Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

DROPIN — TRAIN THE DROP. ANYWHERE.
Build the simulator that teaches the world to surf.
A real surfboard. A six-axis motion platform. A virtual wave. The rider paddles, feels the lift, pops up and rides — then does it again, with feedback on every attempt.
We’re looking for a hands-on technical co-founder to turn five years of university engineering into a product surfers can train on, surf schools can teach with and venues can operate every day.
This is a co-founder opportunity with founder equity and vesting. No capital contribution is required. There is no salary before the seed round.

ABOUT DROPIN
The take-off is one of surfing’s most important skills — and one of its hardest to practise consistently. In the ocean, every attempt depends on the wave, the conditions and being in the right place at the right time.
DropIn makes that moment repeatable.
We combine motion simulation, a virtual wave and movement analysis to help surfers train the take-off with repetition and objective feedback. Our ambition is to build a new category of surf training, starting with surf schools, wave parks and our own studios.
The technology was developed over five years and several hardware iterations at a research university in Los Angeles. It is a working system that has been ridden and filmed. DropIn (Surftraining Inc., Delaware) holds an exclusive option agreement covering the technology.
Our next milestone: a second-generation simulator for our Los Angeles test studio, targeting an early-2027 opening.

WHY JOIN
Build from a working foundation. Start with five years of engineering, multiple hardware iterations and support from the university’s inventors.
Solve a demanding engineering problem. A moving platform, a simulated ocean and a human body in one control loop. Make limited platform travel feel like a wave — and make riders want to come back.
Own the technical direction. Architecture, hardware, software and team: you shape the technology and help shape the company.
Build something you want to use. Work with boards, waves and surfers, and help more people experience the moment they get to their feet.

YOUR ROLE
You will own the simulator, the coaching technology and the engineering team behind them. This is a hands-on role from day one, combining motion engineering, product development and technical leadership.
Your first priority is to take the university-developed system into DropIn’s development environment and build the next-generation unit for the test studio.
You will:

• Lead the technology handover with the university engineering team, supported by the inventor-support hours provided under the option agreement.
• Make the wave feel real. Develop and tune motion cueing, per-axis filters and gains, board response, paddle-phase movement and steeper take-offs — using feedback from surfers riding the system.
• Build a repeatable wave library in Unity/Crest, including beginner-friendly waves, clean resets between attempts and a path to matching wave-pool profiles.
• Own rider comfort. Establish the end-to-end latency budget, optimise motion–visual synchronisation and field of view, test repeat-rider comfort systematically and develop a headset-free screen mode.
• Design and commission the second-generation unit: platform, board mount, enclosure, automated belay, airflow, show control and emergency stops. Define the safety testing and applicable certification path.
• Define the system architecture and real-time interfaces connecting the platform, sensors, Unity and coaching engine, including reliable timing and synchronisation.
• Recruit and lead a real-time/VR engineer as the first engineering hire. Oversee pose estimation, movement scoring and rider feedback with the coaching-engine team and scientific advisor.
• Manage platform and component suppliers, support investor technical due diligence and design-partner pilots, and build the engineering team after the seed round.