Position Title: Acting Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
Reports to: Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Location: Sierra Leone
Contract Type: Consultant
Position Overview:
The Acting Chief Technology Officer (CTO) will serve as the interim leader of the technology and engineering teams, responsible for overseeing the company’s technical strategy, infrastructure, and product development. As an integral member of the executive team, the Acting CTO will provide strategic guidance and leadership during the transition period, ensuring that technology initiatives align with the company’s business goals. This role is focused on maintaining business continuity, fostering innovation, and optimizing technology resources while ensuring the smooth functioning of day-to-day operations.
Key Responsibilities:
1. Technology Strategy & Leadership:
- Develop and oversee the execution of the company's technology strategy, ensuring alignment with the overall business objectives.
- Provide leadership and mentorship to the technology and engineering teams, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and excellence.
- Collaborate with other executive team members to drive technology-driven business growth and digital transformation.
- Identify and evaluate emerging technology trends, tools, and platforms that can enhance the company’s competitive advantage.
2. Product Development & Innovation:
- Supervise the development and delivery of technology-driven products, ensuring they meet business and customer needs.
- Work closely with product management, sales, and marketing teams to ensure product market fit and alignment with customer demands.
- Oversee the entire product development lifecycle, from ideation to implementation, with a focus on scalability, quality, and timeliness.
- Promote and drive innovation by encouraging experimentation with new technologies, methodologies, and approaches.
3. Technical Infrastructure & Operations:
- Oversee the company's IT infrastructure, ensuring reliable, secure, and scalable systems.
- Ensure high system availability, robust data security, and disaster recovery capabilities to mitigate risks.
- Continuously evaluate and improve the performance of technical systems, applications, and platforms.
- Manage technical budgets and resource allocation to support both short-term operational needs and long-term strategic initiatives.
4. Team Management & Development:
- Lead and manage the engineering, development, and IT teams, ensuring effective collaboration, communication, and productivity.
- Recruit, mentor, and develop talent within the technology team, maintaining a high-performance culture.
- Ensure the team is motivated and equipped to meet business and technical goals during the interim period.
- Implement performance reviews, skill assessments, and training programs to drive continuous improvement.
5. Vendor & Stakeholder Management:
- Manage relationships with external technology vendors, partners, and service providers to ensure they meet the company's requirements.
- Collaborate with key internal and external stakeholders to address their technical needs and ensure technology solutions are in place to support them.
- Represent the company in technology-related external engagements, as necessary.
6. Risk Management & Compliance:
- Ensure the company's technology operations comply with relevant regulations, security standards, and best practices.
- Oversee data privacy, information security, and cybersecurity efforts, identifying risks and implementing safeguards.
- Lead any technology-related crisis management efforts, ensuring swift resolution of issues.
Qualifications & Skills:
- Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field.
- Experience: 10+ years of experience in technology leadership roles, with a strong background in software development, IT infrastructure, and product management. Prior experience as a CTO or in an executive technology role is highly desirable.
- Leadership: Proven ability to lead large, diverse teams through complex technical challenges and periods of transition.
- Strategic Vision: Strong understanding of how technology can drive business objectives, with the ability to develop and execute long-term strategies.
- Technical Expertise: In-depth knowledge of software engineering, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, DevOps, and emerging technologies.
- Communication: Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, capable of interacting with both technical and non-technical stakeholders at all levels.
- Problem-Solving: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to navigate ambiguity and make quick, informed decisions.
- Adaptability: Ability to thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced environment with the flexibility to manage evolving priorities.