Nova Credit

Chief Technology Officer

Nova Credit$350K — $400K *
Information Technology
11 - 15 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 15+ years in software engineering with executive leadership experience in engineering, product, and data science functions
  • 5+ years in an executive role overseeing technical and product functions in a high-growth tech company
  • Proven engagement in architectural decisions, emphasizing engineering quality and team trust
  • Experience building and leading organizations through managers, focusing on talent development and retention
  • Ability to create compelling product roadmaps from market insights and customer understanding
  • Expertise in integrating AI into financial services and enterprise software
  • Strong communication skills to articulate strategic vision across the organization and to external stakeholders

Responsibilities

  • Own and set the technology and product strategy for Nova Credit
  • Lead transformative initiatives to enhance platform reliability, scalability, and impact
  • Act as a connective force across the organization to ensure alignment between functions
  • Identify opportunities for leveraging AI to gain competitive advantages
  • Serve as a coach and mentor to managers across multiple functions
  • Make high-stakes decisions that shape the organization's success
  • Represent Nova Credit externally, sharing our technical and product philosophy

Benefits

  • Flexible PTO
  • Employer-subsidized medical, dental, and vision plans
  • Mental health and wellness benefits
  • Professional development opportunities
  • Stock options and incentive compensation
  • Tenure rewards
Full Job Description


ABOUT THE ROLE:

We're seeking a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to own Nova Credit's technology and product vision at the highest level. This is a defining executive role where you will set the strategic direction and own technical execution across Engineering, Infrastructure, Data Science, and Product & Design, driving transformative impact across everything we build. As a member of the Leadership Team, you will serve as the visible steward of our technical and product culture, aligning innovation with long-term business outcomes and ensuring Nova Credit remains a category leader in financial infrastructure.
  • Owning Nova Credit's technology and product strategy, including setting the vision for our platform across Engineering, Infrastructure, Data Science, and Product & Design, and ensuring alignment with company-wide goals and mission
  • Leading transformative, cross-functional initiatives that elevate the reliability, scalability, and strategic impact of our enterprise-grade platform. You'll also need to zoom in and support the team in our fast-paced development environment
  • Serving as a connective force across the organization, actively building trust and context between Build and every other function, so that engineering, product and analytics priorities stay aligned and the business operates as a cohesive whole
  • Identifying where AI creates durable competitive advantage in our products and where it can meaningfully accelerate how our teams build, ship, and operate, and helping your organization act on both
  • Serving as an expert coach, mentor, and empathetic leader to a team of managers across each function, fostering a culture of continuous growth, and both hard and soft skill development
  • Making high-stakes decisions that shape the organization's long-term success, navigating complex tradeoffs with sound judgment and a transformative mindset
  • Representing Nova Credit externally as a thought leader, communicating our technical and product philosophy to customers, partners, regulators, and the broader industry
  • Recruiting, developing, and retaining talent and coaching your managers to do the same within their teams

This is a full-time role with a preference for NYC area-based candidates, reporting directly to our CEO.

WITHIN THE FIRST MONTH, YOU'LL:
  • Accomplish deep understanding of Nova Credit's mission, business model, technical architecture, and product portfolio
  • Build thorough relationships with your reports across Engineering, Infrastructure, Data Science, and Product & Design, as well as peer executives and key cross-functional stakeholders
  • Develop a rapid understanding of the current roadmap, outstanding technical debt, and organizational design across your functions and be ready to own execution across the org.
  • Identify the highest-leverage opportunities and risks across the technology and product landscape


WITHIN THE FIRST QUARTER, YOU'LL:
  • Establish a clear point of view on the technology and product strategy, including where to invest, accelerate, and rationalize
  • Define performance expectations and growth paths for the managers reporting to you
  • Partner with the CEO and Leadership Team to align the product & analytics roadmap with company strategy and near-term business priorities
  • Drive measurable improvements in delivery, velocity, and quality across your functions


WITHIN THE FIRST YEAR, YOU'LL:
  • Deliver a technology and product strategy that positions Nova Credit for its next phase of growth, including platform investments that unlock new business opportunities
  • Build out and strengthen the leadership bench across all four functions
  • Drive significant architectural or organizational improvements that simplify, scale, and differentiate our platform
  • Become a recognized external voice for Nova Credit, engaging with technical leaders at our enterprise customers and partners, at industry events and in the press setting the standard for what world-class fintech infrastructure looks like


YOUR SKILLSET:
  • Engineering foundation: 15+ years of experience in software engineering, with a career arc that has grown from hands-on technical work into executive leadership spanning both engineering, product, and data science functions
  • Executive experience: 5+ years in an executive role with ownership over multiple technical and product functions at a high-growth technology company
  • Engineering credibility: Deep ability to engage substantively in architectural decisions, set a high bar for engineering quality, and earn the trust of a technically sophisticated team. You have built and shipped complex systems, not just managed people who did
  • Organizational leadership: You've built and led layered organizations through managers, and you know how to develop talent, sustain high performance, and retain talent
  • Product sensibility: You can translate market opportunity and customer insight into a compelling, differentiated roadmap, and partner effectively with design and data science to bring it to life
  • AI fluency: A clear, informed perspective on the evolving role of AI in financial services and enterprise software, with practical experience guiding teams on where and how to apply AI effectively and responsibly
  • Executive communication: Demonstrated ability to communicate the company's strategic vision across all levels of the organization and to external stakeholders, from engineers to board members

$350,000 - $400,000 USD
The above compensation range is for U.S.-based candidates and is dependent on individual experience, skills, education, location, and qualifications. This range reflects On-Target Earnings (OTE) for this role, which includes a combination of base salary and incentive compensation.

We consider all elements of compensation as a part of the value we provide to Novans. This may include base salary, equity grants, incentive compensation for eligible roles, professional development, flexible PTO, and tenure rewards. We offer U.S.-based Novans competitive, employer-subsidized medical, dental, and vision plans, in addition to mental health and wellness benefits and a range of other benefits & perks.

About Nova Credit

Nova Credit is a financial technology company that enables immigrants to access credit and other financial services in the United States. The company was founded in 2015 by Nicky Goulimis, Misha Esipov, and Loek Janssen. Nova Credit's platform connects international credit bureaus to lenders in the United States, allowing immigrants to use their international credit history to apply for credit in the United States. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Learn more about Nova Credit
Size
100 employees
Industry
Founded
2016

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