Chief Technology Officer

Chief Technology Officer

Location: Central Texas (Greater Austin region)

The client is a defense-grade advanced manufacturer, automating heavy-industrial production for critical U.S. infrastructure. Our first facility will produce Large Power Transformers (?100 MVA, 34.5 kV765 kV class), delivering the precision, reliability, and speed required to strengthen and expand America's grid. We are building the first automated LPT manufacturing platform in the United States uniting modern robotics and digital twin design to meet growing demand for transformer production and deployment.

Job Description:

The Chief Technology Officer is a founding executive responsible for defining and owning Terminus' full technology stackfrom transformer design software and digital twins to factory automation, controls, data systems, and AI-driven optimization. This role unifies product engineering, manufacturing automation, and software under a single technical vision. The CTO is accountable for turning first-principles transformer physics and manufacturing processes into a scalable, software-defined production platform ("FOUNDATION OS") that enables rapid design iteration, automated fabrication, closed-loop testing, and continuous improvement. This role is foundational to Terminus' ability to: (i) Achieve step-change reductions in LPT lead times; (ii) Automate traditionally manual heavy-industrial processes; (iii) Scale output without linear headcount growth; and (iv) Establish a durable, technology-based moat versus incumbents.

Key Responsibilities:

• Technical Leadership & Execution: Build and lead teams across automation, controls, applied software, and advanced manufacturing; Set technical standards, development velocity, and system-level accountability; Act as final technical decision-maker for factory and product technology choices
• Technology Strategy & Architecture: Lead development of the internal LPT design and manufacturing platform (parametric electrical, mechanical, thermal, and dielectric models); Own integration of CAD/CAE, BOM generation, routing, work instructions, and cost models; Ensure closed-loop feedback between design, production, and test results; Design the end-to-end technical architecture spanning design software, digital twins, factory automation, robotics, controls, data infrastructure, and analytics; Own the long-term technology roadmap aligned to product, factory scale-up, and regulatory requirements; Translate transformer physics, standards, and manufacturing constraints into software-native systems
• ProductManufacturing Integration, Factory Automation, & Industrial Controls: Ensure transformer designs are natively optimized for automated manufacturing; Partner with Product Engineering to standardize architectures, modules, and interfaces; Drive Design-for-Automation and Design-for-Test across all products; Architect and deploy automation across winding, core assembly, insulation, tank fabrication, drying, oil filling, and test operations; Define standards for PLCs, robotics, sensors, machine vision, and industrial networks; Ensure automation systems meet reliability, safety, and inspectability requirements
• Manufacturing Data & Optimization: Define machine-level and process-level data capture required for yield, quality, and throughput optimization; Apply modeling, simulation, and ML techniques to loss reduction, defect prevention, and cycle-time compression; Enable real-time visibility into production and test performance; Implement end-to-end architecture spanning transformer design tools, digital twins, automation, controls, and production data systems; Translate transformer physics and manufacturing processes into software-native, scalable systems
• External Technical Interface: Represent Terminus' manufacturing and product technology with utilities, regulators, national labs, and strategic partners; Support technical diligence with investors and federal stakeholders; Evaluate and integrate third-party manufacturing technologies where advantageous

Required Qualifications:

• 1220+ years in advanced manufacturing, industrial automation, robotics, or complex electromechanical systems; with at least 5 years of experience leading teams in an innovative, fast-paced environment
• Proven experience building software-defined production systems or highly automated factories and track record of taking complex systems from concept to production scale
• Hands-on experience with industrial controls, robotics, or high-throughput automated lines
• Prior CTO, VP Engineering, or equivalent senior technical leadership role in a scaling company with experience operating in regulated, safety-critical, or infrastructure-grade environments, power systems, transformers, grid infrastructure, aerospace, defense, or semiconductor manufacturing (ex - SpaceX, Tesla, Anduril)