Deputy CTO / CTO-1｜Leading Global Crypto Exchange

We are partnering with a fast-growing global crypto exchange (one of the top digital asset trading platforms by volume, with strong presence in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East) to hire a Deputy CTO. This role serves as the CTO’s right hand and one of the top technical leaders shaping the company’s engineering strategy, architecture, and AI-driven transformation. You will lead large-scale technical teams, drive core system architecture for trading and derivatives, and ensure the company’s technology roadmap aligns with its rapid growth in crypto trading, derivatives, MEX, and digital asset platforms.
Key Responsibilities

• Lead technical strategy and long-term roadmap planning, ensuring alignment with business goals and global expansion.
• Design and oversee core system architecture for trading, derivatives, risk, and wallet systems, with deep focus on:
  
  • Distributed systems
  • High-concurrency trading infrastructure
  • System stability and reliability
  • Security best practices
• Manage and scale large engineering teams (100+ engineers), driving organizational design, team efficiency, and performance.
• Act as the primary bridge between business and engineering, enabling cross-functional collaboration and delivery of high-impact initiatives.
• Own technical risk management and incident response for critical system failures and security events.
• Track emerging technologies (AI, blockchain, infrastructure, MLOps) and lead internal innovation.
• Drive AI strategy execution across product and engineering, improving productivity, enabling intelligent systems, and automating workflows.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or above in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related fields.
• 10+ years engineering experience, with 3+ years managing large teams (100+ engineers).
• Proven experience scaling engineering organizations from early-stage to mature teams, with measurable improvements in team efficiency.
• Strong backend engineering expertise in Java or Go, with deep knowledge of:
  
  • Distributed systems
  • High-concurrency architecture
  • System stability and reliability engineering
  • Security best practices
• Hands-on experience with Generative AI / LLMs and AI-driven engineering productivity improvements.
• Cross-functional technical exposure (backend, frontend, QA, infrastructure) and ability to design mid-to-long-term technical strategies.
• Strong leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Proven ability to lead under pressure during critical incidents.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• Current/former Head of Engineering / CTO in a mid-sized crypto/fintech company, or
• CTO-1 level technical leader owning a major business unit in a large tech company.
• Experience leading multi-functional teams beyond backend (e.g., frontend, QA, platform).
• Strong AI background, but not from a pure AI-only company; you must have integrated AI into broader engineering systems.
• “Technical number one” in your current org or business unit, with significant scale and impact.
  
  Additional Information
  We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
  
  Interested?
  If you're motivated by the opportunity to lead regional communications for a global digital assets platform and thrive in high-growth, fast-moving environments, we'd love to hear from you.
  Please connect or send your profile directly to jchan@captarpartners.com for a confidential discussion.