Shopify seeks CTO to build out its technology platform

Canadian e-commerce platform giant Shopify is recruiting for a Chief Technology Officer.

“We’re chasing a future where Shopify is the platform where commerce happens. And we’re well on our way: 8.6% of the retail e-commerce sales in the US in 2020 happened on our platform,” a job spec states.

I'm biased but I think this is probably the best job ever. Come work with me as Shopify's CTO and build the future of commerce. https://t.co/qYTh7O3G0y
— Tobi Lutke 🌳🌲🛒🕹 (@tobi) May 26, 2021

“We got here by putting a lot of emphasis on world class engineering from day one. Long before anyone imagined the current scale of Shopify was possible, we planned for it and architected for it. This long-term focus on craftsmanship and infrastructure has been a big part of the success.”

It adds: “We’re looking for a CTO who can build internet infrastructure that powers millions of businesses around the globe. As CTO, you’ll build out Shopify’s technology platform and work closely with our CEO.”

“You’ll take the power of the internet and all it's technological progress and translate it into a long-term tech strategy that empowers entrepreneurship everywhere.”

Shopify, which has emerged as the anti-Amazon, has an engineering team of more than 2,000 people divided across product lines (such as Core, Merchant Services, Shop, and the Shopify Fulfilment Network) as well as disciplines like data science, security engineering, and IT.

“We have a strong bench of VPs leading each area. To meet our ambitions, we’ll grow our engineering team drastically over the coming years, and you will lead the charge,” the job spec says.

“We made wise early platform decisions that have generated technology surpluses and helped us get us where we are.”

“Covid has accelerated the world of retail forward by 10 years and we were equal to the challenge. Now, we’re building back up a technology and infrastructure surplus to power future opportunities,” it continues.

Due to international growth and the coronavirus pandemic, Shopify has committed to a ‘Digital by Design’ work environment. That means its developers can work from anywhere, periodically gathering in person.

“We’re not going back to 2019. To maximise these benefits, our CTO has to be comfortable addressing the challenges of this work style and helping scale a company that is now headquartered on the internet,” the job spec concludes.