Job Title: Chief Innovation Officer (CINO)
Location: Silicon Valley, CA (Hybrid preferred)
Industry: Biometric Security | Enterprise AI | Secure Hardware
Employment Type: Full-Time
Compensation: Up to $350,000 + equity (venture-backed)
Company Overview
Our client is a venture-backed leader in biometric security, headquartered in Cupertino, CA, delivering privacy-first, AI-powered access control and identity solutions used by Fortune 50 enterprises and government organizations.
Their technology is deployed across hyper scale data centers, financial institutions, universities, critical infrastructure, and high-security environments. As the company scales rapidly, they are seeking a visionary Chief Innovation Officer (CINO) to define and drive the next decade of innovation.
Role Overview
The Chief Innovation Officer (CINO) will own the company s long-term innovation and technology vision with a 3 10 year horizon. This is not a maintenance or optimization role it is a frontier R&D and commercialization leadership role.
The CINO will operate at the intersection of AI, biometrics, edge computing, secure hardware, and privacy technologies, translating emerging technologies into commercially viable, market-leading products.
This role partners closely with Product, Engineering, GTM, and Executive Leadership to ensure innovation is strategic, defensible, and revenue-impacting.
Key Responsibilities
- Define and execute the company-wide innovation strategy spanning AI, biometrics, secure hardware, and privacy technologies
- Own long-term technology roadmaps (3 10 years) aligned with market evolution and regulatory environments
- Lead next-generation R&D initiatives across hardware, software, and AI systems
- Evaluate and integrate emerging technologies including:
- Facial & multimodal biometrics
- Edge AI & embedded ML
- Privacy-preserving ML & secure identity
- Decentralized identity & authentication frameworks
- Anticipate regulatory and compliance trends (GDPR, Fed RAMP, NIST, FIDO, ISO)
- Partner with Product, Engineering, and Sales to commercialize innovation
- Identify and incubate new product lines and vertical expansions (government, healthcare, fintech, critical infrastructure)
- Build and maintain external innovation ecosystems:
- Academic partnerships
- Startup scouting & joint ventures
- Industry conferences, standards bodies, and thought leadership
- Foster a culture of experimentation, rapid prototyping, and bold innovation
Required Qualifications
- 10+ years in advanced R&D, product innovation, or technology strategy
- Executive leadership experience in scaling startups or growth-stage companies
- Deep expertise in:
- Biometric systems
- Hardware software convergence
- Edge AI & secure embedded systems
- Proven track record of commercializing novel technologies or patents
- Strong cross-functional leadership across engineering, product, design, and GTM
- Solid understanding of privacy, encryption, authentication, and compliance frameworks
- Technical degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related
- MS or PhD strongly preferred
Nice-to-Have / Bonus
- Hands-on AI/ML experience (facial recognition, behavior analytics)
- Patent portfolio in biometrics or computer vision
- Experience selling to hyperscale data centers, federal agencies, or enterprise security teams
- Exposure to standards bodies (NIST, FIDO, ISO) or public policy initiatives
Regard,
Aman (AD)
Metalight Solutions Inc
Email:
Phone: +1
Never miss an opportunity! Create an alert based on the job you applied for.
