About this role.
Submittable seeks a Chief Technology Officer to report to the CEO and own the engineering vision, architecture, and execution for its mission-driven SaaS platform. The CTO will lead a globally distributed engineering organization across the United States and India, with accountability for roadmap delivery, platform stability, scalability, security, AI adoption, and engineering talent. This executive will work closely with Product, Sales, Customer Success, the ELT, and the board on strategic planning, enterprise needs, budgets, and technology decisions. Candidates need 12+ years of engineering experience, 5+ years of senior technology leadership in SaaS, and a proven record of scaling global teams and AI-enabled products.
Role DNA
A quick view of the complexity, pace, ownership and collaboration implied by the job description.
Job Complexity
5/5Pace & Pressure
5/5Autonomy Level
5/5Communication Load
5/5Salary analysis
Estimated compensation compared with the broader US market for similar roles.
Core skills
Skills and capabilities most closely associated with this opportunity.
Cover letter sample
Dear Hiring Team,
I am excited to apply for the Chief Technology Officer role at Submittable, where the opportunity to pair scalable SaaS technology with measurable social impact is especially compelling. With deep experience leading distributed engineering organizations, I can establish a durable technology roadmap, strengthen platform reliability and security, and translate business priorities into disciplined technical execution.
I would bring an executive-level, collaborative approach to partnering with Product, Sales, Customer Success, and the board while developing strong engineering leaders across US and India teams. I am particularly motivated by Submittable’s mission and the opportunity to build resilient, AI-enabled products that help mission-driven organizations expand their impact.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
Sample interview questions
I would begin with a structured assessment of business objectives, customer commitments, architecture health, delivery performance, reliability, security risks, and organizational capability. I would then align Product and the ELT around a sequenced roadmap that separates urgent stability work, strategic platform investments, and customer-facing innovation, with explicit outcomes and quarterly checkpoints.
I use clear ownership boundaries, shared engineering standards, overlapping collaboration windows, documented decisions, and consistent operating cadences. I would establish common KPIs and leadership forums across US and India teams while ensuring managers have the authority and context to make timely local decisions.
I would define service-level objectives and error budgets for critical workflows, improve observability and incident-management practices, and prioritize the highest-impact reliability risks. Progress would be measured through uptime, incident frequency and severity, mean time to detect and recover, change failure rate, and customer-impact trends.
I evaluate AI opportunities against customer value, data readiness, model risk, operational cost, and maintainability rather than pursuing AI as a standalone objective. I would implement responsible governance, security and privacy controls, quality evaluation, and adoption metrics, then scale proven use cases across both product features and engineering productivity.
I communicate through a business-focused narrative: the decision required, alternatives considered, customer and financial impact, risks, dependencies, and measurable outcomes. For boards and nontechnical executives, I avoid unnecessary implementation detail while being transparent about trade-offs, investment needs, and risk posture.
At Submittable, we are transforming how organizations create social impact. Our platform empowers thousands of mission-driven organizations, from nonprofits to government entities, to make a difference in their communities and beyond. In 2024, our innovative software helped organizations worldwide run 30,000 programs, welcomed 1.2 million applicants, and facilitated the distribution of more than $10 billion in funding through our products on behalf of our clients.
We are on a mission to help organizations accelerate their impact, so we are proud to partner with organizations focused on Equity & Social Justice, Children & Education, Creative & Arts, Health & Wellness, Economic Justice & Opportunity, and Environment & Climate. At Submittable, technology and purpose converge, offering a unique opportunity to contribute to meaningful change.
About the Role
Submittable is seeking a Chief Technology Officer to own our engineering vision, architecture, and execution as we continue to scale. This is a pivotal leadership role reporting directly to the CEO, responsible for building and leading a high-performing, globally distributed engineering organization spanning India and the US. The CTO will partner closely with Product, Sales, and the broader Executive Leadership Team to translate strategic vision into technical execution including platform stability, scalable architecture, and cross-border effectiveness.
Key Responsibilities
Technical Strategy & Architecture
- Define and own the multi-year technology roadmap and architecture strategy in alignment with business goals
- Evaluate and evolve the technology stack to support scalability, security, and reliability
- Champion product stability and platform resilience as a top engineering priority
- Own build-vs-buy and vendor/technology partnership decisions
- Maintenance of legacy platforms and potential for migration strategies, profit optimization
Engineering Leadership
- Lead a distributed engineering organization across US and India
- Recruit, develop, and retain engineering talent; build a strong leadership bench
- Establish engineering best practices: code quality, testing, CI/CD, incident response, and security posture
- Drive cross-border collaboration and communication practices to close gaps between distributed teams
Cross-Functional Partnership
- Partner with Product on roadmap prioritization and technical feasibility
- Work with Sales and Customer Success to address technical escalations and enterprise requirements
- Represent engineering in ELT strategic planning, budgeting, and board-level initiatives
Operational Excellence
- Own engineering KPIs (i.e. uptime/reliability, velocity, technical debt reduction, defect reporting, AI utilization/leverage, etc.)
- Oversee security and compliance team inclusive of SOC II audits, pen testing, privacy compliance, etc.
- Manage engineering budget, Saas platform margin, headcount planning, and vendor contracts
- Ensure compliance with data security, privacy, and industry regulations relevant to SaaS
Qualifications
- 12+ years of software engineering experience, including 5+ years in senior technology leadership (CTO or equivalent) at a SaaS company
- Proven experience leading distributed/global engineering teams, ideally including India-based teams
- Track record of scaling engineering organizations through growth stages (startup to mid-market SaaS)
- Demonstrated experience building or scaling AI/ML-powered product features and driving AI adoption within an engineering organization”
- Strong technical foundation in modern web architecture, cloud infrastructure (AWS/Azure/GCP), APIs, and data security
- Experience partnering with executive leadership on business strategy, not just technical execution
- Excellent communication skills; able to translate technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders and the board
- Experience with M&A technical due diligence, platform migrations, or major re-architecture projects is a plus
Success Metrics (First 12 Months)
- Established technical roadmap aligned to ELT strategic priorities
- Measurable improvement in platform stability and uptime
- Strengthened US/India engineering collaboration model
- Key senior engineering leadership hires and retention milestones met
We are interested in every qualified candidate eligible to work in the United States; however, we cannot accommodate scholastic or employment visas at this time. In addition, we are not able to consider applicants who reside in the following states: Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Fraudulent Recruitment Advisory: Submittable will NEVER request bank details, payment, or personal information during the hiring process, nor extend offers without an interview. All legitimate communications come from official submittable.com email addresses. If you receive suspicious outreach, please report it to people@submittable.com. (Please do not submit applications, resumes, cover letters, or other candidacy materials to this email address. Emails of this nature will not be reviewed or considered.)
Why Submittable?
Joining Submittable means becoming part of a forward-thinking, mission-driven company that values innovation, collaboration, and growth. We empower organizations working for social good with technology that accelerates their work, amplifies their impact, and drives meaningful change.
At Submittable, you’ll find a supportive, dynamic work environment where your contributions directly influence our success. If you thrive in a fast-paced, evolving environment and are excited to be part of a company dedicated to social impact, we invite you to apply!
Benefits: We are proud to offer highly competitive benefits to our full-time employees, including:
- Comprehensive health and life insurance with optional HSA, FSA, and DCA accounts
- 401(k) plan with employer match starting day one
- Equity stock options to share in our success
- Flexible hours, remote work options, and generous vacation and sick leave
- Paid parental leave for mothers, fathers, and adoptive parents
- Professional development stipends to support your career growth
- Opportunities to participate in community outreach and volunteer programs
- Monthly company-sponsored happy hours and gatherings to connect and unwind
Our Commitment to Inclusion & Belonging
At Submittable, we believe technology is a force for good, driving social impact and enabling corporate social responsibility on a global scale. To achieve this, we are committed to fostering a workplace that values inclusion and belonging as central pillars of our culture.
We embrace the strength of our diverse community by creating a safe space where employees feel empowered to share ideas, celebrate unique experiences, and learn from one another. By prioritizing inclusion, we aim to build an environment where everyone can bring their authentic selves to work and make innovative contributions that enable our customers to tackle complex challenges and spread more good.
As a globally used platform, we are dedicated to hiring and supporting employees who represent a range of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. This includes diversity in ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, religion, ability, culture, and socioeconomic background.
About Our Process
Our goal is a fair, efficient, and thorough evaluation process that benefits you and our team and respects your time. As you can imagine, we have received a high volume of applications. Your willingness to participate in I.D. Verification and answer a few questions early allows us to move through the process more quickly.
Let’s Talk About AI:
Guidelines for using AI in our Hiring Process: At Submittable, we believe that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a powerful tool for good. We are committed to leveraging AI technologies responsibly, ensuring their use is equitable, fair and safe. To ensure fairness and accurate skill assessment, we do not allow the use of AI tools (including note takers, transcription tools, or recordings) during take home tests or interviews. If you have questions or need accommodations, please let us know.
For additional information and guidance on using AI to prepare an interview at Submittable, please click here.
We believe our approach streamlines the hiring process and respects your time by ensuring that every conversation is substantive and focused on your unique qualifications. We appreciate your cooperation and look forward to learning more about you.
Annual salary information is not provided for this position. Explore salary ranges for similar roles in our Salary Directory ›
Upload your resume now
- To unlock remote work opportunities and be discovered by global employers.
This job listing has been manually reviewed by the Jobicy Trust & Safety Team for compliance with our posting guidelines, including verification of the company's legitimacy, accuracy of job details, clarity of remote work policy, and absence of misleading or fraudulent content.
