Vice President of Software Engineering / CTO

About the CompanyOur client is a well-capitalized, founder-led health technology company built around one of the most respected bodies of clinical knowledge in sports medicine. The company was founded in partnership with a nationally recognized physician-leader whose decades of clinical practice, research, and education have shaped the field, and it is turning that expertise into an AI-powered platform serving athletes, parents, coaches, athletic trainers, and organizations across the sports and healthcare ecosystem. The company is based in Nashville, Tennessee, one of the country's leading healthcare and health technology hubs.About the RoleThe company is seeking a Chief Technology Officer to lead its technology strategy and execution. This is a foundational technical leadership role at an early-stage company building a genuinely proprietary AI platform, not a general-purpose tool layered on top of someone else's data.ResponsibilitiesOwn the technology strategy, architecture, and technical roadmap for the companyLead the continued development of the company's proprietary AI intelligence layer and AI-driven products, including RAG, model orchestration, and applied LLM capabilitiesOversee the company's AI, data, application, and cloud infrastructureManage both internal engineering hires and outside development partnersBuild and lead the internal technology organization as the company growsDevelop the company's data strategy, including how proprietary knowledge, clinical information, and user data are structured, protected, and usedEstablish strong standards around cybersecurity, privacy, access controls, and data governance, including HIPAA where relevantProtect the company's intellectual property and ensure it maintains ownership and control of its technology, codebase, and proprietary intelligenceSupport technology integrations and partnerships with health systems, sports organizations, and other enterprise partnersOwn technical budgets, KPIs, and resource planning, with clear visibility to the executive team on progress, opportunities, and riskQualificationsCandidates should have significant experience building and scaling technology products from an early or startup stage, ideally within AI, healthcare technology, data platforms, or SaaS. Deep, hands-on knowledge of modern AI systems, including large language models, retrieval-augmented generation, model orchestration, and data infrastructure, is essential, along with experience architecting scalable cloud-based software.Required SkillsExperience leading internal engineering teams and managing outside development partnersAbility to take a product from early development through commercial scaleStrong grounding in cybersecurity, data privacy, and technology risk managementAbility to evaluate technical decisions through both an engineering and a business lensPreferred SkillsExperience in healthcare, sports medicine, digital health, or HIPAA-regulated environmentsEstablished in the Nashville healthcare technology ecosystemThis search is being conducted on a confidential, retained basis by ITAC Solutions. Interested candidates should reach out directly to Charles Baughman at ITAC Solutions (cbaughman@itacsolutions.com) for a confidential conversation. Every conversation is confidential; Charles will not share your interest, your name, or your background with anyone without your permission. Client identity will not be disclosed until mutual interest is established.