Chief Technology Officer - Job description

Are you excited by the opportunity to develop a company’s technological backbone from the ground up? If so, we want to hear from you. An exciting opportunity has arisen to join a game changing Sustainable Fashion Technology startup based in Central London.

While the company is securing Early Stage Funding we are forming the technical team as well as looking for a permanent Chief Technology Officer/ Tech Lead to take over from our interim CTO who helped lay the foundations for the technological solution. As the new CTO you will lead the technical roadmap and strategy, work closely with all areas of the business providing leadership and direction, as well as demonstrating strategic thinking and a strong business acumen. You will also be close enough to the ground to lead the team in development, troubleshooting and production of a reliable scalable technical solution. Ultimately, the right individual will lead innovation and technology at the forefront of what the company are trying to achieve as a disruptor within the fashion retail/ eCommerce market.

Responsibilities:

The CTO will be a member of the Management Team reporting to the Chief Executive Officer. Responsibilities will cover:

Strategy

  • Develop the overall technical strategy for the company.
  • Maximise the returns and benefits of investments in technology and tools.
  • Communicate the company’s technology strategy to management, investors, staff, partners, customers, and stakeholders.
  • Identify market obstacles and technical hurdles and manage risks appropriately.
  • Maintain up-to-date knowledge of technology standards, industry trends, emerging technologies and software development best practice and apply as appropriate.

Team

  • Train, retain and coach the development team (hire as needed).
  • Provide technical thought leadership and insight that inspires and motivates the team.
  • Foster a collaborative and positive culture within the tech team.

Architecture

  • Lead decisions on application architecture and infrastructure design that support scalability, robustness and successful product delivery.
  • Make decisions on technology selection.
  • Establish the technology architecture requirements to support the growing and changing needs of the business.

Process

  • Develop process and pipeline.
  • Promote automation throughout the development workflow to focus manual effort on high-value work.

Delivery

  • Work with the management team in developing the product roadmap.
  • Build and execute a technology roadmap on time and on budget.
  • Deliver a reliable and scalable product that satisfies the objectives of the business.
  • Provide collaborative approach working closely with high end clients during product development – deliver frequent releases, gather feedback, ensure relevant delivery.

Technology – any / all of the below
eCommrce platforms
VR, AR, Mixed Reality, Unity
Body Scanning , Digital Pattern Cutting

Candidate Profile

VIRT-U-CODE is open to candidates with a variety of backgrounds and profiles. There are some skills and experience which we see as essential to being successful in this role:

  • Open minded towards new ideas and ways of working.
  • Having previously held technical hands on role in order to give clear direction to the tech team — a big part of this role is working with people and experience in managing a team whether as a team lead, development manager, VP Engineering or CTO is essential.
  • A positive and dynamic leader who inspires those around them.
  • Previous experience working in a startup or scale up business environment — the small team size and fast-paced environment of a startup can be very different from that of a large corporation and we believe this experience is vital in fostering the right culture.
  • Strong Senior External Stakeholders Management skills and experience working directly with high end clients and technology integration/ API projects.
  • Experience developing a product in a user experience oriented company is essential to lead the delivery in the right direction.
  • Has a breadth and depth in understanding technologies — we find an understanding of multiple technology stacks is important in making technical decisions, but also require the ability to dig into technical details. Interest in innovation, sustainability, circular economy, supply chain, fashion or gaming – non essential but wellcome and knowledge of these would make the role ultra exciting for the right individual.

Please send your CV and application to hello@virt-u-code.com