Chief Technology Officer

Chief Technology Officer

About the Organization

SkyTruth is a conservation technology nonprofit that harnesses satellite technology and AI to expose environmental threats and accelerate climate action and biodiversity protection. Since 2001, SkyTruth has been a leader in applying cutting-edge technology to environmental protection, with a focus on highly scalable, global solutions.

As a founder of Global Fishing Watch and builder of other powerful platforms, SkyTruth has an established track record of equipping changemakers with free, accessible, and innovative tools to drive measurable environmental outcomes. Our current focus areas include:

• Exposing hidden pollution at sea and identifying the polluters. Cerulean is a fully-automated global monitoring system for oil pollution that uses satellite imagery and machine learning to detect oil slicks in the ocean. Cerulean also uses vessel location broadcasts (AIS) and offshore oil platform locations to reveal who is likely responsible for the pollution.
• Accelerating biodiversity protection. The 30x30 Progress Tracker makes it easy to understand how the world is progressing toward the global goal of protecting 30% of land and ocean by 2030 — and how effective those protections really are. The platform answers key questions: Are we on track to achieve this ambitious goal? Where are the gaps? How is my country participating? And are protected areas delivering real ecological outcomes?
• Powering climate action. We work to reveal the true cost of fossil fuel development and extractive activities to turbocharge climate advocacy and polluter accountability. We transform data into actionable insights to bridge the gaps between changemakers, technology solutions, and real world impact.

To learn more about SkyTruth, please visit our website.

About the Position

SkyTruth is seeking a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to lead our growing conservation technology program. This role will shape SkyTruth’s technology strategy; manage a multidisciplinary engineering, science, and product team; and drive the development of innovative, user-centered tools and analytics that power climate action, biodiversity protection, and environmental justice.

As a member of SkyTruth’s executive Leadership Team, the CTO will help chart the organization’s future at the leading edge of remote sensing, machine learning, data science, cloud computing, and geospatial technology. The CTO will work closely with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Operating Officer (COO), and Chief Impact Officer (CIO) to identify strategic opportunities and funding sources, ensuring that SkyTruth is deploying technology solutions that are not only cutting-edge but also practical, widely accessible, and game-changing for the diverse users and partners that we serve.

At SkyTruth, technology is a force for accountability. We uncover pollution previously invisible to detection, track threats to biodiversity, and equip communities, journalists, and governments with the data and insights they need to protect what matters most. The Chief Technology Officer will sit at the heart of this work, guiding the tools that turn satellite data into evidence, stories, and action across the globe. For the right person, this role is a chance to grow bold ideas into scalable solutions that change the world for the better

Key Responsibilities

Technology Leadership & Strategy

• Define and oversee SkyTruth's conservation technology vision and roadmap.
• Develop and implement innovative data-driven, scalable solutions for environmental monitoring and accountability.
• Cultivate a user-centric, impact-oriented approach to technology development, focused on accelerating the work of environmental changemakers.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and opportunities with pragmatism for genuine user value and conservation outcomes, not just technical novelty.
• Identify opportunities in conservation where SkyTruth's technology and expertise can have an outsized impact.
• Establish technical priorities and guide long-term growth and innovation.
• Lead technology strategy in the context of the rapidly evolving AI landscape.

Team Development & Management

• Recruit, mentor, and manage a diverse, high-performing technical team. The tech team currently consists of 11 staff members, including machine learning engineers, full-stack engineers, geospatial data scientists, a user support engineer, a product manager, and an IT system administrator.
• Foster a diverse, inclusive, and collaborative team culture.

Product & Infrastructure Development

• Oversee the development, deployment, and maintenance of SkyTruth’s digital tools, platforms, analyses, data products, and APIs.
• Ensure robustness of data processing pipelines, geospatial analysis, and inference models.
• Regularly evaluate cloud infrastructure and technical architecture decisions to ensure balanced prioritization among performance, cost, impact, accessibility, and scalability.

External Engagement & Thought Leadership

• Represent SkyTruth at conferences, meetings, and public events.
• Support partnership development with funders, data providers and other technology partners, researchers, NGOs, and government agencies to expand reach and impact.
• Communicate technical concepts effectively to both expert and non-technical audiences.
• Curate a high level vision for how SkyTruth will continue to be a leading force in the area of conservation technology.

Organizational Leadership

• Participate in regular discussions with the CEO, COO, and CIO to determine organizational priorities.
• Contribute to the development of SkyTruth’s multi-year strategic plan.
• Collaborate with other team leaders on the development, implementation, and evaluation of OKRs.
• Participate in funder engagement, proposal development, and communication of progress on deliverables.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of SkyTruth policies and processes, and play a key role in creating and exemplifying a culture of kindness, collaboration, and innovation.

Other duties as assigned.

Key Attributes and Qualifications

• Proven experience leading and scaling high-performing, high-trust technical teams in engineering, data science, or geospatial technology.
• Track record of strong strategic and technical leadership—able to set vision, roadmap, and priorities for an evolving tech portfolio.
• Strong leadership in cross-functional environments, working across engineering, product, science, and impact teams to drive mission-critical technology initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to make high-stakes technical decisions while balancing resource constraints and mission impact.
• Experience managing large-scale, multiyear projects, ensuring timely execution and alignment with funding objectives.
• Deep expertise in geospatial analytics and remote sensing.
• Cross-disciplinary technical expertise spanning the management of software engineering (Python-based AI/ML), geospatial data science (SQL/QGIS), cloud platforms (Google Cloud), and agile product development practices, with the ability to challenge assumptions, assess trade-offs, and support teams through strategic technical decision-making.
• Experience ensuring usability, accessibility, and measurable impact of technology products.
• Commitment to ethical, responsible technology use and to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Skilled communicator capable of translating complex technical ideas into accessible insights for diverse audiences.
• Deep passion for using technology to drive environmental accountability.

Desired Experience

• Experience in fundraising, grant writing, and donor engagement—demonstrating the impact of technology to funders.
• Previous experience managing a team remotely or in a globally distributed environment.
• Experience representing an organization at conferences and public speaking engagements.

Location

SkyTruth is a fully-remote organization working across multiple time zones, so working hours may vary according to geography as well as operational and personal needs. Candidates can be located anywhere in the United States and must be able to reliably accommodate meetings across North American time zones. Periodic domestic and international travel will be necessary.

Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, and Justice

The staff and leadership of SkyTruth believe that diversity and inclusion among our teammates are critical to our success as an organization. We seek to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and cultures. SkyTruth is an equal-opportunity employer. We hire and promote qualified professionals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, gender identity, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, genetic information, marital status, disability, age, membership in an employee organization, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factors. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all employees of SkyTruth and our partners, vendors, suppliers, and contractors.

Selection Process

Candidates whose experience strongly aligns with the qualifications outlined above may be contacted by our recruiter for an initial conversation. In the next phase, select candidates will be invited to schedule two 60-minute interviews with members of our tech team. Top candidates will be invited to an in-person interview with the SkyTruth leadership team in the Washington, D.C., region in mid-February. All travel expenses related to the interview process will be covered, including transportation, lodging, and meals.

We are committed to an inclusive hiring process. Reasonable accommodations will be provided upon request at any stage of the selection process.

This is a full-time salaried position reporting to the Chief Executive Officer with an expected salary range of $185,000–$200,000 with final compensation depending on skills and experience. SkyTruth’s robust benefits package includes a retirement plan with generous company match, 4 weeks of paid vacation, ample sick leave, 12 paid holidays, a break between Christmas and New Year’s, and 100% covered health, vision, dental, disability, and life insurance for employees. Additionally, we offer a remote work stipend, a professional development stipend, and paid parental leave. We use HR policies to embrace and support a positive and productive remote work culture and want our team to live full lives outside of work.