NeedTech Labs

Chief Technology Officer & Co-Founder Stealth-Mode Deep-Tech Venture

Pre-Seed | Equity-Only (No Salary)

 

About the Venture (Stealth)

A stealth-mode deep-tech venture is being formed around a proprietary cryogenic halide-perovskite scintillation platform delivering nanosecond and sub-nanosecond decay, high photon yield, and suppressed afterglow under sub-ambient operation. The technology addresses three converging multi-billion-dollar markets: time-of-flight PET medical imaging, high-throughput security screening, and industrial non-destructive evaluation.

 

The underlying IP, technical thesis, and commercial framework are protected and prepared. We are now assembling the founding C-suite to lead the venture from formation through pre-seed close, prototype validation, and strategic partnership execution.

 

The Role

The Chief Technology Officer & Co-Founder will own the full technical roadmap — from materials science through field-deployable detector platform. This is a true zero-to-one founder seat with end-to-end authority over R&D, engineering, regulatory technical strategy, and IP execution. The CTO will partner closely with the CEO to translate a defensible scientific platform into a productized, manufacturable, and regulatorily viable detector system, reporting to the board on technical milestones and risk.

 

This role is for an operator-scientist — not a research director. The expectation is a credible scientific founder who can also build, ship, and harden hardware against COGS, yield, and certification constraints.

 

Core Responsibilities

* Own the end-to-end technical roadmap from crystal growth through cryocooling, fast electronics, firmware, and detector integration.
* Architect modular detector blocks meeting target specifications: ≤200 K operating envelope, sub-200 ps coincidence timing resolution, and quantified light-yield-to-decay-time figures of merit.
* Lead halide-perovskite R&D: composition engineering, crystal growth methodologies, defect chemistry, and moisture/oxygen-resistant encapsulation systems.
* Design and integrate closed-loop thermal control subsystems, including closed-cycle cryocooler integration and liquid-nitrogen stage architectures appropriate to deployable form factors.
* Lead photodetector chain integration across SiPM and MCP-PMT configurations, including spectral matching, cooled-photodetector architectures, and hybrid scintillator stack design.
* Own FPGA-based TDC architecture, high-speed analog front-ends, ASIC strategy, and firmware development through prototype and engineering builds.
* Drive IP strategy in coordination with patent counsel: continuation filings, defensive portfolio expansion, freedom-to-operate analysis, and trade-secret architecture.
* Lead the technical pathway for FDA 510(k) submission and ISO 13485 quality-system implementation, in coordination with regulatory counsel and the CEO.
* Architect COGS roadmap from prototype through pilot manufacturing, including supplier qualification and design-for-manufacturing discipline.
* Build and lead the founding scientific and engineering team across materials, cryogenics, electronics, firmware, and systems integration.
* Serve as the principal technical voice in investor diligence, OEM technical engagements, and strategic partnership conversations.

 

Required Qualifications

* 10+ years in deep-tech hardware R&D with substantive experience in radiation detection, scintillation physics, photonics, or adjacent instrumentation categories.
* Direct hands-on experience with halide perovskite materials — growth, characterization, defect engineering, and encapsulation — at research-group or industrial-R&D depth.
* Demonstrated experience with closed-cycle cryocooler integration, cryogenic thermal management, and sub-ambient detector operation.
* High-speed analog and digital electronics design experience, including FPGA-based timing architectures, TDCs, and low-noise front-end design.
* Prior technical leadership through an FDA 510(k) clearance pathway or equivalent regulated medical device submission, with operating familiarity in ISO 13485 quality systems.
* Zero-to-one leadership track record: a prior CTO or technical co-founder role at a deep-tech hardware venture, taking technology from bench through engineering build or pilot production.
* Graduate degree (Ph.D. strongly preferred) in physics, materials science, electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, or a directly adjacent field.

 

Preferred Qualifications

* Prior exit (acquisition or IPO) as a technical founder in radiation detection, molecular imaging, photonics, or adjacent hardware category.
* Direct experience with TOF-PET detector architecture, including coincidence timing electronics and reconstruction-relevant detector specifications.
* Authored or co-authored IP in perovskite scintillators, fast-timing detectors, or cryogenic instrumentation.
* Existing relationships across SiPM/MCP-PMT vendors (Hamamatsu, Broadcom, onsemi, Photonis), cryocooler suppliers (Sumitomo, Cryomech), and relevant foundry/assembly partners.
* Operating experience with DOE national-lab collaboration models, NIH SBIR/STTR, or DARPA technical programs.
* Published or patent-cited record in _Nature Photonics_, _Physical Review_, _IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging_, _NIM-A_, or equivalent venues.

 

Compensation Structure

* Founding equity. Material, vesting on standard terms with appropriate cliff and acceleration provisions.
* No salary at pre-seed stage.
* Founder-level participation in subsequent funding rounds.

Hardware

Wireframing/prototyping

Growth

Roadmap planning

Firmware

Security software

System security

Research

Analysis

Manufacturing

Assembly

Team collaboration

Electrical Engineering

Physics

Photon Fusion

Analog Electronics

Digital Electronics

FPGA

Biomedical Engineering

CTO & Co-Founder for Medical Equipment & DeepTech Venture (No Salary, Equity Only, Pre-Seed)