FRACTIONAL CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER

RUSH is a live adventure travel marketplace on the iOS App Store in UAE.

We match solo travellers with curated group trips and compatible travel companions.

The platform is built and working.

We have three RUSH Exclusive operators signed, trips listed, and a validated user base.

Stripe Connect Express handles payments.

We are entering Phase 2: scaling supply, automating operations, and building toward the AI matching layer that is the core of our long-term product differentiation.

We need a fractional CTO who can own the technical relationship with our dev agency, define and enforce the architecture roadmap, and give us strategic oversight as we build toward AI-powered group matching.

→ This is not a coding role.

It is an ownership and direction role.

→ Estimated commitment: 8–12 hours/week.

→ Compensation: Equity negotiated based on experience and commitment level.

Hybrid mobile app (iOS live, Android not yet published)

Build partner

External dev agency, currently building Phase 2

Stripe Connect Express (operator payouts), Apple Pay (traveller payments)

None implemented.

Matching is currently manual/rule-based

None.

No analytics layer, no data pipeline

Internal tech capacity

Founder-led.

No in-house developer.

External advisor (limited bandwidth)

Stack access

Full code repo and platform access held by founder

This role has three layers.

In order of immediate priority:

– Own the technical relationship with developer.

You are RUSH's technical voice in every sprint, scoping conversation, and delivery review.

– Conduct an immediate technical audit of the existing MVP: code quality, architecture decisions, scalability limits, documentation gaps.

– Translate business requirements from the founder into technical specifications developer cannot misinterpret or scope-creep around.

– Challenge and validate developer's effort estimates.

Identify when something is being overbuilt, underbuilt, or built in the wrong direction.

– Define clear acceptance criteria for Phase 2 deliverables before development begins.

– Evaluate at the 90-day mark whether developer continues as the right build partner or whether RUSH needs an alternative.

– Define the technical architecture decisions that will affect RUSH's next 24 months - stack migration timing, data layer design, AI/ML readiness.

– Own the decision of when and how to migrate off the current hybrid stack to a scalable production architecture.

– Design the data architecture now so that when AI group matching is built (Phase 3), the training data is clean, structured, and investor-presentable.

– Design and oversee the analytics and instrumentation layer - we have none.

This is the foundation for every product and business decision going forward.

– Ensure behavioral and compatibility data is captured, structured, and governed in a way that supports future AI matching and complies with UAE data protection requirements.

– Define the integration and API strategy so the platform remains modular as we add operator tools, payment partners, identity verification, and AI providers.

– Evaluate and recommend the right infrastructure for Android launch, multi-payment expansion, and operator self-service portal - the three Phase 2 priorities.

– Maintain a living technical roadmap aligned to the 5-year product vision - practical, milestone-driven, not aspirational slide content.

– Serve as the credible technical voice in investor conversations and competition presentations (Create Apps Championship Finals, October 2026).

– Advise on build-vs-buy decisions as RUSH's product complexity grows: AI matching, payments infrastructure, identity verification.

– Use available AI development tools (Cursor, Copilot, Claude API, etc.) to close gaps where full dev bandwidth is not justified.

– Flag technical risks before they become crises - security, scalability, compliance, data privacy (UAE data protection laws).

– Proven experience scaling a consumer-facing mobile marketplace from MVP through to Series A equivalent - you have lived Phase 1 to Phase 3 before.

–

managing external dev agencies or outsourced engineering teams.

You know how to hold them accountable without destroying the relationship.

– Ability to read, review, and challenge code without necessarily writing it daily.

You can spot bad architecture from a pull request.

– Fluency in mobile app development - React Native or equivalent hybrid stack.

You don't need to be the best coder in the room, but you cannot be confused by what the room is talking about.

– Enough AI/ML literacy to evaluate the feasibility and architecture of our matching layer when it becomes the priority.

You don't need to build it - you need to know when someone else is building it wrong.

– Comfort working directly with a solo founder.

No org chart.

No hand-holding.

You raise problems and bring solutions in the same conversation.

Strong advantage:

– Background in travel tech, marketplace platforms, or social products where group dynamics and trust are core to the UX.

– Familiarity with Stripe Connect, payment infrastructure, and the compliance requirements of operating a marketplace in the UAE.

–

designing data pipelines and analytics layers from scratch - we have none, and we need one.

– UAE or GCC market familiarity.

You understand the regulatory and operational context.

– Previous fractional or multi-company CTO experience.

You know how to context-switch and deliver impact at part-time capacity.

8–12 hours per week.

Flexible and async-friendly, with a regular founder sync.

Initial 6-month engagement with mutual option to extend or convert to full-time.

Remote.

UAE timezone preferred but not required.

Travel to Dubai for key moments.

Start date

As soon as the right person is identified.

No artificial urgency.

Success at 6 months

Phase 2 delivered on time and on spec.

Go/no-go decisions developer have made.

Android live or on confirmed timeline.

Data architecture defined and implemented.

Technical narrative investor-ready for fundraising conversations.

Negotiated based on experience and commitment level.

will scale with first revenue milestone and seed raise.

This is a ground-floor role.

*We are pre-revenue and pre-seed.

We will not pretend otherwise.

The equity reflects that, and so does the seriousness with which we approach this hire.*

Technical audit of existing MVP.

Full briefing from developer.

Architecture review.

Gap analysis documented and shared with founder.

Clear Phase 2 scope locked.

Phase 2 development underway under your oversight.

Android build in progress.

Data layer architecture defined.

Acceptance criteria live for every active sprint.

First Phase 2 features shipped and validated.

Go/no-go recommendation on developer as long-term build partner.

AI matching architecture scoped for Phase 3.

Technical narrative ready for October competition Finals.

RUSH's core product promise - matching people by compatibility, not just by destination, is only as good as the technical infrastructure that delivers it.

Right now, that infrastructure is being built without proper oversight.

The matching layer that defines our long-term moat does not exist yet.

The data architecture that will train it is not designed.

The person who takes this role will shape what RUSH is technically for the next five years.

That is not a small thing.

The roadmap from MVP validation to an AI-powered experience intelligence network is ambitious and achievable, but only if the technical foundations are laid correctly in the next 12 months.

If you have built something like this before and you want to do it again from the beginning, with a founder who is commercially sharp, operationally serious, and honest about where the gaps are - this is the role.