CTO (Chief Technology Officer)
Role details
Job location
Tech stack
Job description
We're looking for a Group-level Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to define, lead, and deliver the technology strategy across the organisation.
This is a senior executive role with accountability for the direction, execution, and outcomes of the Group's technology estate, spanning software engineering, AI, platform and infrastructure, security, and programme delivery. The CTO will be responsible for stabilising and maturing a complex, customer-critical environment, while shaping a modern, scalable operating model that supports future growth.
Reporting directly to the CEO, you'll work closely with the Board and Executive Team to translate business strategy into clear technology roadmaps, make sound investment decisions, and ensure technology initiatives deliver measurable business value. You'll bring clarity to priorities, strengthen governance and risk management, and improve confidence, predictability, and quality of delivery across the Group.
This role requires a leader who can balance strategic vision with pragmatic execution, operating with a high degree of autonomy while engaging the CEO and Board on major investment, risk, and structural decisions. You'll build and lead strong senior teams, create clear accountability, and foster a culture of collaboration, resilience, and continuous improvement.
The role is hybrid, with a minimum of 3-4 days per month onsite in our Liverpool HQ.
Key Objectives
- Define and execute a clear, credible Group technology strategy aligned to business priorities and long-term growth.
- Stabilise, de-risk, and mature the Group's technology estate, improving resilience, security, and operational confidence.
- Lead and evolve the technology operating model, organisation design, and governance to support scale and consistency across the Group.
- Build and develop strong senior leadership teams with clear ownership, accountability, and succession.
- Improve delivery predictability, quality, and pace across software engineering, platform, security, and programme delivery.
- Ensure secure-by-design principles are embedded across platforms, products, and services.
- Own technology investment decisions, budgets, and cost optimisation, demonstrating ROI and measurable business value.
- Provide clear, transparent reporting to the CEO and Board on technology roadmap, performance, risk, and delivery., * A clear, trusted technology strategy that is well understood by the Executive Team and demonstrably aligned to business priorities.
- A stabilised, resilient, and well-governed technology estate with reduced operational and delivery risk.
- Strong leadership teams in place across all technology functions, with clear accountability and improved capability depth.
- Increased confidence in technology delivery, with greater predictability, improved quality, and fewer surprises.
- Technology investments that deliver measurable outcomes, whether through improved customer experience, operational efficiency, risk reduction, or enablement of growth.
- Effective governance, standards, and risk management that enable delivery rather than slow it down.
- A culture of collaboration, pragmatism, and continuous improvement across technology and its stakeholders.
Requirements
This role requires the successful candidate to be eligible for Security Check (SC) clearance. To meet this requirement, applicants must:
- Have the right to work in the UK
- Have lived in the UK continuously for the past 5 years
- Not have spent more than 6 months outside the UK in total during that period
- Be willing to undergo security vetting as part of the onboarding process, You're a credible, experienced technology leader with the judgement and presence to operate at Group and Board level. You're equally comfortable setting strategy, leading senior leaders, and rolling up your sleeves when required to stabilise, mature, and evolve complex technology environments.
You've led customer-critical platforms through periods of change and can clearly articulate what was broken when you arrived, the decisions you made, and the measurable outcomes you delivered. You understand the real-world trade-offs between pace, risk, and sustainability, and you make pragmatic decisions that balance delivery with resilience and security.
You bring a strong technical foundation and a delivery mindset, with experience across software engineering, platform and infrastructure, security, and large-scale programme delivery. You're not driven by technology trends for their own sake; you focus on outcomes, value, and building technology estates that can scale with the business over time.
As a leader, you build trust quickly with both technical and non-technical stakeholders. You develop strong leadership teams, create clear ownership and accountability, and foster a culture of collaboration, continuous improvement, and calm, decisive execution, particularly under pressure., We're looking for a senior technology leader with the credibility, judgement, and experience to operate at executive level and lead complex, customer-critical environments through change.
You bring a strong blend of strategic thinking and hands-on experience, with the ability to stabilise and mature existing technology estates while shaping a clear path forward. You're comfortable making difficult trade-offs, holding teams to account, and working closely with the CEO and Board to ensure technology delivers real, measurable business value.
This role suits a CTO who leads with clarity and pragmatism, builds high-performing leadership teams, and balances pace, risk, and sustainability in equal measure., * Significant senior leadership experience in technology roles, with progressive responsibility at executive or Group level.
- Proven experience leading multiple technology functions, such as software engineering, platform and infrastructure, security, and programme delivery.
- Strong hands-on technical foundation (e.g. software engineering, cloud/infrastructure, or architecture), enabling credible leadership and decision-making.
- Demonstrated experience operating in large, complex, customer-critical technology environments.
- Track record of delivering major, cross-business technology or transformation programmes with measurable outcomes.
- Experience defining and executing technology strategy aligned to business goals.
- Strong understanding of modern engineering practices, including SDLC, DevOps, and secure-by-design principles.
- Experience managing technology budgets, cost optimisation, vendors, and strategic partners.
- Ability to operate confidently at Executive and Board level, translating technical strategy, risk, and delivery into clear business outcomes.
Soft Skills & Behaviours
- Calm, decisive, and measured under pressure, particularly during incidents, critical programmes, or periods of change.
- Clear, credible communicator who can translate complex technical strategy, risk, and delivery into meaningful business outcomes.
- Pragmatic decision-maker who understands trade-offs between speed, risk, and long-term sustainability.
- Builds trust and credibility quickly with both technical and non-technical stakeholders, including Executive and Board-level audiences.
- Develops strong leadership capability, succession, and talent while holding teams to account in a fair, consistent way.
- Leads with integrity, clarity, and accountability, setting high standards without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
- Fosters a culture of collaboration, continuous improvement, and delivery excellence across teams and functions.
- Comfortable operating with ambiguity, using insight and evidence rather than assumptions to guide decisions.
Desirable (Not Essential)
- Prior experience operating as a CTO or equivalent Group-level technology leader.
- Experience scaling SaaS platforms or customer-facing digital products in growth environments.
- Practical exposure to AI or data-driven technologies in production settings.
- Experience operating in regulated, accredited, or security-sensitive environments.
- Background in organisations undergoing significant technology or operating model transformation.
- Experience working in PE-backed, multi-brand, or Group-based organisational structures.
Benefits & conditions
- Private Medical
- Inclusive Culture: Enjoy an inclusive culture and environment.
- Holiday: Generous holiday allowance.
- Learning: Access to continuous learning and development opportunities.
- Bonus Potential: Bonus potential based on performance and business-related factors.
- Discounts: Discounts on a wide range of products and services.
- Pension: Pension scheme contributions.
- EV Car Scheme
- Hybrid Working Policy
- More Benefits: Explore additional benefits on our career site.
