics)

Tech Lead / CTO (US)

Location: San Francisco Bay Area

Description

Kela is a defense technology startup pioneering a new model for the defense industry—built on openness, modularity, speed, and delivering real operational impact. We combine cutting-edge technology with deep operational insights and close collaboration with defense stakeholders to deploy real-world systems in months, not years.

We are seeking a Tech Lead / CTO (US) to drive Kela’s technical and product strategy for our US operations. This is a critical, customer-facing leadership role—equal parts technical architect, product strategist, and operational partner. You will sit directly with leadership and government stakeholders, translating real-world operational needs into deployable systems.

This is not a traditional executive role. You will define the technical direction while staying deeply hands-on—guiding a team of engineers who execute rapidly on prototypes, demos, and deployed systems. The ideal candidate has built and shipped real systems in high-stakes environments and is comfortable operating at the intersection of engineering, product, and mission.

Responsibilities

• Drive Kela’s US technical and product strategy, aligning engineering efforts with real-world defense use cases and operational requirements.
• Act as the primary technical counterpart in customer and government engagements—translating mission needs into system architecture and product direction.
• Define system architecture across software, hardware integrations, and autonomy capabilities, ensuring rapid deployment and scalability.
• Lead and mentor a small team of engineers focused on rapid prototyping, demos, and contract-driven development.
• Partner closely with global engineering teams (Israel-based) to align on architecture, priorities, and execution.
• Own the technical roadmap for US programs—from concept through deployment (TRL progression).
• Operate as a hands-on builder when needed—reviewing code, shaping designs, and unblocking execution.
• Collaborate with business and GTM teams to support technical sales, proposals, and government capture efforts.
• Ensure systems meet performance, reliability, and security requirements for defense applications.
• Build the foundation for scaling the US engineering organization over time.

Requirements

• Must be a US Citizen.
• Active Security Clearance (Secret or Top Secret).
• Experience operating in customer-facing technical roles, ideally working directly with government or defense stakeholders.
• Proven ability to translate ambiguous operational requirements into concrete technical systems and product direction.
• Strong systems-level thinking across software, hardware, and real-world deployment environments
• Demonstrated experience in fast-paced, 0-to-1 or early-stage environments with high ownership.
• Hands-on technical background (software engineering, systems engineering, or similar) with the ability to go deep when needed.
• Comfort operating as both a strategic leader and an execution-focused builder.
• Excellent communication skills—able to engage credibly with both engineers and non-technical stakeholders in mission-critical settings.
• High urgency and bias toward action; thrives in ambiguity and rapid iteration cycles.

Nice to Have

• Experience in defense technology, autonomy, robotics, or dual-use systems.
• Background working in forward-deployed or field-facing engineering roles (e.g., Palantir, Anduril, etc.).
• Experience supporting government programs, proposals, or technical BD efforts.
• Familiarity with modern development tools and collaboration platforms (e.g., Notion, Slack, Jira).
• Prior experience building or leading engineering teams in the US from the ground up.