Come build the future of encryption technology.

Standard Notes builds an end-to-end encrypted note-taking application for digitalists and professionals. We’re tackling the toughest problems in privacy, security, and productivity, and looking for a software architect who can solve difficult problems in unpaved territories, can manage and grow a team of developers, and can handle stacks anywhere from the frontend, backend, and everything else in between. A CTO to us is a fullstack engineer who can architect, design, build, scale, and learn, all at paces and quality that are unmatched in the "general population."

About Us:

Standard Notes was founded in 2016 amidst turbulent times for software companies, both on the front of sustainability, and privacy. We’re a different kind of company founded on two basic principles:

1. User data is a liability, not an asset.
2. Software longevity and stability is of paramount significance, and can be achieved only through the alignment of user and company interests and principles.

To that end, we have built the only end-to-end encrypted note-taking solution on the market, available on every major platform. We’ve built this through a sustainable business model powered directly by user subscriptions to our service.

What the ideal candidate looks like:

We could have posted a job listing for a fullstack developer, but that would have gotten us only half of what we’re looking for. A fullstack developer may have dabbled with both frontend and backend technologies. They can solve tough problems through code, and can learn at reasonable paces. But we’re not looking for a fullstack developer. A CTO is many things to many different companies, but to us, a CTO:

• Designs systems and architectures, and isn’t intimated by extremely difficult or complicated problems.
• Can learn complex topics in very short periods of time. For example, while we make no use of machine learning at all, should our company have a need for such a technology in the future, a CTO should be able to quickly learn the basic principles of ML and put together a functioning, if not production-quality, implementation based on a month’s work of aggressive self-education.
• Knows just enough about almost every stack, but is an in-depth expert in a few particular stacks. To us, it’s not important that our stack and your stack be exactly identical. It’s about the process of how you learn, versus what you may happen to already know.
• Is interested in helping a company grow, beyond just offering a service based on the time of day. We’re not looking for an employee. We’re looking for someone with a strategic focus on solving problems aimed at long term growth. We don’t expect you to work any more hours than any other position would ask for; but we do expect that the time you put in carries more oomph than a standard employee. Passion, may be the word. You have to absolutely love and be fully fascinated by the problem we’re solving.
• Is fast. Have you ever impressed yourself at how quickly you’ve put together a product or implementation, especially while your teammates, or perhaps the competition, lagged behind? If this is a common phenomenon for you, skip directly to the apply button.
• Is a good writer. You must show that you’re able to write not just clean code, but can write user-friendly documentation that simplifies complex topics. A good writer is also able to effectively communicate their plans and blueprints, ideas and strategies, and issues and concerns, using a to-the-point, non-indulgent style of writing that can be a model for other team members.

You have to know about, or be willing to quickly learn, the principles of:

Concepts: Asymmetric and symmetric encryption, public/private key encryption, password stretching, key derivation functions, operational transformation, server and client side security best practices, data encryption and authentication, server provisioning & load balancing, web browser security, embeddable interpreters/engines (JavaScript).

Technologies: JavaScript (ES6+), React Native, React, WebCrypto, WebAssembly, AngularJS, Electron, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, AWS, EC2, MySQL, Linux servers, Nginx, Xcode, Android Studio, and of course, HTML/CSS.

If the above description sounds like you, and you’re ready to join the first of its kind company working on the future of privacy and encryption right here in Chicago, email [email protected] with a small intro, resume, and relevant online links. Include your preferred equity/salary ratio, and ideally, your general salary requirements.

Note that while we are located in Chicago’s River North, this position doesn’t have to strictly be on-site, and can be fully remote. This is fully up to you. Welcome to the first decision you’ll make as CTO.

Please note: this position is for senior engineers who see themselves evolving into a CTO. It is not for current executives/CTOs. If your resume includes the word "Chief" or "Executive" for a prior position, this posting is likely not for you.