Job Specifications
Who We Are
TrueGreenESG is building the compliance infrastructure that mid-market companies in the EU and UK actually need, but have never been able to afford.
Right now, a company with 500 employees faces the same mandatory CSRD, SDR, and SFDR obligations as a multinational, but gets quoted £200,000–800,000 by advisory firms to meet them. We deliver regulatory-grade compliance intelligence and audit-ready reporting at SaaS pricing, alongside a marketplace connecting those companies with vetted ESG solutions providers.
TrueGreenESG was founded by a climate law researcher (King's College London) who contributed to COP29 climate policy briefings, the UK Methane Report, and won the King's Legal GenAI Hackathon for an ESG compliance prototype. We are supported by the King's College London Accelerator Programme, have a meaningful portion of the backend built, and are preparing for our Q2 2026 pilot with our first design partners.
We are now looking for the person who will help us get there, and build everything that comes after.
How We Build
TrueGreenESG's infrastructure is a values statement as much as a technical one. We are carbon-negative, EU-sovereign, and free from Big Tech dependencies not as marketing, but as a genuine commitment to practising what we help others achieve.
Our stack reflects this:
Hosting: GreenGeeks (Netherlands, 300% renewable energy, carbon-negative)
AI: Mistral AI (EU-based, open-source aligned), transitioning to self-hosted fine-tuned models
Version control: Gitea (self-hosted)
Data residency: All data stored in the Netherlands, GDPR-native by design
No AWS, Azure, GCP, or proprietary Big Tech AI
We are not looking for someone to redesign these choices. We are looking for someone who shares the thinking behind them and is excited to extend them.
The Role
This is a co-founder position. You will be the second senior leader at TrueGreenESG, working directly alongside the CEO to ship the product, scale the platform, and build the company.
On the technical side, you own everything: architecture, AI development, engineering culture, security, and infrastructure. On the commercial side, you will be present in conversations with design partners, prospective customers, investors, and eventually government procurement stakeholders. This is a role for someone who wants to be in the room, not just behind the code.
We do not require previous CTO experience. We do require someone who wants to make as much of this role as possible, who will step into the ambiguity, define what the role looks like, and grow with it.
Full-time is preferred. Part-time will be considered for the right person.
Compensation
Compensation is in meaningful equity, and payment once we are revenue generating.
Equity is subject to an agreed vesting schedule: time-based, milestone-based, or a combination. Terms will be discussed openly and early.
What You Will Work On
Building and shipping the product
Take the existing backend and bring it to pilot-ready then public launch
Architect and build the marketplace layer connecting companies with ESG solutions providers
Lead the transition to self-hosted, fine-tuned compliance models — improving accuracy, privacy, and independence
Ensure audit-ready reports stay current with evolving EU/UK regulatory requirements; this is a core product promise
Scaling with intention
Extend the EU-sovereign, carbon-negative infrastructure as the platform grows
Build toward ISO 27001 (roadmap: 2027) and other third-party certifications on the horizon
Grow and eventually lead an engineering team, starting with one existing technical team member
Being part of the company
Participate in design partner onboarding and early customer conversations
Contribute to investor materials and technical due diligence
Be a credible, present voice in B2B and B2G conversations as the company scales
What We Are Looking For
What matters most
You have shipped B2B SaaS products before: you know what it takes to get something from built to used
You are genuinely curious about how law and regulation shape markets, and you care about helping businesses do right by people and the planet. Not because it is required of you, but because it matters to you
You believe that businesses acting ethically and businesses saving money are not opposing goals and you want to help prove it
You are comfortable with constraint. Our infrastructure choices are principled, not accidental. You see them as interesting problems, not obstacles
You can work in ambiguity, create structure where there is none, and communicate clearly with people who are not engineers
Technical background we are looking for
Strong backend architecture and API design
Experience with AI/LLM integration in production, ideally in compliance, legal, or regulated data contexts
Familiarity with open-source or self-hosted AI models is a strong advantage
Experience with GDPR-native architecture and EU data residency is a strong advantage
Mar